volume iii chapter ii no misfortune occurred, again to preventthe ball. the day approached, the day arrived; andafter a morning of some anxious watching, frank churchill, in all the certainty ofhis own self, reached randalls before dinner, and every thing was safe. no second meeting had there yet beenbetween him and emma. the room at the crown was to witness it;--but it would be better than a common meeting in a crowd.
mr. weston had been so very earnest in hisentreaties for her arriving there as soon as possible after themselves, for thepurpose of taking her opinion as to the propriety and comfort of the rooms before any other persons came, that she could notrefuse him, and must therefore spend some quiet interval in the young man's company. she was to convey harriet, and they droveto the crown in good time, the randalls party just sufficiently before them. frank churchill seemed to have been on thewatch; and though he did not say much, his eyes declared that he meant to have adelightful evening.
they all walked about together, to see thatevery thing was as it should be; and within a few minutes were joined by the contentsof another carriage, which emma could not hear the sound of at first, without greatsurprize. "so unreasonably early!" she was going toexclaim; but she presently found that it was a family of old friends, who werecoming, like herself, by particular desire, to help mr. weston's judgment; and they were so very closely followed by anothercarriage of cousins, who had been entreated to come early with the same distinguishingearnestness, on the same errand, that it seemed as if half the company might soon be
collected together for the purpose ofpreparatory inspection. emma perceived that her taste was not theonly taste on which mr. weston depended, and felt, that to be the favourite andintimate of a man who had so many intimates and confidantes, was not the very firstdistinction in the scale of vanity. she liked his open manners, but a littleless of open-heartedness would have made him a higher character.--generalbenevolence, but not general friendship, made a man what he ought to be.--she couldfancy such a man. the whole party walked about, and looked,and praised again; and then, having nothing else to do, formed a sort of half-circleround the fire, to observe in their various
modes, till other subjects were started, that, though may, a fire in the eveningwas still very pleasant. emma found that it was not mr. weston'sfault that the number of privy councillors was not yet larger. they had stopped at mrs. bates's door tooffer the use of their carriage, but the aunt and niece were to be brought by theeltons. frank was standing by her, but notsteadily; there was a restlessness, which shewed a mind not at ease. he was looking about, he was going to thedoor, he was watching for the sound of
other carriages,--impatient to begin, orafraid of being always near her. mrs. elton was spoken of. "i think she must be here soon," said he."i have a great curiosity to see mrs. elton, i have heard so much of her.it cannot be long, i think, before she comes." a carriage was heard.he was on the move immediately; but coming back, said,"i am forgetting that i am not acquainted with her. i have never seen either mr. or mrs. elton.i have no business to put myself forward."
mr. and mrs. elton appeared; and all thesmiles and the proprieties passed. "but miss bates and miss fairfax!" said mr.weston, looking about. "we thought you were to bring them."the mistake had been slight. the carriage was sent for them now. emma longed to know what frank's firstopinion of mrs. elton might be; how he was affected by the studied elegance of herdress, and her smiles of graciousness. he was immediately qualifying himself toform an opinion, by giving her very proper attention, after the introduction hadpassed. in a few minutes the carriage returned.--somebody talked of rain.--"i will see that
there are umbrellas, sir," said frank tohis father: "miss bates must not be forgotten:" and away he went. mr. weston was following; but mrs. eltondetained him, to gratify him by her opinion of his son; and so briskly did she begin,that the young man himself, though by no means moving slowly, could hardly be out ofhearing. "a very fine young man indeed, mr. weston. you know i candidly told you i should formmy own opinion; and i am happy to say that i am extremely pleased with him.--you maybelieve me. i never compliment.
i think him a very handsome young man, andhis manners are precisely what i like and approve--so truly the gentleman, withoutthe least conceit or puppyism. you must know i have a vast dislike topuppies--quite a horror of them. they were never tolerated at maple grove. neither mr. suckling nor me had ever anypatience with them; and we used sometimes to say very cutting things!selina, who is mild almost to a fault, bore with them much better." while she talked of his son, mr. weston'sattention was chained; but when she got to maple grove, he could recollect that therewere ladies just arriving to be attended
to, and with happy smiles must hurry away. mrs. elton turned to mrs. weston."i have no doubt of its being our carriage with miss bates and jane. our coachman and horses are so extremelyexpeditious!--i believe we drive faster than any body.--what a pleasure it is tosend one's carriage for a friend!--i understand you were so kind as to offer, but another time it will be quiteunnecessary. you may be very sure i shall always takecare of them." miss bates and miss fairfax, escorted bythe two gentlemen, walked into the room;
and mrs. elton seemed to think it as muchher duty as mrs. weston's to receive them. her gestures and movements might beunderstood by any one who looked on like emma; but her words, every body's words,were soon lost under the incessant flow of miss bates, who came in talking, and had not finished her speech under many minutesafter her being admitted into the circle at the fire.as the door opened she was heard, "so very obliging of you!--no rain at all. nothing to signify.i do not care for myself. quite thick shoes.and jane declares--well!--(as soon as she
was within the door) well! this is brilliant indeed!--this isadmirable!--excellently contrived, upon my word.nothing wanting. could not have imagined it.--so welllighted up!--jane, jane, look!--did you ever see any thing?oh! mr. weston, you must really have had aladdin's lamp. good mrs. stokes would not know her ownroom again. i saw her as i came in; she was standing inthe entrance. 'oh! mrs. stokes,' said i--but i had nottime for more."
she was now met by mrs. weston.--"verywell, i thank you, ma'am. i hope you are quite well. very happy to hear it.so afraid you might have a headache!-- seeing you pass by so often, and knowinghow much trouble you must have. delighted to hear it indeed. ah! dear mrs. elton, so obliged to you forthe carriage!--excellent time. jane and i quite ready.did not keep the horses a moment. most comfortable carriage.--oh! and i amsure our thanks are due to you, mrs. weston, on that score.
mrs. elton had most kindly sent jane anote, or we should have been.--but two such offers in one day!--never were suchneighbours. i said to my mother, 'upon my word, ma'am--.' thank you, my mother is remarkably well.gone to mr. woodhouse's. i made her take her shawl--for the eveningsare not warm--her large new shawl-- mrs. dixon's wedding-present.--so kind of her tothink of my mother! bought at weymouth, you know--mr. dixon'schoice. there were three others, jane says, whichthey hesitated about some time. colonel campbell rather preferred an olive.
my dear jane, are you sure you did not wetyour feet?--it was but a drop or two, but i am so afraid:--but mr. frank churchill wasso extremely--and there was a mat to step upon--i shall never forget his extreme politeness.--oh! mr. frank churchill, imust tell you my mother's spectacles have never been in fault since; the rivet nevercame out again. my mother often talks of your good-nature. does not she, jane?--do not we often talkof mr. frank churchill?--ah! here's miss woodhouse.--dear miss woodhouse, how do youdo?--very well i thank you, quite well. this is meeting quite in fairy-land!--sucha transformation!--must not compliment, i
know (eyeing emma most complacently)--thatwould be rude--but upon my word, miss woodhouse, you do look--how do you like jane's hair?--you are a judge.--she did itall herself. quite wonderful how she does her hair!--nohairdresser from london i think could.--ah! dr. hughes i declare--and mrs. hughes. must go and speak to dr. and mrs. hughesfor a moment.--how do you do? how do you do?--very well, i thank you.this is delightful, is not it?--where's dear mr. richard?--oh! there he is. don't disturb him.much better employed talking to the young
ladies. how do you do, mr. richard?--i saw you theother day as you rode through the town-- mrs. otway, i protest!--and good mr. otway,and miss otway and miss caroline.--such a host of friends!--and mr. george and mr.arthur!--how do you do? how do you all do?--quite well, i am muchobliged to you. never better.--don't i hear anothercarriage?--who can this be?--very likely the worthy coles.--upon my word, this ischarming to be standing about among such friends! and such a noble fire!--i am quite roasted.no coffee, i thank you, for me--never take
coffee.--a little tea if you please, sir,by and bye,--no hurry--oh! here it comes. every thing so good!" frank churchill returned to his station byemma; and as soon as miss bates was quiet, she found herself necessarily overhearingthe discourse of mrs. elton and miss fairfax, who were standing a little waybehind her.--he was thoughtful. whether he were overhearing too, she couldnot determine. after a good many compliments to jane onher dress and look, compliments very quietly and properly taken, mrs. elton wasevidently wanting to be complimented herself--and it was, "how do you like my
gown?--how do you like my trimming?--howhas wright done my hair?"--with many other relative questions, all answered withpatient politeness. mrs. elton then said, "nobody can thinkless of dress in general than i do--but upon such an occasion as this, when everybody's eyes are so much upon me, and in compliment to the westons--who i have no doubt are giving this ball chiefly to do mehonour--i would not wish to be inferior to others. and i see very few pearls in the roomexcept mine.--so frank churchill is a capital dancer, i understand.--we shall seeif our styles suit.--a fine young man
certainly is frank churchill. i like him very well." at this moment frank began talking sovigorously, that emma could not but imagine he had overheard his own praises, and didnot want to hear more;--and the voices of the ladies were drowned for a while, till another suspension brought mrs. elton'stones again distinctly forward.--mr. elton had just joined them, and his wife wasexclaiming, "oh! you have found us out at last, haveyou, in our seclusion?--i was this moment telling jane, i thought you would begin tobe impatient for tidings of us."
"jane!"--repeated frank churchill, with alook of surprize and displeasure.--"that is easy--but miss fairfax does not disapproveit, i suppose." "how do you like mrs. elton?" said emma ina whisper. "not at all.""you are ungrateful." "ungrateful!--what do you mean?" then changing from a frown to a smile--"no,do not tell me--i do not want to know what you mean.--where is my father?--when are weto begin dancing?" emma could hardly understand him; he seemedin an odd humour. he walked off to find his father, but wasquickly back again with both mr. and mrs.
weston. he had met with them in a littleperplexity, which must be laid before emma. it had just occurred to mrs. weston thatmrs. elton must be asked to begin the ball; that she would expect it; which interferedwith all their wishes of giving emma that distinction.--emma heard the sad truth withfortitude. "and what are we to do for a proper partnerfor her?" said mr. weston. "she will think frank ought to ask her." frank turned instantly to emma, to claimher former promise; and boasted himself an engaged man, which his father looked hismost perfect approbation of--and it then
appeared that mrs. weston was wanting him to dance with mrs. elton himself, and thattheir business was to help to persuade him into it, which was done pretty soon.--mr.weston and mrs. elton led the way, mr. frank churchill and miss woodhousefollowed. emma must submit to stand second to mrs.elton, though she had always considered the ball as peculiarly for her. it was almost enough to make her think ofmarrying. mrs. elton had undoubtedly the advantage,at this time, in vanity completely gratified; for though she had intended tobegin with frank churchill, she could not
lose by the change. mr. weston might be his son's superior.--inspite of this little rub, however, emma was smiling with enjoyment, delighted to seethe respectable length of the set as it was forming, and to feel that she had so many hours of unusual festivity before her.--shewas more disturbed by mr. knightley's not dancing than by any thing else.--there hewas, among the standers-by, where he ought not to be; he ought to be dancing,--not classing himself with the husbands, andfathers, and whist-players, who were pretending to feel an interest in the dancetill their rubbers were made up,--so young
as he looked!--he could not have appeared to greater advantage perhaps anywhere, thanwhere he had placed himself. his tall, firm, upright figure, among thebulky forms and stooping shoulders of the elderly men, was such as emma felt mustdraw every body's eyes; and, excepting her own partner, there was not one among the whole row of young men who could becompared with him.--he moved a few steps nearer, and those few steps were enough toprove in how gentlemanlike a manner, with what natural grace, he must have danced, would he but take the trouble.--whenevershe caught his eye, she forced him to
smile; but in general he was looking grave. she wished he could love a ballroom better,and could like frank churchill better.--he seemed often observing her. she must not flatter herself that hethought of her dancing, but if he were criticising her behaviour, she did not feelafraid. there was nothing like flirtation betweenher and her partner. they seemed more like cheerful, easyfriends, than lovers. that frank churchill thought less of herthan he had done, was indubitable. the ball proceeded pleasantly.the anxious cares, the incessant attentions
of mrs. weston, were not thrown away. every body seemed happy; and the praise ofbeing a delightful ball, which is seldom bestowed till after a ball has ceased tobe, was repeatedly given in the very beginning of the existence of this. of very important, very recordable events,it was not more productive than such meetings usually are. there was one, however, which emma thoughtsomething of.--the two last dances before supper were begun, and harriet had nopartner;--the only young lady sitting down;--and so equal had been hitherto the
number of dancers, that how there could beany one disengaged was the wonder!--but emma's wonder lessened soon afterwards, onseeing mr. elton sauntering about. he would not ask harriet to dance if itwere possible to be avoided: she was sure he would not--and she was expecting himevery moment to escape into the card-room. escape, however, was not his plan. he came to the part of the room where thesitters-by were collected, spoke to some, and walked about in front of them, as if toshew his liberty, and his resolution of maintaining it. he did not omit being sometimes directlybefore miss smith, or speaking to those who
were close to her.--emma saw it. she was not yet dancing; she was workingher way up from the bottom, and had therefore leisure to look around, and byonly turning her head a little she saw it all. when she was half-way up the set, the wholegroup were exactly behind her, and she would no longer allow her eyes to watch;but mr. elton was so near, that she heard every syllable of a dialogue which just then took place between him and mrs.weston; and she perceived that his wife, who was standing immediately above her, wasnot only listening also, but even
encouraging him by significant glances.-- the kind-hearted, gentle mrs. weston hadleft her seat to join him and say, "do not you dance, mr. elton?" to which his promptreply was, "most readily, mrs. weston, if you will dance with me." "me!--oh! no--i would get you a betterpartner than myself. i am no dancer." "if mrs. gilbert wishes to dance," said he,"i shall have great pleasure, i am sure-- for, though beginning to feel myself ratheran old married man, and that my dancing days are over, it would give me very great
pleasure at any time to stand up with anold friend like mrs. gilbert." "mrs. gilbert does not mean to dance, butthere is a young lady disengaged whom i should be very glad to see dancing--misssmith." "miss smith!--oh!--i had not observed.--youare extremely obliging--and if i were not an old married man.--but my dancing daysare over, mrs. weston. you will excuse me. any thing else i should be most happy todo, at your command--but my dancing days are over." mrs. weston said no more; and emma couldimagine with what surprize and
mortification she must be returning to herseat. this was mr. elton! the amiable, obliging,gentle mr. elton.--she looked round for a moment; he had joined mr. knightley at alittle distance, and was arranging himself for settled conversation, while smiles ofhigh glee passed between him and his wife. she would not look again.her heart was in a glow, and she feared her face might be as hot. in another moment a happier sight caughther;--mr. knightley leading harriet to the set!--never had she been more surprized,seldom more delighted, than at that instant.
she was all pleasure and gratitude, bothfor harriet and herself, and longed to be thanking him; and though too distant forspeech, her countenance said much, as soon as she could catch his eye again. his dancing proved to be just what she hadbelieved it, extremely good; and harriet would have seemed almost too lucky, if ithad not been for the cruel state of things before, and for the very complete enjoyment and very high sense of the distinctionwhich her happy features announced. it was not thrown away on her, she boundedhigher than ever, flew farther down the middle, and was in a continual course ofsmiles.
mr. elton had retreated into the card-room,looking (emma trusted) very foolish. she did not think he was quite so hardenedas his wife, though growing very like her;- -she spoke some of her feelings, byobserving audibly to her partner, "knightley has taken pity on poor littlemiss smith!--very good-natured, i declare." supper was announced. the move began; and miss bates might beheard from that moment, without interruption, till her being seated attable and taking up her spoon. "jane, jane, my dear jane, where are you?--here is your tippet. mrs. weston begs you to put on your tippet.
she says she is afraid there will bedraughts in the passage, though every thing has been done--one door nailed up--quantities of matting--my dear jane, indeed you must. mr. churchill, oh! you are too obliging!how well you put it on!--so gratified! excellent dancing indeed!--yes, my dear, iran home, as i said i should, to help grandmama to bed, and got back again, andnobody missed me.--i set off without saying a word, just as i told you. grandmama was quite well, had a charmingevening with mr. woodhouse, a vast deal of chat, and backgammon.--tea was madedownstairs, biscuits and baked apples and
wine before she came away: amazing luck in some of her throws: and she inquired agreat deal about you, how you were amused, and who were your partners. 'oh!' said i, 'i shall not forestall jane;i left her dancing with mr. george otway; she will love to tell you all about itherself to-morrow: her first partner was mr. elton, i do not know who will ask hernext, perhaps mr. william cox.' my dear sir, you are too obliging.--isthere nobody you would not rather?--i am not helpless. sir, you are most kind.
upon my word, jane on one arm, and me onthe other!--stop, stop, let us stand a little back, mrs. elton is going; dear mrs.elton, how elegant she looks!--beautiful lace!--now we all follow in her train. quite the queen of the evening!--well, herewe are at the passage. two steps, jane, take care of the twosteps. oh! no, there is but one. well, i was persuaded there were two.how very odd! i was convinced there were two, and thereis but one. i never saw any thing equal to the comfortand style--candles everywhere.--i was
telling you of your grandmama, jane,--therewas a little disappointment.--the baked apples and biscuits, excellent in their way, you know; but there was a delicatefricassee of sweetbread and some asparagus brought in at first, and good mr.woodhouse, not thinking the asparagus quite boiled enough, sent it all out again. now there is nothing grandmama loves betterthan sweetbread and asparagus--so she was rather disappointed, but we agreed we wouldnot speak of it to any body, for fear of its getting round to dear miss woodhouse, who would be so very much concerned!--well,this is brilliant!
i am all amazement! could not have supposedany thing!--such elegance and profusion!--i have seen nothing like it since--well,where shall we sit? where shall we sit? anywhere, so that jane is not in a draught. where i sit is of no consequence.oh! do you recommend this side?--well, i am sure, mr. churchill--only it seems toogood--but just as you please. what you direct in this house cannot bewrong. dear jane, how shall we ever recollect halfthe dishes for grandmama? soup too! bless me!i should not be helped so soon, but it
smells most excellent, and i cannot helpbeginning." emma had no opportunity of speaking to mr.knightley till after supper; but, when they were all in the ballroom again, her eyesinvited him irresistibly to come to her and be thanked. he was warm in his reprobation of mr.elton's conduct; it had been unpardonable rudeness; and mrs. elton's looks alsoreceived the due share of censure. "they aimed at wounding more than harriet,"said he. "emma, why is it that they are yourenemies?" he looked with smiling penetration; and, onreceiving no answer, added, "she ought
not to be angry with you, i suspect,whatever he may be.--to that surmise, you say nothing, of course; but confess, emma,that you did want him to marry harriet." "i did," replied emma, "and they cannotforgive me." he shook his head; but there was a smile ofindulgence with it, and he only said, "i shall not scold you.i leave you to your own reflections." "can you trust me with such flatterers?--does my vain spirit ever tell me i am wrong?" "not your vain spirit, but your seriousspirit.--if one leads you wrong, i am sure the other tells you of it.""i do own myself to have been completely
mistaken in mr. elton. there is a littleness about him which youdiscovered, and which i did not: and i was fully convinced of his being in love withharriet. it was through a series of strangeblunders!" "and, in return for your acknowledging somuch, i will do you the justice to say, that you would have chosen for him betterthan he has chosen for himself.--harriet smith has some first-rate qualities, whichmrs. elton is totally without. an unpretending, single-minded, artlessgirl--infinitely to be preferred by any man of sense and taste to such a woman as mrs.elton.
i found harriet more conversable than iexpected." emma was extremely gratified.--they wereinterrupted by the bustle of mr. weston calling on every body to begin dancingagain. "come miss woodhouse, miss otway, missfairfax, what are you all doing?--come emma, set your companions the example.every body is lazy! every body is asleep!" "i am ready," said emma, "whenever i amwanted." "whom are you going to dance with?" askedmr. knightley. she hesitated a moment, and then replied,"with you, if you will ask me."
"will you?" said he, offering his hand."indeed i will. you have shewn that you can dance, and youknow we are not really so much brother and sister as to make it at all improper.""brother and sister! no, indeed."
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