Sense and Sensibility Learn English through story level 5

chapter one

the dashwood family

for very many years

there had been dashwoods living in

sussex

in the south of england

the family owned a large area of land

around their country house norland park

recently the head of the family

an unmarried man of great age

had invited into his home his nephew

who was expected to inherit the house

and land

with his wife and children

the nephew mr henry dashwood

and his wife behaved kindly and

thoughtfully towards the old gentleman

not from interest in his fortune

but from goodness of heart

so that he was able to spend his last

years comfortably

with these pleasant and cheerful

companions

by his first wife

mr henry dashwood had one son

john

by his present wife

three daughters

john

a respectable serious young man

had received a large inheritance from

his mother

and had also added to his wealth by his

own marriage

to him therefore

the norland fortune was not as important

as to his sisters

who had very little money of their own

when the old gentleman died

it was discovered that he had not left

his fortune to henry dashwood to do what

he liked with

but only to use during his lifetime

on henry dashwood’s death

the inheritance would pass to his son

john

and to john’s son

a child of four years old

the old man had become fond of the small

boy on his occasional visits to noland

and so a spoiled child

was preferred to henry dashwood’s gentle

wife and daughters

in spite of their years of loving care

no unkindness had been intended however

and as a sign of his affection for the

girls the old gentleman left them one

thousand pounds each

at first mr henry dashwood was bitterly

disappointed

as he had wanted the fortune more for

his wife and daughters than for himself

but he soon realized that if he was

careful with money in the next few years

he could save enough to provide

generously for his family

unfortunately

he did not live to carry out this plan

as he survived his uncle by only one

year

and ten thousand pounds was all that

remained for his widow and daughters

just before his death he sent for his

son

and begged him to take care of his

stepmother and sisters

mr john dashwood had not the strong

feelings of the rest of the family

but such a request at such a time

naturally had an effect on him

so he promised to do everything he could

to make his father’s family comfortable

he was not a bad young man

but rather cold-hearted

and rather selfish

although he was in general well

respected

if he had married a pleasanter woman he

would probably have been even more

respected

and perhaps have become pleasant to

himself

but his wife was colder and more selfish

than he was

as soon as his father was dead and

buried

mrs john dashwood arrived unexpectedly

at norland with her child and her

servants

she wished to make it clear that

as the house belonged to her husband

from the moment of his father’s death

she did not need any invitation from her

mother-in-law

to a widow in mrs dashwood’s situation

this appeared

unforgivable in fact mrs dashwood a

sensitive and generous woman

felt so strongly about her

daughter-in-law’s unpleasant behavior

that she would have left the house

immediately

if her eldest daughter had not begged

her to reconsider

eleanor

this eldest daughter whose advice was so

useful

had a great deal of intelligence and

common sense

and although only 19

frequently acted as her mother’s advisor

to the advantage of the whole family

she was often able to persuade mrs

dashwood to hold back the violent

enthusiasms which were likely to lead

them all into difficulties

eleanor had an excellent heart

full of affection

and although her feelings were strong

she knew how to control them

this was something which her mother had

not yet learned to do

and which marianne one of her sisters

had decided never to learn

marianne was like eleanor generous

clever and sensitive

but unlike eleanor she was eager in

everything

her feelings were always strongly felt

and expressed

in this

she was very similar to her mother

eleanor saw with concern how little her

sister could control her feelings

but her mother loved marianne for her

sensibility

now after mr henry dashwood’s death

mrs dashwood and marianne encouraged

each other in the violence of their

unhappiness

becoming more and more miserable as they

remember the past and thought bitterly

of the future

elena too suffered deeply

but she could still make an effort to

discuss business with her brother

be polite to her sister-in-law

and try to persuade her mother to be

calmer

the youngest sister margaret was a

pleasant girl of 13

but as she already had some of

marianne’s sensibility

and not much of her intelligence

she seemed likely to grow up without her

sister’s advantages

mrs john dashwood now made sure that

everyone knew she was mistress of

norland

and that her mother-in-law and

sisters-in-law were there as visitors

her husband however reminded her of the

promise he had given to his dying father

that he would take care of his

stepmother and sisters

i had thought my dear he added

of giving the girls one thousand pounds

each

it would certainly be a generous present

for them

mrs john dashwood did not at all approve

of this

it would mean taking three thousand

pounds from the fortune of their dear

little boy

she begged her husband to think again

how could he rob his child and his only

child too of so much money

and how could the miss dashwoods who

were related to him only by half-blood

which she considered no relation at all

possibly expect him to be so generous

it was my father’s last request to me

replied her husband

i must keep my promise to him

i must do something for them when they

leave norland for a new home

well then do something for them

but you need not give them three

thousand pounds

consider that when you have given the

money

it will never come back your sisters

will marry and it will be gone from the

family forever

you are right my dear

said her husband seriously

perhaps i should give them half that

pounds would be a valuable present for

them

oh beyond anything

what brother on earth would do half as

much for his sisters

even if

really his sisters

and as it is only half blood

but you have such a generous nature

i would not wish to do anything mean

it is better on such occasions to do too

much rather than too little

even they themselves cannot expect more

there is no knowing what they may expect

said the lady

but the question is what you can afford

to do

certainly

and i think i can afford to give them

500 pounds each

as it is without my money they will each

have more than 3 000 pounds on their

mother’s death

a very comfortable fortune for any young

woman

indeed it is

and in fact i begin to think they need

no extra money at all

they will be able to live very

comfortably together on the interest of

their ten thousand pounds

that is very true

and therefore i wonder

whether on the whole

it would be more advisable to pay some

money regularly to my stepmother during

her lifetime

instead of giving money to the girls

a hundred a year would make her and the

girls while they live with her perfectly

comfortable

his wife hesitated a little over this

plan

that is certainly better than giving

1500 pounds all at once

but if mrs dashwood should live for

longer than 15 years

it would cost us more

she is very fit and healthy and only

just forty

and it is an unpleasant thing to have to

pay the money out every year

one feels one’s fortune is not one’s own

i believe you are right my love

whatever i can give them occasionally

will be a far greater assistance than a

yearly allowance

because they would only live more

expensively if they felt sure of

receiving a larger income

if i give them a present of 50 pounds

now and then i will i think

be keeping my promise to my father in

the fullest manner

to be sure you will

indeed to tell the truth

i am certain your father had no idea of

you’re giving them any money at all

the assistance he was thinking of was i

dare say looking for a comfortable

small house for them

helping them to move their furniture

and sending them occasional presence of

fish and meat in season

do consider mr dashwood how very cheaply

they will live

no carriage no horses and only one or

two servants

i cannot imagine how they will spend

half their money and it is foolish to

think of giving them more

they will much more be able to give you

something

i believe you are perfectly right said

mr dashwood

now i understand clearly what my father

meant

and he decided to offer no more to his

father’s widow and daughters than such

neighborly assistants as his wife

suggested

meanwhile his stepmother impatient to

leave norland which held so many

memories for her

had been looking for a suitable house to

move into not too far away

several houses

which she would have approved had

already been turned down by eleanor as

too large for their income and the

search continued

six months passed with the two families

living at norland

mrs dashwood came to dislike her

daughter-in-law more and more

and would have found it impossible to

live in the same house with her for so

long

if something had not happened to make

mrs dashwood want to keep her daughters

at norland for a while

she had noticed a growing attachment

between her eldest girl

and mrs john dashwood’s brother

a gentlemanly and pleasing young man

who had come to noland soon after his

sister’s arrival

and who had spent the greater part of

his time there since then

edward ferris was the elder son of a man

who had died very rich

but his future wealth was uncertain

because the whole of his fortune

depended on his mother’s wishes

neither of these facts influenced mrs

dashwood

it was enough for her that he loved her

daughter and that eleanor returned his

affection

edward ferris was not handsome

nor were his manners especially pleasing

at first sight

but when he lost his shyness

his behavior showed what an open

affectionate heart he had

his mother and sister wanted him to make

a fine figure in the world in some way

but edward was not ambitious

all his wishes were for home comforts

and the quietness of private life

fortunately he had a younger brother

robert who was more promising

mrs dashwood completely approved of

edward in spite of his quiet manner

which was so unlike the way she felt a

young man should behave

as soon as she saw the smallest sign of

love in his behavior to eleanor

she considered their serious attachment

as certain

and looked forward to their marriage in

the near future

in a few months my dear marianne she

said

eleanor will be married

we shall miss her but she will be happy

oh mama

how shall we manage without her

my love we shall live within a few miles

of her and see her every day

you will have a brother

a real affectionate brother but you look

serious marianne

do you disapprove of your sister’s

choice

perhaps i am a little surprised mama

he is very pleasant but there is

something missing

there is no fire in his eyes and i am

afraid mama he has no real taste

he does not seem very interested in

music

and i think he knows little of drawing

or painting

and he is so calm when we discuss or

read beautiful writing

it breaks my heart to hear him talk so

quietly and with so little sensibility

about things that matter so much to me

i could not be happy with a man who does

not share all my feelings eleanor may be

happy with him as she has not my

feelings but mama the more i know of the

world

the more i am certain i shall never see

a man i can really love

remember my love you are not 17 yet

it is too early in life to lose hope of

happiness

why should you be less fortunate than

your mother

eleanor herself felt that edward stood

very high in her opinion

she believed that he also felt warmly

towards her

but she was not sure enough of this to

be comfortable with her sisters and

mother’s dreams of marriage for her

edward sometimes appeared strangely

depressed when he was with her

which worried her a little

she knew that his mother was making life

difficult for him and would perhaps

disapprove of his marrying a woman with

no great fortune

but sometimes

she feared that he thought of her as no

more than a friend

marianne and her mother had no such

doubts

believing strongly that any intelligent

young man must love eleanor

and that love itself would solve all

problems

marianne indeed was quite horrified when

her sister cautiously described her

feelings for edward as liking and

respect rather than love

like him

respect him she cried

oh cold-hearted eleanor

why should you be ashamed of expressing

love

mrs john dashwood had also noticed the

attachment between her brother and

eleanor it made her uneasy

and she took the first opportunity of

upsetting her mother-in-law

by explaining her family’s high

ambitions for edward and the importance

of his marrying well

and the danger for any young woman

attempting to trap him into marriage

mrs dashwood could not prevent herself

from giving a sharp answer and left the

room at once determined in spite of the

inconvenience to remove herself and her

daughters from norland as soon as

possible

on the same day

she received a letter from sir john

middleton

a gentleman who was a distant relation

of hers

he wrote to offer her a small house near

his home in devonshire where she and her

girls could make their new home

although it was only a cottage

he promised to do anything necessary to

make it more comfortable

his letter was written in such a

friendly way

and she was so anxious to leave norland

and her unfeeling daughter-in-law

that after first asking elena’s opinion

mrs dashwood wrote to accept sir john

middleton’s kind offer

chapter 2

a new home

mrs dashwood took great pleasure in

informing her stepson and his wife that

she had found a house

and that she and her daughters

would soon trouble them no longer

mrs john dashwood said nothing

but her husband showed some surprise

i do hope he said politely

that you will not be far from norland

mrs dashwood replied with a smile

that they were going to devonshire

edward ferris who was in the room at the

time

turned quickly towards her when he heard

this

devonshire

he repeated

are you really going there

so far from here

and to what part may i ask

a place called barton

four miles north of the city of exeter

replied mrs dashwood

it is only a cottage

but i hope that many of my friends will

come to visit me there

she gave a very kind invitation to mr

and mrs john dashwood to visit her at

barton

and to edward she gave one with even

greater affection

although her recent conversation with

her daughter-in-law had made her

determined to leave norland as soon as

possible

she did not in the least intend that

edward and eleanor should be separated

by giving such a clear invitation to

edward she wished to show that her

daughter-in-law’s disapproval of the

attachment between edward and eleanor

had not had the smallest effect

mr john dashwood told his stepmother

again and again how extremely sorry he

was that she had taken a house so

distant from norland that he could not

give her assistance in moving her

furniture

he really did feel sorry

because he had decided to limit his

promise to his father to this one offer

of help

which would not now be of any use

the furniture was sent to devonshire by

ship

it mainly consisted of sheets dinner

plates books and a handsome piano of

marianne’s

mrs john dashwood was sorry to see the

boxes leave

she felt it unnecessary for mrs dashwood

who had such a small income to have any

good furniture at all

mrs dashwood took the house

barton cottage for 12 months

it was furnished and ready for them to

move into at once

all the necessary arrangements were

quickly made

eleanor advised her mother to sell her

carriage which with the horses would

cost too much to keep

and to limit the number of their

servants to three

two of the servants were sent to

devonshire immediately

to prepare the house for their

mistress’s arrival

on his deathbed

henry dashwood had told his wife of the

promise his son had made and mrs

dashwood had never doubted that jon

would keep that promise

now

as she and her daughters were about to

leave norland was a most suitable time

for him to offer them help

but mrs dashwood soon began to lose hope

he so frequently talked of the rising

costs of managing his house and land

that he seemed in need of more money

himself

rather than having any intention of

giving money away

soon they were ready to depart

and many were the tears that fell during

their goodbyes to the home they loved so

much

dear

dear norland

said marianne walking alone in the park

on their last evening

i shall miss you all my life

during the first part of their journey

to devonshire

they were too miserable to notice

anything

but when they entered barton valley

they became more cheerful and began to

show interest in the countryside that

would soon be part of their everyday

life

it was a pleasant green valley

with thick woods and open fields

after driving for more than a mile

they reached their house

barton cottage was well built

and in good condition

there were two sitting rooms downstairs

and four bedrooms

and two servants rooms upstairs

compared with norland it was certainly

poor and small

and the girls tears flowed as they

remembered their family home

but they soon dried their eyes and made

every effort to be happy

mrs dashwood was on the whole

very pleased with the house

but she looked forward to making some

changes

we can make ourselves quite comfortable

here for the moment she said

as it is too late in the year to start

any building work

to be sure the house is rather too small

for us

but perhaps next year if i have plenty

of money as i expect i shall

we may think about enlarging the sitting

rooms

and adding a new dining room and another

bedroom

that may be easily done

it is a pity the stairs are not more

handsome

but i suppose it would not be difficult

to widen them

i shall see how much i have saved in the

spring

it was not quite clear how all this work

could be done from the savings of an

income of 500 a year

by a woman who had never saved in her

life

so meanwhile

they were wise enough to accept the

house as it was

they spent their first day arranging

their things around them

to make themselves a home

soon after breakfast the next day

they received a visit from their

landlord the gentleman who owned barton

cottage

sir john middleton was a good looking

cheerful man of about 40

who seemed really delighted by their

arrival

he welcomed them to barton

offering them anything from his own

house and garden barton park that was

lacking at the cottage

he showed a warm interest in their

comfort and hoped that they would meet

his own family socially as often as

possible

his kindness was not limited to words

because soon after he had left them

a large basket full of fruit and

vegetables arrived from the park

followed by another of meat and fish

his wife lady middleton

came to visit them the next day

the dashwoods were of course very

anxious to see a person on whom so much

of their comfort at barton must depend

although at first they admired the

elegance of her appearance and her

manners they soon realized that she did

not have her husband’s warmth

or anything of interest to say

however there was no lack of

conversation

as lady middleton had wisely brought her

eldest child with her a fine little boy

of about six

as a result there was always something

to talk about

the ladies had to ask his name and age

admire his beauty

and ask him questions

which his mother answered for him

a child should be taken on every social

call in order to assist conversation

in the present situation it took at

least 10 minutes to determine whether

the boy was most like his father

or mother

and why

everybody thought differently

and everybody was astonished at the

opinions of the others

the dashwoods would soon be given the

chance to discuss the rest of the

children

as sir john had made them promise to

have dinner at the park the next day

barton park was about half a mile from

the cottage

it was a large handsome house where the

middletons lived in great comfort

neither of them had taste or any

interest in books or music

so john was a sportsman

lady middleton a mother

he could only go shooting for half the

year while his wife was able to spoil

her children all year round

he was so hospitable that they almost

always had relations or friends staying

in the house

but lady middleton’s main interest lay

in the elegance of her table

and her domestic arrangements

of which she was extremely proud

sir john’s enjoyment of society was much

more real than his wife’s

he took delight in collecting about him

more young people than his house would

hold

and the noisier they were

the better he liked it

barton park was famous for its summer

parties and excursions

and its winter dances

sir john was delighted with mrs dashwood

and her young pretty daughters

when they arrived at the park that

evening

he was at the door to welcome them

and repeated several times his concern

that he had been unable to get any

fashionable young men to meet them

there was he said

only one gentleman there

a particular friend who was staying at

the house

but who was neither very young

nor very sociable

he apologized for the smallness of the

party

and promised that it would never happen

again

luckily lady middleton’s mother had just

arrived

and as she was a cheerful pleasant woman

he hoped the young ladies would not find

the evening too dull

mrs jennings his mother-in-law

was a cheerful fat

rather vulgar old lady

who laughed and talked a great deal

during dinner she said many amusing

things about lovers and husbands

and hope the miss dashwoods had not left

their hearts behind them in sussex

colonel brandon sir john’s particular

friend

seemed as different from his friend as

mrs jennings was from her daughter

he was silent

and serious

his appearance however was not

unpleasing

in spite of his being in marianne’s and

margaret’s opinion an absolute old

bachelor

because he was on the wrong side of 35.

after dinner marianne was invited to

sing and play the piano

sir john was loud in his admiration at

the end of every song

and as loud in his conversation with

others while every song lasted

lady middleton frowned at him for

talking but then requested a song which

marianne had just finished

only colonel brandon listened

attentively without any false show of

delight

marianne felt a respect for him that the

others with their lack of taste did not

deserve

he clearly took pleasure in music

although perhaps not with her own depth

of feeling

however

she was reasonable enough to accept that

a man as old as 35 like the colonel

may well have outlived real feeling and

true enjoyment

mrs jennings was a widow with a

comfortable fortune

she had lived to see both her daughters

respectively married and now had nothing

to do

but to marry off the rest of the world

she spent most of her time planning

weddings for all the young people she

knew

and was remarkably quick at discovering

attachments

soon after her arrival at barton

this quickness enabled her to inform the

middletons and the dashwoods

that colonel brandon was very much in

love with marianne

she was perfectly sure of it

it would be an excellent marriage

as he was rich

and she was handsome

for a long time mrs jennings had been

eager to get colonel brandon well

married

and she was always anxious to get a good

husband for every pretty girl

the immediate advantage to herself

was that she could make endless jokes

against them both

at the cottage she laughed at marianne

and at the park she laughed at the

colonel

marianne herself did not know whether to

be amused or annoyed

it is such a silly accusation mama

and i think it very unfeeling of mrs

jennings to laugh so cruelly at old

colonel brandon he’s old enough to be my

father

my dear

said mrs dashwood smiling

i cannot think a man five years younger

than myself so extremely ancient as he

appears to you

but mama really

he must have long outlived any feelings

of love by now

if he ever had any when he was younger

when is a man to be safe from such cruel

jokes if age and bodily weakness cannot

protect him

bodily weakness

said eleanor

i know that he is older than we are

but surely you must accept that he still

has the full use of his arms and legs

did you not hear him complain of having

a bad back

my dearest child said her mother

laughing

it must seem to you quite astonishing

that my life has lasted to the great age

of 40.

mama be serious

i know very well that colonel brandon is

not old enough for his friends to worry

yet about losing him

he may live for another 20 years

but 35 should have nothing to do with

marriage

perhaps said eleanor 35 and 17 had

better not have anything to do with

marriage together but a single woman of

27 for example

could easily consider colonel brandon’s

35 years no disadvantage

a woman of 27 said marianne after a

moment’s thought can never hope to feel

true love again

and if her home is uncomfortable or her

fortune small

i suppose that she could accept the

duties of a nurse in order to become a

wife

it would be a marriage of convenience if

colonel brandon married such a woman

the world would be happy with it

but in my eyes it would be no marriage

at all

it seems a little hard said elena

reasonably

that you consider colonel brandon so ill

that he is in need of nursing

only because he happened to complain

yesterday of a pain in his shoulder

after all it was a cold wet day

marianne’s views remained the same

soon after this however when eleanor had

left the room

marianne spoke to her mother with some

urgency in her voice

mama

i am anxious about edward ferris

i am sure he is ill

we have now been here almost two weeks

and he still has not come to see eleanor

my dear be patient answered mrs dashwood

i did not expect him so soon and i feel

sure eleanor does not expect him either

when we were talking yesterday of a new

fireplace for the spare bedroom

she said there was no hurry

as the room would not be needed for some

time

how strange

what can be the meaning of it

how cold how calm their last goodbyes

were

and eleanor is so self-controlled

she is never sad or restless or

miserable

i cannot understand her

chapter 3

a handsome stranger

the miss dashwoods now began to feel

really at home at barton

they went walking

and practiced their drawing and music

with far greater enjoyment than at any

time since the death of their

father they did not have many visitors

except for those from barton park

as there were few other houses within

walking distance

there was in fact a large comfortable

looking house about a mile from the

cottage in the village of alanam

but they heard that its owner an old

lady of good character called mrs smith

was unfortunately not well enough to mix

in society

they were beautiful walks all around

them

in the green wooded valleys and on the

hills behind the cottage

one morning marianne and margaret

taking no notice of their mothers and

eleanor’s warnings of rain

decided to walk on one of these hills

they climbed to the top

delighted to see blue sky between the

clouds

and laughing at the wind that caught at

their hair and clothes

nothing in the world could be better

than this called marianne

what a pity mamar and elena did not come

with us

but in a few minutes the blue sky

disappeared

the dark clouds gathered

and driving rain began to beat down on

their faces

surprised and disappointed they were

forced to turn back

fortunately they were not far from home

it was just a matter of running with all

possible speed down the steep side of

the hill which led to their garden gate

at first marianne was ahead

but a full step brought her suddenly to

the ground

and margaret unable to stop herself

carried on down the hill and through the

garden gate

a gentleman who was out shooting was

walking up the hill when marianne’s

accident happened

he put down his gun and ran to help her

she had hurt her ankle and could not

stand

the gentleman offered his assistance

and in spite of marianne’s protests

took her up in his arms and carried her

down the hill

he took her straight into the house and

placed her carefully on a sofa in the

sitting room

eleanor and her mother rose in

astonishment as the stranger entered

carrying

marianne

while they both looked at him

secretly admiring his unusually handsome

appearance

he apologized most politely for his rude

entrance

even if he had been old ugly and vulgar

mrs dashwood would have been extremely

grateful to him for taking care of her

child

but the influence of his looks and

elegance touched her deepest feelings

she thanked him again and again

and asked the name of the person to whom

she owed so much

he replied that his name was willoughby

his present home was at alanam

and he sincerely hoped that she would

allow him to call tomorrow to enquire

after miss dashwood

permission was immediately given and he

then departed

to make himself still more interesting

in the middle of a heavy shower of rain

there was general admiration of his

manly beauty

marianne had seen less of his person

than the others because of her natural

confusion when he lifted her in his arms

but his appearance and behavior

seemed all that was perfect to her

her imagination was busy her thoughts

were pleasant

and the pain of a turned ankle went

unnoticed

when sir john next visited them he heard

all about marianne’s accident

and was eagerly asked whether he knew of

any gentleman of the name of willoughby

at alanam

willoughby

cried sir john

of course i do

he comes here every year

i shall invite him to dinner on thursday

what sort of young man is he

a good man to know i can tell you

he shoots well and there isn’t a better

rider in england

and is that all you can say for him

cried marianne

but what does he think

what are the interests close to his

heart

so john looked puzzled

well i don’t know as much as that about

him

but he’s pleasant and sociable and has

got the nicest little gun dog i ever saw

did you see his dog

but who is he asked eleanor

where does he come from where does he

live

has he a house at allenham

this time sir john had more exact

answers to give

he told them mr willoughby had no house

of his own in devonshire but stayed

there only while visiting the old lady

mrs smith at alanam

it appeared that he was related to her

and would inherit her fortune

yes sir john added to eleanor he is well

worth catching

he has a house and land in somerset as

well

and if i were you

i wouldn’t allow my younger sister to

have him in spite of all this falling

down hills

miss marianne must not expect to have

all the men to herself

brandon will be jealous if she does not

take care

i do not believe said mrs dashwood

smiling that either of my daughters will

make any attempts at what you call

catching him

it is not an employment to which they

have been brought up

men are very safe with us however rich

they are

i am glad to hear however that he is a

respectable young man whom we can meet

socially

i remember last christmas

said sir john at a little dance at the

park

he danced from eight till four without

once sitting down

and he was up again at eight to go

shooting

was he

cried marianne with shining eyes

that is what i like a young man who is

enthusiastic and eager in all he does

who never gets tired

i see how it will be

said sir john

you will be interested in him now

and never think of poor brandon

marianne’s rescuer as margaret called

him

arrived at the cottage early next

morning

and was received by mrs dashwood with

more than politeness

during his visit

willoughby rapidly became aware of the

sense elegance affection and domestic

comfort of the family to whom an

accident had introduced him

both eleanor and marianne had pretty

faces and lovely figures

but in marianne’s beautiful dark eyes

burned an eager fire which drew

willoughby to her

she could not be silent when he spoke of

music and dancing and showed no shyness

in their discussion

they soon discovered how many interests

and opinions they shared

and long before his visit came to an end

they were talking and laughing together

like old friends

willoughby visited barton cottage every

day after that

at first his intention was supposedly to

inquire politely after marianne’s health

but soon he pretended no longer and came

to spend the whole day at her side in

complete enjoyment of her company

they read they talked they sang together

and marianne found in willoughby all the

taste and sensibility which edward

ferrers unfortunately lacked

mrs dashwood considered him as faultless

as marianne did

even eleanor saw nothing wrong in him

except for the habit which marianne

shared

of being too ready to express an opinion

about other people

and of putting his personal pleasure

above social correctness

marianne now began to realize she had

been wrong to believe there was no such

creature as the perfect man

willoughby met her idea of perfection

exactly

and his behavior showed that he shared

her wishes for their future

her mother too had thoughts of their

marriage

and secretly congratulated herself on

having two such sons-in-law as edward

and willoughby

eleanor however was concerned to see

that mrs jennings had been right

and colonel brandon appeared to be

deeply in love with marianne

what hope could there be for a silent

man of 35

against a sociable one of 25

perhaps she pitted him even more

because willoughby and marianne seemed

determined to laugh at him for being old

and dull

brandon is just the kind of man said

willoughby one day whom everybody speaks

well of

and nobody cares for

he is respected by all the family at the

park however said eleanor sharply

and his conversation is always pleasant

but he has nothing of interest to say

cried marianne

he has common sense that is what i like

about him he is perfectly respectable

well informed and i believe sincere

well miss dashwood said willoughby

laughing i have three unanswerable

reasons for disliking colonel brandon

he told me it would rain when i wanted

it to be fine

he does not approve of my new carriage

and i cannot persuade him to buy my

horse

so in spite of your very sensible

opinion i shall go on disliking him

forever

when they moved to barton

the dashwoods never imagined that their

days would be so completely filled with

parties

visits and excursions

so john could not rest if there were

young people to amuse

and every day there was a boat trip or a

supper party or a drive in the

countryside or a dance at the park

in every meeting of the kind willoughby

was included which gave him the

opportunity to develop his connection

with the dashwood family to show his

deep admiration for marianne and to

receive in her behavior to himself

the clearest possible proof of her

affection

eleanor could not be surprised at their

attachment

she only wished it could be less openly

shown

and once or twice tried to suggest to

marianne that she should have more

self-control

but marianne and willoughby too

believed that real feelings should never

be hidden

and that it would be false to do so

when willoughby was present

marianne had eyes for no one else

elena’s happiness was not as great as

her sisters

in devonshire she had found no companion

who could make her forget the delights

of her former home and sussex friends

only colonel brandon came closest to

being the kind of friend she needed

he often fell into conversation with her

as he seemed to find some relief in

talking to her about marianne

your sister i understand does not

approve of second attachments

he said one evening his eyes fixed on

marianne who was dancing with willoughby

no replied eleanor her opinions are all

romantic

she believes that we fall in love once

only in our lives

but i hope that in a few years she will

become more sensible

that may happen

but when a romantic young mind is forced

to change

what serious results there can be

i speak from experience

i knew a young lady once who

here he stopped suddenly

and appeared to think he had said too

much

eleanor felt almost sure that his was a

story of disappointed love

and her pity for him grew

the next morning

eleanor heard a piece of news that

astonished her

marianne told her with the greatest

delight

that willoughby had promised to give her

a horse

so that he and she could go riding

together

she had not given a moment’s thought to

the cost of keeping the animal

or to what society might think of her

receiving such an expensive present from

a young man who was not a relation

it took helena some time to make her

understand that she could not possibly

accept the gift

but finally marianne agreed although

unwillingly

the next day elena gained a still

clearer picture of marianne’s attachment

to willoughby

margaret came excitedly to tell her that

she was sure marianne would marry

willoughby very soon

oh elena she cried i have such a secret

to tell you

i saw them last night after tea

mr willoughby was begging marianne for

something

and then he cut off a long lock of her

hair kissed it

and put it in his pocket

elena now felt sure they were engaged

and was only surprised that they had not

told their relations and friends

so john’s latest plan for their

amusement was to visit a very fine house

and garden called whitwell the following

day

a large group of them would go in

carriages taking food and drink with

them in baskets and a most enjoyable day

was expected

as whitwell belonged to colonel

brandon’s brother-in-law the colonel

would go with them

it appeared that he alone could arrange

for them to visit the house

unfortunately however

while they were at breakfast at the park

where the whole party had gathered

a letter was delivered to the colonel

he looked quickly at it

and hurried out of the room without a

word

in a few moments he returned looking

more serious than usual

and explained that urgent business

called him to london

and he would not therefore be able to

join the party visiting whitwell

he would not explain further in spite of

mrs jennings insistent questioning

everybody except eleanor tried hard to

persuade him to put off his business so

that the excursion could take place

but he could not be influenced

and left the house after wishing them a

good day

as the excursion was no longer possible

it was decided that the party would

drive around the countryside instead and

the carriages were ordered

willowbiz was first

and marianne never looked happier than

when she got into it

he drove away very fast

and they were soon out of sight

nothing more was seen of them

until their return in the afternoon

that evening as they all sat down to

dinner

mrs jennings spoke quietly to marianne

but loud enough for eleanor to hear

i have found you out miss in spite of

your cleverness

i know where you spent the morning

marianne blushed and said quickly where

mrs jennings smiled knowingly

i hope you like your house miss marianne

it is certainly very large

and when i come to see you in it i hope

you will have refurnished it

it badly needed new furniture when i was

last there

marianne turned away in confusion

mrs jennings laughed loudly and

explained that she had discovered from

the servants that marianne and

willoughby had gone to allen

and spent a considerable time going all

over mrs smith’s house

elena found this difficult to believe

marianne had never been introduced to

mrs smith

and it would have been very bad manners

for her to enter the house while mrs

smith was in it

however when she asked her sister

she found that the story was true

and marianne was quite angry with her

for doubting it

why should i not visit the house cried

marianne i never spent a pleasant a

morning in my life

i am afraid replied eleanor quietly but

firmly

that whatever is pleasant

is not always correct

after some minutes of serious thought

marianne said

perhaps eleanor you may be right i

should not have gone

but the rooms are lovely there is a

beautiful little sitting room which

would be delightful with modern

furniture

she would have described every room in

the house if eleanor had let her

eleanor had no time to wonder why

colonel brandon had been so suddenly

called away all her thoughts now

centered on marianne and willoughby’s

extraordinary silence about their

engagement

there seemed no reason why they should

not openly tell her mother and herself

even if they did not plan to marry very

soon

willoughby was not rich

indeed he often complained he was poor

so he might have to wait for his

inheritance before marrying

but this secrecy was so opposed to their

general ideas of openness and honesty

that eleanor began to doubt whether they

were really engaged

nothing could express more affection for

them all than williby’s behavior

he seemed to consider the cottage his

home and when mrs dashwood mentioned the

future building work she was planning

he appeared almost horrified and begged

her not to change even one stone

no mrs dashwood he cried

do not spoil this house

it is perfect as it is

remember what happiness i have known

here promise me you will change nothing

nothing at all

to please him mrs dashwood dutifully

promised

i am glad of your promise

now i would ask you one more thing

tell me that not only your home will

remain the same

but that i shall always find you and

your family unchanged

and that you will always consider me

with the kindness which has made you all

so dear to me

the promise was given

and willibis behavior that evening

was a proof of his happiness in their

society

chapter 4 departures and arrivals

the next morning mrs dashwood with two

of her daughters went to visit lady

middleton

marianne wished to remain at home

and her mother thinking that no doubt

willoughby had promised to call on her

while she was alone

was quite happy to agree

when they returned from the park they

found as expected

willowby’s carriage waiting outside the

cottage

but what they did not expect as they

entered the house

was to see marianne rush out of the

sitting room sobbing uncontrollably and

run upstairs

surprised and worried they went into the

room

where they found only willoughby

his face showed signs of the same strong

feelings that had moved marianne

his marianne ill

cried mrs dashwood

i hope not

he replied trying to look cheerful

indeed it is i who may expect to be ill

as i am now suffering under a very heavy

disappointment

i am unable to visit you any longer

my cousin mrs smith has this morning

decided to send me to london on business

as a poor dependent relation i must do

what she asks

i have already left elena

and now i have come to say goodbye to

you

this is very unfortunate

but mrs smith’s business will not keep

you from us for very long i hope

he reddened as he replied

you are very kind

but i have no hope of returning to

devonshire immediately

my visits to mrs smith are never

repeated within the year

and is mrs smith your only friend

is allenum the only house where you are

welcome

my dear willoughby

surely you do not need to wait for an

invitation to barton cottage

his color deepened

and with his eyes fixed on the ground he

only replied

you are too good

mrs dashwood looked at eleanor with

surprise and eleanor felt just as

astonished

after a moment’s silence willoughby

added confusedly

at present my

my time is not my own i cannot hope

he stopped

then smiling weakly he said

it is foolish to go on in this manner

i will not punish myself any longer by

remaining among friends whose society it

is impossible for me now to enjoy

hurriedly he said goodbye

and left the house

his carriage was soon out of sight

mrs dashwood’s concern and alarm at his

sudden departure were too great for her

to express

eleanor also felt extremely disturbed by

willoughby’s change behavior

one moment she feared that he had never

had any serious intention of marrying

marianne and the next that some

unfortunate argument had taken place

between him and her sister

but her strongest feeling was one of

pity for marianne

who must now be in the depths of the

most violent sorrow and her romantic

nature would consider it a duty to feed

and encourage her misery

soon mrs dashwood felt able to discuss

the situation with her eldest daughter

she was now more cheerful

and had persuaded herself that

willoughby was only leaving devonshire

on the orders of his rich relation

because mrs smith suspected and

disapproved of his engagement to

marianne

his dearest wish she went on will be to

return to barton as soon as he can

eleanor listening patiently agreed that

this was quite possible

but if they are engaged she said

although it may be necessary to hide the

truth from mrs smith

there is no reason to hide it from us

my dear child cried her mother

it is strange for you to accuse

willoughby and marianne of hiding their

feelings when you have accused them of

showing their feelings too openly

i want no proof of their affection said

eleanor

but of their engagement i do

i am perfectly happy with both

has not his behavior to marianne for at

least the last fortnight shown that he

loved her and considered her his future

wife

is it possible eleanor to doubt their

engagement

willoughby must be aware of your

sister’s love for him

how could he leave her perhaps for

months without telling her of his

affection

i confess said eleanor that everything

points towards their engagement

except for one thing there’s silence on

the subject

and for me that is the greatest

difficulty of all

oh eleanor i do not understand you

you prefer to believe in bad rather than

good

do you suspect willoughby

but is he not a man of honor and feeling

you cannot really think he is deceiving

marianne

i hope not

i believe not

cried eleanor i sincerely love

willoughby

and i find it painful to suspect his

intentions

perhaps indeed you are right

and there is a simple explanation for

his strange behavior this morning

they saw nothing of marianne until

dinner

when she took her place at the table

without saying a word

her eyes were red and her face pale

she avoided looking at anyone and could

neither eat nor speak

she continued in the depths of misery

all evening

any mention of anything to do with

willoughby made her burst into tears

instantly

and although her family were most

anxious for her comfort it was

impossible for them to keep clear of

every subject which her feelings

connected with him

marianne would have thought herself very

insensitive if she’d been able to sleep

at all the first night after parting

from willoughby she would have been

ashamed to look her family in the face

if she had not risen from her bed more

in need of rest than when she laid down

on it

but there was no danger of this

happening

she spent most of the night sobbing

bitterly

and got up with a headache

she passed the rest of the day and

several more days after that in feeding

her sorrow by playing all willowby’s

favorite songs

by reading the books they used to read

together

and by walking alone on the hills where

they used to walk

until her heart was so heavy

that no further sadness could be added

no letter from willoughby came

and none seemed expected by marianne

her mother was surprised

and eleanor again

began to worry

one morning about a week later

elena persuaded marianne to join her

sisters in a walk

as they went along the road away from

the cottage

they saw a gentleman riding towards them

and at once marianne cried out in

delight

it is he i know it is she ran eagerly to

meet him

but eleanor called out

marianne i think you’re wrong

it is not willoughby

but marianne would not listen

and continued running until she was

quite near the rider

when she stopped suddenly

she had realized it was not willoughby

and her disappointment was almost too

great to bear

just then the gentleman called to her

and she recognized edward ferrers

he was the only person in the world who

could at that moment be forgiven for not

being willoughby

and she smiled at him holding back her

tears

after the greetings however

she watched with growing surprise his

polite and distant behavior to eleanor

which was very unlike a lover’s

and when she heard that he had already

been in devonshire for a fortnight

without coming to see eleanor

she almost began to feel dislike for him

have you been to sussex recently

asked elena

i was at noland about a month ago

replied edward

how does dear dear norland look cried

marianne

dear dear norland said eleanor

probably looks much the same as it

usually does at this time of year

the woods and walks thickly covered with

dead leaves

oh cried marianne

those falling leaves gave me such

delight

how i used to love seeing them driven

around me by the wind

now there is no one to watch them no one

to care

it is not everyone said eleanor who has

your passion for dead leaves

they all returned to the cottage

together where edward received the

kindest possible welcome from mrs

dashwood

under her warm influence he began to

lose his shyness or coldness

and to become more like himself

but he still did not seem cheerful

this was noticed by the whole family

well edward

said mrs dashwood after dinner

what are your mother’s plans for you at

present

does mrs ferris still want you to be a

politician

no

i hope my mother realizes i can never do

that

i am afraid she and i will never agree

in our choice of a profession for me

as you know

i did not enjoy studying law

i have always preferred the church but

that is too ordinary for my family

so how are you to become famous

because that is what all your family

wants i understand

i shall not attempt it

i have no wish to be grand

or important

and i have every reason to hope i never

shall be

i know you are not ambitious edward

no

i wish like everybody else

to be perfectly happy but in my own way

greatness will not make me happy

how right you are cried marianne

what has wealth or greatness to do with

happiness

has very little said eleanor

but wealth has much to do with it

eleanor cried marianne shocked

money can only give happiness where

there is nothing else to give it

beyond answering our basic needs money

is of no use to us at all

perhaps said eleanor smiling we may

agree in the end

your basic needs and my wealth are very

much alike i expect

come

what is your basic figure

two thousand a year not more than that

eleanor laughed

two thousand a year

one is my wealth

i guessed what you would say

and yet two thousand a year is not a

large income a family cannot live on

less

the right number of servants a carriage

and horses for riding cannot be paid for

with less than that

elena smiled again

to hear her sister describing so

accurately her future life with

willoughby

during edward’s visit eleanor was

careful to behave to him with her usual

politeness and interest

but in her heart she was alarmed by his

coldness towards her

it was clear that he was unhappy

and she doubted very much whether he

still loved her

she could see however that his feelings

were confused

sometimes for a moment

he looked at her as he used to

and this gave her hope again

the next day

as marianne was passing some tea to

edward

she noticed a ring on his finger and

mentioned it

i never saw you wear a ring before

edward she cried

is that your sister’s hair in the ring

but surely hers is darker

edward blushed deeply

and looking quickly at eleanor said yes

it is fanny’s hair

it looks lighter than it really is

eleanor had met his eye and knew the

truth

she felt sure that the hair was her own

but it must have been taken from her

without her knowing

she was not in the mood however to

disapprove of this action

and changed the subject quickly

the dashwoods were sorry to hear that

edward had to leave them after only a

week

although he expressed his great pleasure

at seeing such old friends

and could give no good reason for his

departure

there seemed to be something forcing him

to leave

eleanor blamed his mother for his rather

odd behavior

his lack of cheerfulness could easily be

explained by his lack of independence

she wondered when if ever

his mother would finally drop all her

ambitions for him and allow him to make

his own choices in life

a more comforting thought was the memory

of his pleasant looks and words to her

during his visit

and above all

the proof of his affection that he wore

round his finger

in spite of the painfulness of edward’s

departure elena was determined to hide

her feelings and show a brave face to

the world

doing this did not lessen her sadness

but at least prevented her family from

worrying about her

marianne could not admire such behavior

so unlike her own

she believed that self-control was easy

for calm natures like eleanor’s

and simply impossible for passionate

ones like hers

one morning soon after edward had left

sir john and lady middleton and mrs

jennings came to visit the dashwoods

bringing with them mr and mrs palmer

charlotte palmer was mrs jennings

younger daughter

but was completely unlike her sister

lady middleton in every way

she was short and rather fat and had a

very pretty face and smiled or laughed

all the

time her husband was a serious looking

young man

who made no effort to please or be

pleased

he read the newspaper for most of the

visit

only lifting his head from time to time

to give a cross unsmiling answer to his

wife’s foolish questions

she however took an immediate liking to

eleanor and marianne and spent much time

in conversation with eleanor in

particular

when eleanor realized that their home

was in somerset near willoughby’s

she hoped to hear more about his

character

so she asked mrs palmer if they knew him

oh yes i know him extremely well replied

mrs palmer

not that i ever spoke to him indeed but

i have often seen him in town

everybody likes and admires him

i know very well why you ask

i am delighted that your sister is to

marry him

you know much more of the matter than i

do said ellen are surprised

if you have any reason to expect that

don’t pretend it’s not true because you

know it’s what everybody in london is

talking of

my dear mrs palmer

on my honor they all talk of it

i met colonel brandon on bond street and

he told me of it immediately

you surprised me very much

i would not expect colonel brandon to

give such information even if it were

true well when i met him i said colonel

i hear there is a new family at barton

cottage and mama says the girls are very

pretty and that one of them is engaged

to mr willoughby is it true

and he said nothing

but from his expression i knew it was

certain

of course i have known colonel brandon a

long time

i believe she added in a low voice

he would have been very glad to marry me

if he could

but mama did not think him a good enough

husband for me

in any case i am much happier as i am

mr palmer is just the kind of man i like

chapter five

lucy steele secret

the palmers returned to somerset the

next day

but it was not long before sir john had

more visitors at barton park

on a morning’s excursion to exeter

he and his mother-in-law had met two

young ladies the miss steeles

whom mrs jennings discovered to be

distant cousins

sir john always eager for society

immediately invited them to stay at the

park as soon as they were available

and most fortunately

they were able to accept the invitation

almost at

once the young ladies arrived

their appearance was by no means

unfashionable

their dress was elegant

and their manners were very polite

they were delighted with the house and

furniture and they happened to be so

madly fond of children that lady

middleton had an excellent opinion of

them by the time they had been at the

park for an hour

sir john hurried off to barton cottage

to tell the miss dashwoods

they are the sweetest girls in the world

he said

elena smiled at this

she knew that for sir john

the sweetest girls in the world were in

every part of england with every

possible kind of face figure and

character

so john wanted the whole family to walk

to the park immediately and look at his

guests

kind thoughtful man

it was painful to him even to keep a

third cousin to himself

but in spite of his efforts

he could only gain the dashwood’s

promise to visit the park in a day or

two

when the promised visit took place

they found nothing to admire in the

appearance of the elder miss steele who

was nearly 30 with a very plain face

however the younger miss lucy steele who

was not more than 23

had a considerable beauty

her face was pretty

she had a sharp quick eye

and she held herself with a certain air

elena soon noticed the pleasing manners

and constant attentions with which they

were winning lady middleton’s approval

they were full of praise for the beauty

and intelligence of her children

and full of admiration for lady

middleton herself

fortunately for those who use these

clever tricks

a fond mother can never hear enough

praise of her children and therefore

will swallow anything

lady middleton watched proudly as her

spoiled children pulled the miss steals

his hair stole their sewing scissors and

tore their books

she felt no doubt that the miss steels

were enjoying this quite as much as her

children

she was only surprised that eleanor and

marianne should sit so calmly without

taking any part in the enjoyment

how playful dear little william is she

said lovingly as her second boy

violently pulled ms steele’s finger

and here is my sweet anna maria such a

quiet little thing

she bent to kiss her daughter but

unfortunately a pin in her dress

scratched the child’s neck

violent screams rang out and the

missteels rushed to help the suffering

child

the little girl realized that the louder

she screamed the more attention she

would receive

and nothing could be done to calm her

finally her mother was forced to carry

her upstairs in search of her nurse

and the four young ladies were left in a

quietness which the room had not known

for many hours

poor little creature

said the elder miss steel

i do not think there was any real cause

for alarm said marianne firmly

what a sweet woman lady middleton is

said lucy steele

marianne was silent as it was impossible

for her to say what she did not feel

it was eleanor who was forced to reply

she is a very fond mother she said

truthfully

and the children cried lucy i love to

see children full of life and fun

i cannot bear them quiet

i confess replied eleanor that while i

am at barton park

i never think of quiet children with any

displeasure

a short silence was broken by the elder

miss steele who suddenly changed the

subject by saying

how do you like devonshire mustache wood

i suppose you were very sorry to leave

sussex

norland is a beautiful place is it not

we have heard said john admire it said

lucy quickly

eleanor was surprised that the miss

steele seemed to know so much about her

family

indeed it is a lovely place

and had you a great many handsome young

bachelors there

are our standstill

i’m afraid you may find it dull here

i do like a place with a lot of

good-looking young men

but they must dress well and behave

politely

i suppose your brother was quite an

elegant young man before he married

well replied elena

if he was before he married

he still is

because he has not changed at all

oh dear

i never think of married men being

handsome young men they have other

things to do

good heavens anne cried her sister

you can talk of nothing but young men

you will make miss dashwood believe you

think of nothing else

and she turned to another subject

this one meeting with the miss deals

would have been quite enough for elena

who disliked the vulgar freedom and

foolishness of the elder and the clever

pretenses of the younger

she left the park without wishing to

know them better

the miss steeles however thought

differently

and so did the sociable sir john

soon the young ladies of both houses

were sitting or walking together for an

hour or two almost every day

anxious that they should get to know

each other well

so john had helpfully informed the ms

steeles of all the details of the

dashwood’s lives

and soon ann steele congratulated elena

on her sister’s fortunate engagement to

a very fine young man

what a good thing to be married so young

she added

i hear he is extremely handsome

i hope you may have such good luck

yourself

but perhaps you have someone already

the miss stills also heard from sir john

with many smiles and jokes

about eleanor’s suspected attachment to

a young man who had recently visited

devonshire

his name is pharas whispered sir john so

that everyone could hear but it’s a

great secret

ferrous

repeated the elderly steel

mr ferros

your sister-in-law’s brother miss

dashwood

a very pleasant young man we know him

very well

how can you say that anne cried lucy who

nearly always corrected everything her

sister said

we have only seen him once or twice at

my uncle’s

eleanor was astonished

who was this uncle

where did he live

and how did they come to know edward

she wished very much to have the subject

continued but nothing more was said

about it and she preferred not to ask

questions herself

in the next few days

lucy missed no opportunity of engaging

eleanor in conversation

she was naturally clever and often

amusing and as a companion for half an

hour elena found her quite pleasant

however she knew nothing of books music

or painting in spite of her constant

efforts to appear well informed

elena pitted her for her lack of

education

but disliked her insincerity her

dishonesty and the narrow self-interest

that lay behind all her words and

actions

one day as they were walking alone

together lucy said

you will think my question strange no

doubt

but do you personally know your

sister-in-law’s mother mrs ferris

ellen i did think the question’s strange

i’ve never seen her

she answered a little distantly

then you cannot tell me what sort of

woman she is

no replied eleanor

cautious of giving her real opinion of

edward’s mother

i know nothing of her

lucy looked fixedly at eleanor

i wish i could tell you

i hope you’ll believe i’m not just being

curious or impolite

she hesitated

i do want your good opinion

and i’m sure

i would not have the smallest fear of

trusting you

indeed i would be very glad of your

advice

i am in such an uncomfortable situation

i am sorry you do not happen to know mrs

ferris

i am also sorry

said eleanor in great astonishment

if it could be of any use to you to know

my opinion of her

but i never understood you were at all

connected with that family

i do not wonder at your surprise

mrs ferris is nothing to me at present

but the time may come when we may be

very closely connected

she looked shyly down as she said this

with only a quick look sideways at

eleanor

good heavens cried elena

what do you mean

connected with mr robert ferris

and she did not feel much delighted with

the idea of such a sister-in-law

no

replied lucy not with mr robert ferris i

never saw him in my life but

fixing her eyes on eleanor with his

elder brother edward

elena looked at lucy in silent

astonishment

you must be surprised continued lucy

because of course he never mentioned it

to any of your family

it is a great secret

and none of my relations know of it

except anne

i would never have told you if i had not

trusted you completely

and i really thought i ought to explain

my behavior in asking about mrs farah’s

i know mr ferris will not be displeased

when he hears i have told you

because he has the highest opinion in

the world of all your family

and looks on you and the other miss

dashwoods quite as his own sisters

elena forced herself to speak calmly

may i ask how long you’ve been engaged

we’ve been engaged for four years now

four years elena still felt unable to

believe it

my sister and i often stayed at my

uncle’s house near plymouth here in

devonshire

edward came to study law there for four

years

and so we met and became engaged

i was very unwilling to enter into it as

you may imagine without his mother’s

approval

but i was too young and loved him too

well to be as cautious as i ought to

have been

dear edward

look

i carry his picture everywhere with me

she took from her pocket a small

painting and showed it to eleanor

eleanor’s last doubts of the truth of

lucy’s story disappeared as she

recognized edward’s face

you can’t think how i’m suffering

continued lucy

everything is so uncertain

and we see each other so infrequently

i wonder my heart is not broken

here she put a hand to her eyes

but eleanor did not feel sympathetic

sometimes lucy added i think it would be

better for both of us if i broke off the

engagement completely

she looked sharply at her companion

but then i cannot bear the thought of

making him miserable

and to me too

he is so very dear

what would you advise me to do miss

tashwood

i am afraid i cannot advise you in such

a situation

you must decide for yourself poor edward

his mother must provide for him one day

but he’s so depressed about his future

did you not think him unhappy when he

arrived at barton recently

yes

said eleanor aware of yet another fact

in support of lucy’s story

he had been staying with us at my

uncle’s

it made him so miserable not being able

to stay more than a fortnight and seeing

me so upset

he still feels just the same

i heard from him before i left exeter

taking a letter from her pocket

she waved the envelope in eleanor’s

direction

eleanor recognized edward’s writing

and finally had to accept that they must

be engaged

her heart sank within her

poor edward does not even have a picture

of me lucy went on although i have his

but i gave him a lock of my hair in a

ring recently and that was some comfort

to him he said

perhaps you noticed the ring on his

finger

i did

said elena

her voice was calm

but her calmness hid an unhappiness

greater than she had ever felt before

she was shocked

confused

and miserable

here their conversation ended and

eleanor was left alone to think

she felt sure that edward’s affection

was still hers

he certainly loved her

and had never intentionally deceived her

unfortunately he was now tied by an

early and foolish engagement to a pretty

but insincere vulgar and selfish girl

whose main interest lay in his future

income

elena’s tears flowed more for edward

than herself

she had lost her chance of happiness

with him

but would only be miserable for a time

while he had nothing at all to look

forward to in life

over the next few days eleanor took

great care to hide her unhappiness

she was glad to spare her family the

shocking news of edward’s secret

engagement

as she knew that their affection and

sorrow would only add to her misery

at convenient moments she returned to

the subject in quiet conversation with

lucy

she learned that lucy was determined to

hold edward to the engagement

and that lucy was jealous of her because

edward apparently always spoke of her

with great admiration

indeed

what other reason could lucy have for

telling eleanor her secret

if not to warn her to keep away from

edward

elena realized with great sadness

that edward was not only without

affection for his future wife

but that he had not even the chance of

being reasonably happy in marriage

chapter six

elena and marianne in london

mrs jennings now began to make plans to

return to her house in london

and quite unexpectedly invited the elder

miss dashwoods to stay with her there

i’ve set my heart on it she said in her

comfortable way

we shall have a very pleasant time

together i know

and if you do not like to go visiting

with me you can always go with one of my

daughters

i have had such good luck finding

husbands for my girls that i am sure

your mother will think me a suitable

person to look after you

if i don’t get at least one of you

married it won’t be my fault

eleanor was unwilling to accept

as she knew that her mother would miss

her and marianne very much

she was also aware that edward and the

miss steeles would be in london at that

time and wish to avoid meeting them

but marianne’s eagerness to see

willoughby who would most likely be in

town by then gave mrs dashwood an

excellent reason for insisting that they

should accept mrs jennings generous

invitation

and so it was agreed

during the three-day journey eleanor had

plenty of opportunity to compare

marianne’s delightful expectations with

her own acceptance of a cheerless future

it was clear from marianne’s bright eyes

and happy smiles that she depended on

finding willoughby in london

and eleanor determined to find out more

about his character and intentions

on their arrival at mrs jennings

handsome house the young ladies were

given charlotte’s old room a large and

comfortable apartment

eleanor immediately sat down to write to

her mother and marianne also sat down

with pen and paper

i am writing home marianne said eleanor

perhaps you should put off writing for a

day or two

i am not writing to mama replied

marianne quickly

eleanor realized marianne must be

writing to willoughby

and thought with pleasure that the fact

of their corresponding must mean they

were engaged

the letters were finished and sent to

the post

during the rest of the evening marianne

appeared very agitated

she ate almost nothing and seemed to be

anxiously listening to the sound of

every carriage

suddenly after dinner there was a knock

on the front door

and marianne jumped up moving eagerly

towards the sitting room door

she could not help crying oh elena it is

willoughby

and seemed almost ready to throw herself

into his arms when colonel brandon

entered

it was too great a shock to bear with

calmness and she immediately left the

room

elena greeted the colonel

she was particularly sorry that a man so

in love with her sister

should see that marianne felt nothing

but bitter disappointment in meeting him

he was clearly astonished and concerned

to see marianne leave the room in such a

way

is your sister ill

he asked anxiously

eleanor answered unwillingly that she

was

and talked of headaches and

overtiredness and anything that could

reasonably explain her sister’s behavior

their conversation continued on more

impersonal subjects

until mrs jennings entered the room with

all her usual noisy cheerfulness

oh colonel said she

i am so glad to see you

and you see

i have brought two young ladies with me

your friend miss marianne is here too

you will not be sorry to hear that

i don’t know what you and mr willoughby

will do about her between you

but colonel

where have you been since we saw you at

barton park

come

let’s have no secrets among friends

he replied politely but gave no real

answer and did not stay long

the ladies all agreed to go to bed early

the next morning marianne looked happy

again

yesterday’s disappointment seemed

forgotten in the cheerful expectation of

what was to happen that day

they spent the morning shopping in a

fashionable part of london with mrs

palmer

during this time marianne was restless

and inattentive always looking out at

the street and wildly impatient to be at

home again

as soon as they returned she ran in

eagerly

has no letter been left for me she asked

the servant

no miss he replied

are you quite sure no card or letter or

note

how very strange

she said in a low disappointed voice

strange indeed

elena thought worriedly

if willoughby is in town

why does he not come alright

oh my dear mother you must be wrong to

permit an engagement between a daughter

so young and a man so little known to

continue in such a doubtful and

mysterious manner

the rest of the day marianne seemed

agitated unable to concentrate on

anything

when they met at breakfast the next

morning mrs jennings said

if this sunny weather goes on much

longer sir john will not want to leave

barton to come to london

it’s a sad thing for a sportsman to lose

a day’s shooting

that is true

cried marianne suddenly cheerful

i had not thought of that

this fine weather will keep many

sportsmen in the country

but now it is january it cannot last

i expect we shall have frost soon and

then they will all come to town

why it may even freeze tonight

during the next few days eleanor was

both amused and saddened to see

marianne’s newfound interest in the

weather

the wind has changed has it not eleanor

i feel sure it is colder than this

morning

i think we shall have a frost tonight

mrs jennings was always very kind to her

two young guests

her domestic arrangements were generous

and her friends were pleasant if a

little dull

colonel brandon visited them almost

every day

he came to look at marianne and talk to

eleanor

who saw with concern his continued

affection for her sister

about a week after their arrival they

discovered willowby’s card on the table

when they return from their mornings

drive

good heavens cried marianne he has been

here while we were out

from this moment her mind was never

quiet

the expectation of seeing him every hour

of the day made her unfit for anything

she insisted on being left at home the

next morning when the others went out

when a note was delivered the next day

she stepped quickly forward to take it

for me she cried

but it was for mrs jennings and she was

again disappointed

you are expecting a letter then said

eleanor unable to keep silent any longer

yes

a little

not much

there was a short pause

you have no confidence in me marianne

elena how can you say that you have

confidence in no one

me

replied eleanor in some confusion

indeed marianne i have nothing to tell

nor i answered marianne firmly so our

situations are alike

neither of us has anything to tell you

because you communicate nothing and i

because i hide nothing

and eleanor aware that she had promised

not to tell lucy steele’s secret

felt she could not demand greater

openness from marianne than she was

herself ready to offer

the next evening was spent at a dance at

lady middleton’s london home

once marianne realized willoughby was

not present

she took no interest in any of the

guests and complained that she found

dancing too tiring

but worse was yet to come

on their return mrs jennings told them

that willoughby had been invited

and expressed her surprise that he had

not appeared

marianne looked extremely hurt

and eleanor decided to write to their

mother asking her to find out the truth

from marianne

elena had only just finished her letter

the next morning when colonel brandon

arrived

marianne who hated visitors of any kind

except one left the room before he

entered it and eleanor found herself

alone with him

he sat for a time without saying a word

and then asked her in an agitated manner

whether he should congratulate her on

gaining a brother-in-law

elena was not prepared for such a

question and asked him what he meant

he tried to smile as he continued

your sister’s engagement to mr

willoughby is very generally known

her own family do not know it elena

answered

surprised he said

i am so sorry

i fear you may think me impolite

i had not supposed any secrecy was

intended as they openly correspond

just now when the servant let me in i

saw an envelope in his hand with mr

willoughby’s address on it in your

sister’s writing

i came to inquire but i am afraid i know

the answer

is it impossible for me to

but i would have no chance of succeeding

tell me i beg you that it is all

arranged then i shall have no choice but

to hide my feelings

i

i am not astonished to hear of their

correspondence

replied eleanor choosing her words

carefully

and i am well aware of the affection

they have for each other

although they have not yet informed us

of the details of their engagement

he listened silently

i wish your sister all imaginable

happiness

and i hope that willoughby will try to

deserve her

he said in a voice full of feeling and

then rose to leave

in the next few days willoughby neither

came nor wrote

marianne was losing hope becoming

depressed and careless of her appearance

she took no pleasure in dressing for a

party she and eleanor were to attend

with lady middleton

when they arrived in the hot crowded

room

she sank into a chair not even looking

at the other guests

eleanor however saw willoughby standing

nearby in conversation with a very

elegant young lady

she turned to marianne who noticed him

at that moment

her whole face shone with sudden delight

and she would have run to him at once if

her sister had not caught hold of her

good heavens

marianne cried he is there oh why does

he not look at me why cannot i speak to

him

i beg you be calm said eleanor try to

hide your feelings

but this was impossible for marianne

she sat there her anxiety and impatience

written clearly on her face

at last willoughby turned round and

looked at them both

marianne jumped up and held out her hand

affectionately to him

he came closer

and spoke to eleanor rather than her

sister

asking in a hurried manner after mrs

dashwood

marianne blushed deeply and cried

what is the meaning of this willoughby

will you not shake hands with me

he could not avoid it then but he held

her hand only for a moment

i did myself the honor of calling on you

last week when you were unfortunately

not at home

but have you not received my letters

cried marianne in the wildest anxiety

there must be some terrible mistake tell

me willoughby i beg you what is the

matter

he looked ashamed

but on catching the eye of the young

lady with whom he had been talking his

expressions seemed to harden

yes he said

i had the pleasure of receiving

information of your arrival in town

which you were so good as to send me

and turned away to join his friend

marianne looking horribly white

was unable to stand and eleanor helped

her to a chair

soon willoughby was seen to leave the

party and as marianne was clearly unwell

elena asked lady middleton to take them

home

nothing was said between the sisters as

marianne was suffering too much to speak

elena now realized that for willoughby

the attachment was over

and she felt extreme distaste for his

manner of ending it

neither sister slept much that night

and it was still dark when eleanor was

woken by the sound of agitated sobbing

she saw marianne only half dressed

writing as fast as a constant flow of

tears would permit her

marianne

may i ask

said elena gently

no eleanor

ask nothing

you will soon know all

this was said with a sort of desperate

calmness which lasted only as long as

she spoke

it seemed probable that she was writing

for the last time to willoughby

the letter was given to a servant to be

delivered by hand and the sisters went

down to breakfast

soon afterwards a letter arrived from

marianne

who went deathly pale and instantly ran

out of the room

mrs jennings laughed comfortably

is that a love letter from willoughby

well well i never saw a young woman so

passionately in love in my life

i hope he won’t keep her waiting much

longer

eager to know what willoughby had

written

eleanor hurried to their room

marianne was lying on her bed sobbing

violently

eleanor took her sister’s hand

kissed her affectionately several times

and burst into tears herself marianne

although unable to speak

seemed to feel her sister’s loving

sympathy

and silently gave her willoughby’s

letter to read

my dear madam

i have just had the honor of receiving

your letter for which i thank you

i am concerned to find there was

anything in my behavior last night that

you did not approve of

and i beg your forgiveness

i shall always remember my former visits

to your family with the most grateful

pleasure

but i hope i have never given anyone

reason to think that i felt more for you

than i ever expressed

you will accept that i could never have

meant more

when you understand that my affections

have long been engaged

and it will not be many weeks before the

lady and i are married

i obey your orders to return your

letters

and the lock of hair which you so kindly

offered me

your obedient servant john willoughby

elena was horrified

she had expected a confession

explanations and reasons

but not expressed in a manner so far

from every honorable and gentlemanly

feeling

how could willoughby have written a

letter so cruel

so hurtful

it was a relief to her that marianne had

escaped any connection with such a man

she turned to her sister who now felt

able to speak

poor eleanor

how unhappy i make you

i only wish there were anything i could

do which might be of comfort to you

oh eleanor

i am so miserable

said marianne

before her voice was completely lost in

passionate and bitter sobbing

calm yourself dear marianne

think of how much more you would have

suffered if the discovery of his real

character had come at the end of your

engagement

engagement

cried marianne there has been no

engagement

he has not made or broken any promise to

me

but he told you that he loved you

yes

no

never absolutely

he never said it in so many words

but every day i read it in his eyes

i felt myself as firmly engaged as if

lawyers had written the agreement for us

unfortunately he did not feel the same

he did eleanor for weeks and weeks he

did

this lock of hair which he says i

offered him he begged and begged me for

it on his knees

and now oh

oh

eleanor was quite alarmed for her

sister’s health as the violence of her

sobbing grew

but she managed to persuade her to take

some medicine to calm her restless pain

of mind and body

kind mrs jennings showed real concern

when she visited the patient

she had heard that marianne’s rival was

a miss grey

a young woman with fifty thousand pounds

a year and that willoughby had seriously

overspent on his carriages and horses

and needed money urgently

mrs jennings had no words hard enough to

describe his behavior

she was sincerely sorry she had joked so

often about marianne’s attachment

but with the return of her natural

cheerfulness hoped that it would all be

for the best because now marianne could

marry colonel brandon after all

chapter 7

the truth about willoughby

the next day marianne felt just as

miserable and could talk about nothing

but willoughby

with affectionate words elena encouraged

her to talk about her feelings

marianne was determined to avoid mrs

jennings presence however

she cannot feel eleanor she cried

her kindness is not sympathy

she is only interested in me because she

will enjoy telling her friends all the

details of my sad situation

it is unfortunate that many people of

excellent intelligence and character

like marianne are neither reasonable nor

fair

then something happened after breakfast

which sank mrs jennings still lower in

marianne’s opinion

the sisters were in their room when mrs

jennings hurried in holding out a letter

in her hand and with a cheerful smile on

her face

now my dear she cried i bring you

something that i am sure will do you

good

at once marianne imagined a letter from

willoughby full of affection and

believable explanations

instantly followed by willoughby himself

who would throw himself passionately at

her feet

the work of one moment was destroyed by

the next

in front of her eyes was her mother’s

writing

never unwelcome till then and in the

bitterness of her disappointment she

felt she had reached the depths of her

suffering

she could not speak

and the tears poured down her face

mrs jennings was not at all aware of

what she had done

and with many kind words of sympathy

soon left the miss dashwoods to read the

letter together

it brought them no comfort

as it expressed mrs dashwood’s complete

confidence in and affection for

willoughby

marianne’s tears flowed even faster when

she thought how shocked and saddened her

dear mother would be to hear the news

she was now very eager to return home to

devonshire

eleanor sat down with a heavy heart to

write to her mother again

telling her how willoughby had behaved

and asking what they should do

just then

there was a knock on the front door

and marianne looking out the window saw

colonel brandon outside

she hurried away to her room and eleanor

remained to greet him

he seemed disturbed and unhappy and

asked anxiously after marianne

i have come hoping to find you alone

he said in some confusion

because

my only wish is to give comfort no not

comfort

to support your sister in this difficult

time

my feeling for her for yourself

for your mother

will you allow me to prove it by telling

you some details of

of

if i did not consider it useful i would

not bother you

he stopped

i understand you said eleanor

you have something to say about mr

willoughby that will open his character

to us

telling me would be the greatest proof

of friendly feeling for marianne

i beg you

let me hear it immediately

i must tell you a little about myself

first

perhaps you remember at barton park when

i mentioned a young lady i once knew

she was very like your sister with an

eager mind a warm heart and great

sensibility

she was a distant cousin of mine

and from our earliest days we played

together and loved each other

but at 17 she was married

against her wishes

to my brother

just before the wedding

she and i planned to run away and get

married secretly

but my father discovered the plan and

sent me away to join the army

it was an extremely unhappy marriage

my brother did not love or respect her

and spent his time on pleasure’s most

unsuitable for a husband

she was very young

had no friends or family to advise her

i had been sent abroad by then

and my brother’s bad example was always

with her

i cannot describe the shock i received

when i heard two years later

of her divorce

he could not speak for a moment

and when he saw elena’s concern and

sympathy

took her hand and kissed it gratefully

when i returned to england three years

later

i began to search for her

but she was no longer with her first

seducer

the man for whom she had left her

marriage

there was every reason to fear she had

left him

only to sink deeper into a life of

dishonor

after six months however i did find her

in a debtor’s prison

she was so changed

so thin

so ill

she had only a short while to live

so i made sure she was properly looked

after

and i was with her in her last moments

he stopped for a moment to control

himself then went on

with a firmer mind and a happier

marriage

she could have been everything you will

live to see in your sister

she left to my care her little girl

eliza

the child of her first seducer

i sent elisa to school

and then put her in the care of a very

respectable woman living in the country

she is now 17.

imagine my horror when she suddenly

disappeared a year ago

for eight long months i searched and

found nothing

you can imagine what i thought and

feared

and how i suffered

good heavens

cried eleanor

could

willoughby the first news of eliza came

in the letter i received at barton park

on the morning of our planned excursion

to whitwell

that was why i left so suddenly

willoughby did not know that i was

called away to help someone he had made

poor and miserable

but if he had known would he have cared

no

he had done what no man of feeling would

do

he had left the girl whose innocence he

had seduced

left her with no home no friends

and no money

this is beyond everything

cried elena

now you understand what he is like

imagine what i have felt all these weeks

knowing his character and seeing your

sister as fond of him as ever

who can tell what his intentions were

towards your sister

one day she will doubtless feel grateful

when she compares her situation with

that of my poor eliza

at least there is no dishonor in your

sister’s suffering and every friend of

hers must feel concerned for her

unhappiness and respect for her bravery

and bearing it

elena thanked the colonel warmly for his

kind

words have you she continued

seen willoughby since you left barton

yes

once

he replied seriously

as eliza had confessed to me the name of

her seducer

i accused him of dishonorable behavior

and challenged him to a duel

we met by appointment

but both of us returned unwounded

and my poor eliza has had the child she

was expecting

and now remains in the country

after this the colonel left

and eleanor very soon passed on the

details of the conversation to her

sister

the effect was not quite what she had

hoped

marianne listened attentively and

appeared to accept willowby’s guilt

she no longer avoided the colonel when

he came to the house

and talked to him in a gentle pitying

voice

but she seemed even more depressed

now that willoughby’s good character had

been lost as well as his heart

mrs dashwood’s letter of reply arrived

next day

her disappointment was almost more

painful than marianne’s and her anger

even greater than eleanor’s

but she advised them not to shorten

their stay with mrs jennings which had

been expected to last five or six weeks

as a speedy return to barton would only

remind marianne of former happy times

with willoughby

she also hoped that eleanor would see

more of the ferris family who would soon

be arriving in london

sir john mrs jennings and mrs palmer all

spoke forcefully about willoughby and

determined to have nothing to do with

him ever again

they talked so much about him however

that it was a happy relief to eleanor

when lady middleton showed only calm and

polite on concern

whenever the subject was discussed she

would say gently

it is very shocking indeed

but privately she was already planning

to visit mrs willoughby who would be a

woman of elegance and fortune

mrs jennings was disappointed to see

that the colonel did not look more

cheerful now that he no longer had a

rival for marianne

there seemed to be a better

understanding between the elder miss

dashwood and the colonel

and mrs jennings who had quite forgotten

edward ferrers began to think that

eleanor would become mrs brandon

a fortnight after willib’s letter had

arrived eleanor had the painful duty of

informing marianne that he was married

marianne received the news bravely at

first and said nothing

but the tears came later as wildly and

as passionately as before

about this time eleanor was sorry to see

the miss stills arrive in london as

their presence always gave her pain

lucy pretended to feel great delight in

finding them in town and eleanor had to

use all her self-control to answer

politely

a pleasanter meeting took place a little

later when their brother john dashwood

came to visit them at mrs jennings

he inquired after their health and their

mothers

and was introduced to colonel brandon

who happened to be there

as it was a fine day he asked eleanor to

take a short walk with him

as soon as they were out of the house

his questions began

who is colonel brandon is he a man of

fortune

yes

he has a large house with some land

and i believe about two thousand pounds

a year

i think eleanor i will soon be

congratulating you on making a very

respectable marriage

he seems most gentlemanly and he likes

you i’m sure of it

he has not the smallest wish to marry me

you are wrong eleanor

a very little effort on your side will

catch him

some of those little encouragements

which ladies can so easily give will fix

him in spite of the smallness of your

fortune

you should try for him

how amusing if fanny had a brother and i

had a sister marrying at the same time

is mr edward ferris

ellen said calmly going to marry

it is not actually arranged yet but the

lady is miss morton

lord morton’s only daughter with thirty

thousand pounds of her own

edward’s mother will most generously

allow him a thousand a year if he

marries miss morton

i wish we could live so comfortably

i’m afraid our income is not large

enough for us to live as we would like

and he shook his head sadly at the

thought of his own difficulties

the following week mr and mrs john

dashwood gave a grand dinner party

the middletons mrs jennings colonel

brandon the miss dashwoods and the miss

steeles were all invited

eleanor and lucy both knew that mrs

ferriss would be present as

well pity me dear miss stashwood

whispered lucy as they walked up the

stairs

in a moment i shall see the person on

whom all my happiness depends

my future mother-in-law

mrs ferris was a little thin woman with

a disagreeable expression

she was not a woman of many words but

she made it very clear that she strongly

disliked eleanor and has strongly

approved of lucy

if she knew lucy’s secret thought

eleanor amused how she would hate her

she felt almost relieved that she could

not now hope to become edward’s wife

with such a mother-in-law

the next morning eleanor received a

visit from lucy who had been so

delighted by mrs farah’s welcoming

behaviour to her that she felt she

simply had to tell her dear friend about

it

she was so kind to me did you not notice

it and your sister-in-law too what

elegant delightful women they are

before eleanor could bring herself to

reply

the door opened and edward walked in

it was a very difficult moment for the

three of them

but eleanor took control of the

situation

anxious to show that nothing was wrong

she welcomed him in her usual way

lucy kept silent

watching eleanor narrowly out of the

corner of her eye while edward did not

know what to say in his confusion and

could not keep the conversation going

soon eleanor decided bravely to leave

the engaged couple alone for a while and

went to fetch marianne

rushing delightedly into the room

marianne cried dear edward

this is a moment of great happiness

and looked lovingly at him and her

sister

there was a short silence

my dear edward marianne continued

why did you not come last night to your

sister’s dinner party we were all there

i had

an appointment

somewhere else

an appointment

but was that so important when such

friends wanted to see you

perhaps miss marianne said lucy smoothly

you think young men never keep their

appointments or their promises

eleanor was very angry

but marianne just answered

no i trust edward he is the most

thoughtful unselfish person i have ever

met

he would never knowingly hurt anyone i

know

this praise was so unacceptable to

edward that he very soon got up to leave

and eleanor had every reason to expect

that this painful meeting would not be

repeated

john and fanny dashwood continued to see

eleanor and marianne at london parties

and dances

and john began to wonder about inviting

his sisters to stay for a few days

fanny however was astonished at this

suggestion

my love

i would ask them with all my heart if it

was possible

but i had just decided to ask the ms

steeles to stay with us

we can ask your sister some other year

you know mr dashwood agreed at once and

fanny delighting in her escape and proud

of her quick thinking

wrote to invite lucy and her sister

this made lucy really happy

such an opportunity of being near edward

and his family was the most useful thing

in the world for her

and when the invitation was shown to

eleanor

she began for the first time to share

lucy’s expectations

and prepared herself to hear officially

of the engagement

chapter 8

edwards engagement

mrs jennings was very busy at this time

as her daughter charlotte had just had a

baby and was clearly in need of a fond

mother’s advice

she visited charlotte at least twice a

day

and it was at the palmer’s house that

she heard a most interesting piece of

news

she hurried excitedly back to tell

eleanor

my dear miss dashwood have you heard

your sister-in-law is ill

charlotte’s doctor told me and do you

know why

it appears that edward ferrers the young

man i used to joke with you about has

been engaged for over a year to lucy

steele

and no one knew a word of the matter

except her sister anne

could you have believed such a thing

possible

what happened was this

the miss steeles are staying with your

brother and his wife as you know

anne who is a kind creature but of no

great intelligence thought that there

would be no difficulty as fanny dash

would seem to like lucy so much so she

told her all about the engagement

well

your sister-in-law fell onto the floor

and started sobbing and screaming so

violently that your brother had to send

for the doctor

lucy and anne were told to pack their

bags and leave at once

of course the ferris family wanted

edward to marry that rich miss morton

but i have no pity for them

i cannot bear people who think money or

greatness is important

there is no reason why edward should not

marry lucy

she knows better than anyone how to make

the most of everything

and if edward’s mother allowed him 500

pounds a year they could live

comfortably

mrs jennings to elena’s relief no longer

suspected her of having any interest in

edward

but she could talk of nothing else

eleanor knowing that marianne would be

fierce in her anger against edward was

now anxious to tell her sister the truth

and to prepare her to hear the subject

disgust

marianne listened to eleanor’s story

with horror and cried without stopping

for some time edward seemed a second

willoughby to her

she could not understand his behavior or

accept that he could feel affection for

such a person as lucy

how long have you known this eleanor she

asked

four months

lucy told me of her engagement at barton

and i promised to keep it secret

what

all the time you were looking after me

in my misery this has been on your heart

how could you bear

it by feeling that i was doing my duty

i had to keep lucy’s secret

and i did not want to worry my family

and friends

four months

and yet you loved him

yes but i loved my family too

and i was glad to spare them the sorrow

of knowing how i felt

now i no longer feel unhappy

i do not consider edward has behaved

badly in any way

and i wish him every happiness

he will always do his duty and lucy does

not lack sense

they will marry

and time will teach him to forget that

he ever thought another woman better

than her

if such is your way of thinking your

self-control is perhaps a little less to

be wondered at

i understand it better

i know you do not suppose i have ever

felt much but marianne

for four months i have had all this on

my mind and been unable to speak of it

to a single creature

i was told about it by the person whose

early engagement destroyed my hopes of

happiness

she saw me as a rival and was delighted

to see me defeated

i have had to listen to her talking

about edward again and again

i have had to pretend to show no

interest in him

i have had to bear the unkindness of his

sister and the rudeness of his mother

without enjoying any of the advantages

of an attachment to him

i know now that i shall be divided from

edward forever

if you can ever think me capable of

feeling marianne

surely you may suppose that i have

suffered now

these words went straight to marianne’s

heart

oh eleanor she cried

you have made me hate myself forever

how unkind i have been to you

you

who have been my only comfort

and the two sisters fell sobbing into

each other’s arms

marianne was so sorry she had misjudged

her sister that she promised to do

anything elena wanted

to discuss the engagement in public

without bitterness

to meet lucy without showing any dislike

and even to talk to edward himself if

chance brought them together with her

usual

friendliness the next morning brought a

test of her self-control

when john dashwood came to visit mrs

jennings and his sisters

you have heard i suppose said he were

the most serious expression

of our very shocking discovery yesterday

silently they all showed that they had

it seemed too awful a moment to speak

your sister-in-law he continued has

suffered terribly

so too has mrs ferrous but i would not

alarm you too greatly

the doctor says fanny is strong and will

get better in time

she says she will never think well of

anybody again

and i cannot wander at it as she was so

deceived

how ungrateful those young women were

after she had shown them so much

kindness

i wish with all my heart

says poor fanny in her affectionate way

that we had invited your sisters instead

of them

here he stopped to be thanked

then continued

what poor mrs ferris suffered cannot be

described

she could not believe edward was

secretly engaged when all the time she

had been planning a most excellent

marriage for him

she sent for him and he came to see her

i am sorry to tell you what happened

next

all our attempts to persuade edward to

end the attachment were useless

even when his mother explained that if

he married miss morton

she would generously allow him a

thousand pounds a year

and even when she offered to make it

twelve hundred pounds he still insisted

that he would not break the engagement

mrs faraz then told him he would receive

no money at all from her and if he

entered any profession

she would do her best to prevent him

succeeding in it

good heavens

cried marianne can this be possible

your surprise is very natural marianne

said her brother

it is astonishing that edward could not

be persuaded

marianne about to disagree fiercely

remembered her promises to eleanor

and said nothing

well

cried mrs jennings i think he has

behaved like an honest man

he must keep his promise to marry lucy

steele

if he broke it the world would think him

a worthless scoundrel

i respect your views madam said john

dashwood politely

but i am afraid that a good

thoughtful mother like mrs ferris with

such a very large fortune

cannot approve of her son’s secret

engagement to this most unsuitable young

woman

i am sorry to say

that it has all ended in a most unhappy

separation

mrs ferriss told edward to leave her

house and he obeyed at once

she does not wish to see him ever again

and has now decided very understandably

that robert not edward should inherit

her fortune when she dies

poor edward

his younger brother will be wealthy

while he remains poor

i feel for him sincerely

john dashwood left soon afterwards

and the three ladies immediately joined

together in their firm disapproval of

mrs ferrara’s behavior and their warm

praise of edwards

the next morning eleanor received a

letter from lucy

i hope my dear miss dashwood you will

not mind my writing to you

i know that as a true friend you will be

pleased to hear my news

edward and i although we have suffered

terribly in all our recent troubles are

quite well now thank god and happy in

each other’s love we are very grateful

to our friends

yourself not the least among them

for helping us through our many

difficulties

i shall always remember your great

kindness and so will edward i am sure

you will be glad to hear that i spent

two happy hours with him yesterday

i offered him his freedom and was ready

to consider our engagement at an end if

that was what he wanted

but he would not hear of it

and said he did not care about his

mother’s anger as long as he had my

affections

life will not be easy for us it is true

but we must wait and hope for the best

he will enter the church soon

and if you ever have the opportunity to

recommend him to anybody who can give

him a living i am sure you will not

forget us

and dear mrs jennings too

i hope she will say a good word for us

to any friend who may be able to help us

i beg you to remember me to her most

gratefully and respectfully

and to sir john and lady middleton

and the dear children

and give my love to miss marianne

yours truly

lucy steele

elena felt sure that lucy wanted the

letter to be seen by mrs jennings and

showed it to her immediately

mrs jennings was full of praise for

lucy’s warm heart

how prettily she writes she said

she calls me dear mrs jennings you see

i wish i could get him a living with all

my heart

the missed ashwoods had now been in

london for more than two months

and marianne was becoming more and more

impatient to go home

she missed the air the freedom the quiet

of the country

eleanor although almost as anxious to

leave as her sister

was aware of the difficulties of a long

journey

this problem appeared to be solved when

the palmers invited mrs jennings and the

miss dashwoods to their home in somerset

only a day’s journey away from barton

they planned to travel there at the end

of march

the invitation was gladly accepted

eleanor and marianne would stay a week

with the palmers and then continue their

journey to barton

soon after this arrangement had been

made

colonel brandon called at mrs jennings

house and was told the news

my dear colonel

i do not know what you and i would do

without the miss dashwoods said mrs

jennings how lonely and dull we shall be

she hoped these words and the sad

picture they painted would persuade him

to make the offer of marriage which

might prevent any loneliness or dullness

in the future

and with delight

she saw that her plan had succeeded

when eleanor moved to a quiet corner of

the room

colonel brandon joined her there and

talked very seriously to her for several

minutes

although mrs jennings was too honorable

to listen

she could not help seeing that eleanor

was blushing and looking agitated

some of the colonel’s words reached mrs

jennings ears and astonished her greatly

i do apologize for the smallness of the

house

what could he mean

she knew very well that there were 15

bedrooms and five sitting rooms in his

house at delaford

i am afraid it cannot happen soon

what an unlover-like thing to say

there could be no reason at all to delay

their marriage

in fact the colonel was talking on a

quite different subject

he had heard of edward’s difficulties

and knowing him to be a friend of

eleanor’s wish to help the young man

a living at delaford had just become

vacant

and the colonel was asking eleanor to

offer it to edward

at least it would be a start for mr

ferros

the vicar’s duties there are light and

there is a cottage that goes with the

post

although i do apologize for the

smallness of the house

the income is only 200 pounds a year

so i’m afraid his marriage cannot happen

very soon

eleanor expressed her grateful thanks

for the colonel’s generous offer and

promised to tell edward the good news

when colonel brandon had left mrs

jennings spoke to eleanor with a knowing

smile

well miss dashwood i couldn’t help

overhearing the colonel’s words and i

can tell you i was never better pleased

in my life

yes said eleanor

it is a matter of great happiness to me

but i was so surprised when he spoke to

me about it my dear i am not in the

least astonished by it i wish you every

happiness and if i want to see a happy

couple i know where to look for them in

the future

at delaford i suppose

said eleanor with a smile that’s right

my dear

and i can tell you you won’t find the

house small

now i must go out but we’ll continue our

conversation later

i’m sure you want to tell your sister

about it

certainly madam but i shall not mention

it to anyone else at present

oh

said mrs jennings disappointed

then you would prefer me not to tell

charlotte or sir john

or lucy

yes madam if you don’t mind

i must speak to mr ferris first to

arrange matters with him

this was at first extremely puzzling for

mrs jennings

but after a moment’s thought she had a

happy idea

edward must be the vicar they had chosen

to carry out the wedding ceremony

she hurried excitedly off on her morning

visits aware of the important secret

that she was not allowed to tell

by chance as she left the house she met

edward at the door

he had called only to leave a note but

mrs jennings insisted on his going in to

see miss dashwood who had particular

news to give him

eleanor had begun to write a letter to

edward when she looked up to find him

standing in front of her

her astonishment and confusion were very

great

edward too was confused

and for a few moments

neither knew what to say to the other

at last however the colonel’s offer was

made and edward although astonished at

this kindness from a stranger

was deeply grateful for the opportunity

he soon realized that he owed more than

he could express to eleanor and also

began to suspect that the colonel might

have a particular reason for wishing to

help any friend of hers

there was sadness in his eyes as he rose

to say goodbye

when i see him again

said eleanor to herself as the door shut

behind him

i shall see him the husband of lucy

when mrs jennings returned she was eager

to find out more well my dear

and how soon will the young man be ready

in two or three months i imagine replied

elena

two or three months

my dear how calmly you talk

can the colonel wait so long

i know you wish to do a kindness to mr

ferris but could you not find someone

who is already a vicar

my dear madam

what can you be thinking of

the colonel’s only intention is to be of

use to mr ferris

good heavens my dear

surely you do not mean that the colonel

only marries you in order to give ten

pounds to mr ferris is his vicar’s fee

for the ceremony

the confusion could not continue after

this

and there was much amusement as eleanor

explained

mrs jennings was just as delighted with

the true situation

and looked forward to visiting lucy and

edward in the vicar’s house at delaford

in a few months time

elena now knew that edward’s marriage to

lucy was certain

she herself had helped to smooth the

path towards it

chapter nine

marianne’s illness

before leaving london

elena paid one last visit to her brother

and his wife

fanny did not wish to see her and stayed

in her room

but john was very interested in the news

of edward’s good luck

he could not understand why the colonel

should give away a living when he could

have sold it

but he had something more particular to

say to his sister

taking her hand

he spoke in a very serious whisper

there is one thing i must say because i

know it will please you

i know in fact

fanny heard her mother say that although

perhaps she did not approve of

of a certain attachment of edwards

you understand me

it would have been far preferable to her

than this engagement to ms steele

of course all that is quite in the past

now and out of the question

but i thought i would just tell you my

dear eleanor

not that you have any reason to be sad

there is no doubt of your doing

extremely well

has colonel brandon been with you lately

eleanor was glad to be spared the need

to reply by the entrance of mr robert

ferris

she had only met him once before and had

found him a thoughtless and insensitive

young man full of his own

self-importance

this short meeting only served to

support her low opinion of his head and

heart

he talked happily of edward’s

inheritance which he would now enjoy and

laughed loudly at the idea of edward as

a poor vicar living in a cottage his

engagement certainly was very shocking

news he added i said to my mother my

dear madam i do not know what you intend

to do but for myself i must say that if

edward marries this young woman i shall

never see him again

i saw the girl once you know just a

plain country girl with no elegance or

beauty i cannot help thinking that if i

had heard of the connection earlier i

could have persuaded edward to break it

off but now it is all too late he must

be punished that is certain

eleanor was relieved that she could not

stay long and sincerely hoped she would

not see robert ferris again

the journey to cleveland the palmer’s

home in somerset took two days

their house was comfortable and modern

with large well-kept gardens and woods

on her arrival marianne went straight

into the garden

she was feeling more agitated than usual

aware of being only 80 miles from barton

and only 30 from willowby’s country

house

but she loved being back in the romantic

countryside

she determined to spend as much time as

possible taking lonely walks through the

gardens and woods

alone she would be free to delight in

her misery thinking

dreaming

remembering

the hours passed quietly at cleveland

mrs palmer had her child and mrs

jennings her sewing

eleanor was surprised to find mr palmer

very capable of being a pleasant

companion and only occasionally rude to

his wife and mother-in-law

colonel brandon who was also a guest of

the palmers spent a great deal of time

with eleanor talking to her about the

vicar’s house at delaford and the

repairs he was planning to have done to

it

his pleasure in her conversation and his

respect for her opinion would have been

enough to justify mrs jennings view of

his attachment and even perhaps to make

eleanor suspected herself

she still felt certain however that

while he spoke to her

it was marianne at whom he looked

and of whom he thought

when marianne mentioned that she had a

sore throat and felt unwell

the colonel appeared extremely worried

in his concern elena saw the quick

feelings and needless alarm of a lover

two delightful evening walks in thick

wet grass had given marianne a violent

cold

she felt heavy and feverish with pains

all over her body

but at first refused all medicines

saying that a good night’s rest was all

that she needed

the next day however she was worse

unable to do anything except lie

miserably on a sofa

and after another restless feverish

night eleanor was ready to send for the

palmer’s doctor

after examining his patient he said that

she was suffering from an infection and

would recover in a few days

but the word infection greatly alarmed

mrs palmer who feared that her baby

might catch it and she persuaded her

husband to take her and the child to

stay with a near relation until there

was no further danger of illness at

cleveland

mrs jennings kindly insisted on staying

with the miss dashwoods as she felt

responsible for the young ladies in

their mother’s absence

and colonel brandon also offered to stay

in case a gentleman’s help was needed

poor marianne now felt really ill

and extremely miserable

as their return to barton would have to

be considerably delayed

several days passed and marianne’s

condition remained the same

the doctor came every day talking each

time of a speedy recovery and eleanor

was just as hopeful

in her letter’s home she had not told

her mother of the seriousness of

marianne’s illness

and now congratulated herself on not

alarming mrs dashwood unnecessarily

but that evening

marianne became restless again

and eleanor stayed beside her bed

watching her turning feverishly from

side to side

suddenly marianne sat up and cried

wildly his mama coming

not yet

replied elena hiding her terror and

helping her sister to lie down again

it is a long way from barton

but she must come soon

cried marianne desperately i shall never

see her again if she does not come soon

elena was so alarmed that she sent for

the doctor at once

and decided to send a messenger to

barton to fetch her mother

she spoke immediately to colonel brandon

who although greatly depressed and

fearing the worst was ready to help in

any way and offered to drive to barton

himself

how grateful eleanor was for the comfort

of such a friend as the colonel at that

moment not a second was lost in delay of

any kind and the colonel drove off into

the night

leaving eleanor to watch over her sister

both sisters suffered greatly during

that night

marianne in her sleepless pain and fever

and eleanor in cruel anxiety that her

mother would arrive too late to see her

dear child alive

when the doctor came

he had to confess that his medicines had

failed and that the infection was

stronger than ever

eleanor was calm

except when she thought of her mother

but she was almost without hope

she stayed by her sister’s bed all

morning

her thoughts confused and sorrowful

but at midday she began to see signs of

the fever going down

cautiously she told herself not to hope

but soon it seemed almost certain

and on the doctor’s next visit

he was able to congratulate her on

marianne’s slow but sure recovery

mrs jennings showed her delight by

talking and laughing without stopping

but eleanor’s feelings were of a

different kind her relief and happiness

was strong

but silent

that evening

marianne fell into a quiet comfortable

sleep

and elena knew that at last

she was out of danger

her thoughts now began to turn to her

mother’s arrival which was expected at

any moment

mrs jennings persuaded her to leave

marianne’s bedside for a few minutes to

drink some tea

but elena soon returned to sit by her

sleeping sister and wait for the

travellers from barton

the night was cold and stormy

but as long as marianne slept peacefully

eleanor did not mind the beating of the

rain on the windows or the noise of the

wind blowing round the house

at eight o’clock she heard a carriage

drive up to the front door

knowing what her poor mother must be

feeling elena found it impossible to be

calm and hurried

downstairs she rushed into the sitting

room and saw

willoughby

with a look of horror she stepped

backwards and was about to leave the

room

when he said rapidly

miss dashwood i beg you to stay i have

something i must tell you

elena was astonished

to tell me

well sir if you must

but be quick i have no time to spare

tell me first is your sister really out

of danger

we hope she is replied elena coldly

thank god

i heard she was ill and i have driven

all day to get here

i have come to offer some kind of

explanation to show you that i have not

always been a scoundrel and to receive

something like forgiveness from

your sister

marianne has already forgiven you

has she

he cried eagerly

but listen i must explain

when i first met your family

i had no other intention than to pass

the time pleasantly while in devonshire

my income was never large and my debts

are always very great

so i was planning to attach myself to a

woman a fortune

but i soon found myself sincerely fond

of your sister

and the happiest hours of my life was

spent with her

i allowed myself most wrongly

to put off asking her to marry me at

last i determined to speak of marriage

but unfortunately my relation mrs smith

had just discovered a connection

he reddened and looked away

but you have probably heard the whole

story from colonel brandon

i have

replied eleanor also blushing

and i cannot see how you will explain

away your part in that terrible business

no i know i was at fault cried

willoughby but i must ask you to believe

that i had no idea eliza was in such

need

i suffered too because mrs smith was

extremely angry at my behavior and

refused to allow me any more money or

see me again

i knew that if i married marianne i

would be poor

and i couldn’t bear the thought of that

so i came to barton cottage to say

goodbye to her

how happy i had been the day before

ready to become engaged to her

and how miserable i was when i saw her

sorrow and deep disappointment

oh god what a hard-hearted scoundrel i

was

there was a short silence while

willoughby recovered his self-control

and elena’s heart softened a little

towards him

and then in london marianne’s notes to

me

every word was a knife in my heart

she was far dearer to me than any other

woman in the world

but by then i was engaged to miss grey

do not speak like that of my sister mr

willoughby said eleanor remember that

you are a married man now

he began to laugh wildly married yes

did you like the letter i wrote to

marianne

miss gray happened to see marianne’s

last note to me and read it

her jealous anger made her think of a

cruel punishment for me

she told me what to write and watched

over me as i wrote the letter

they were all her own gentle words

her own sweet thoughts

i could not risk losing her

i needed her money to pay my debts

you ought not to speak of mrs willoughby

in this way

you have made your choice

and should respect your wife

she does not deserve your pity

i have no chance of domestic happiness

with her

but do you think me less guilty than

before

will you tell your sister when she has

recovered what i have told you

if ever

one day by some happy chance i were free

again elena stopped him with a frown

well

i shall leave now

i shall live in terror of one event

your sister’s marriage

she can never be more lost to you than

she is now

but someone else will have her and if

that’s someone where he whom of all men

i could least bear

but i must go

goodbye

and he almost ran out of the room

eleanor’s heart was full as she returned

to her sleeping sister

the past

the present

the future

willowby’s visit and the pity she felt

for him

marianne’s health and her mother’s

expected arrival

made her so agitated that she did not

notice her hunger or tiredness

only half an hour later a second

carriage arrived at the house

eleanor hurried to the door

just in time to receive and support her

mother as she entered half dead with

fear

in a moment eleanor was able to give the

good news

and mrs dashwood’s tears silently

expressed her relief

colonel brandon shared her feelings in

an even greater silence

in two minutes mrs dashwood was with her

suffering child

made dearer than ever by absence

unhappiness and danger

marianne’s recovery continued every day

and mrs dashwood soon found an

opportunity to tell eleanor another

piece of news

on the long drive from barton to

cleveland

colonel brandon had been unable to hide

his feelings

and had told mrs dashwood that he had

long wanted to marry marianne

mrs dashwood was now as certain of the

colonel’s excellent character as she had

once been of willoughby’s

and hoped that marianne would in time

come to accept colonel brandon’s offer

of marriage

chapter 10

return to barton

marianne recovered so well that within a

week she was able to travel home with

her mother and eleanor in colonel

brandon’s carriage

eleanor was pleased to see that marianne

showed a new firmness of mind and

calmness of expression

although she was clearly still upset

when she thought of the past

she was now able to control her feelings

and show a cheerful face to her family

she started planning a new life for

herself

when i am stronger eleanor we will take

long walks together every day i shall

never get up later than six

and i shall spend every morning

practicing my music or reading

elena smiled doubting whether this plan

would last very long

but happy to see marianne enthusiastic

again

a couple of days later the weather was

so fine that mrs dashwood encouraged

eleanor to take marianne out for a

gentle walk and the sisters set out

along the quiet country road

there

exactly there

said marianne pointing to the hill

behind the house

is where i fell

and first saw willoughby

i am thankful to find that i can see the

place with so little pain

can we talk on that subject now do you

think helena

she was affectionately encouraged to

speak openly

i know how badly i have behaved

my illness has given me time to think

i should never have been so in cautious

in my behavior with willoughby and so

impolite to other people

i know now that my own uncontrolled

feelings caused my suffering

and even my illness was all my own fault

i have been unkind

and unfair to almost everybody i know

but especially to you dearest eleanor

did i follow your example

no did i help or comfort you when you

were suffering

no

i only thought of my own sorrow and my

own broken heart

eleanor impatient to calm her praised

her honesty

i can never forget willoughby continued

marianne but my memories no longer make

me miserable

if i only knew that he did not always

intend to deceive me that he had some

good in him

i would have much greater peace of mind

eleanor took a deep breath

and passed on to her sister what

willoughby had told her

marianne said nothing

but tears ran down her face

they were now on their way back to the

cottage

and as they reached the door

she kissed elena gratefully whispered

tell mama

and went slowly upstairs

when mrs dashwood heard the story she

expressed some pity for willoughby

but for her nothing could remove the

guilt of his behavior towards eliza and

then marianne

in the evening when they were all

together

marianne spoke again of willoughby

i wish to tell you both

she told her mother and eleanor in a

trembling voice

that what elena told me this morning was

a great relief to me

i could never have been happy with him

after knowing all this

i know

i know cried her mother

my marianne happy with a scoundrel like

that no

marianne you consider the matter said

eleanor exactly as a sensible person

should

and i expect you realize that marriage

to him would have involved you in many

troubles and disappointments

you would always have been poor

and perhaps your influence on his heart

would have lessened as he realized his

selfish demands could not be met

selfish

do you think him selfish

said marianne

yes

you are right it is true

how foolish i was

i am more to blame than you my child

said mrs dashwood

i should have discovered his intentions

earlier

during the next few days

marianne continued to get stronger and

life at barton fell back into the old

routines

eleanor grew impatient for some news of

edward

but the news arrived in a rather

unexpected way

mrs dashwood’s manservant thomas had

been sent to exeter one morning on

business

and on his return finished his report

with these words

i suppose you know madam that mr ferris

is married

marianne looked quickly at eleanor’s

white face and burst into uncontrolled

sobbing

mrs dashwood did not know which daughter

to take care of first

she and margaret led marianne to another

room and then mrs dashwood hurried back

to eleanor who although clearly upset

had been able to start questioning

thomas

at once mrs dashwood took that trouble

upon herself

who told you that mr ferris was married

thomas

i saw him herself madam with his lady

miss steele as her name was then

miss steele called me from a carriage

and asked after the young lady’s health

then she smiled and said she had changed

her name since she was last in devon

was mr ferris in the carriage with her

yes madam

he was sitting next to her but i didn’t

see his face

and mr ferris isn’t a gentleman for

talking much

did mrs ferris look well

yes madam very well and extremely happy

thomas was then sent away

and eleanor and her mother sat in

thoughtful silence

mrs dashwood now realized that eleanor

had hidden her feelings for edward in

order to spare her mother any

unhappiness

she felt guilty that marianne’s

suffering had taken up so much of her

time

when her eldest daughter was probably

just as much in need of her care and

attention

eleanor herself was extremely miserable

she had always had a secret hope that

something might happen to prevent his

marrying lucy

but now he really was married

and she could not bear the thought of it

a few days later a gentleman was seen

riding up to their front door

at first eleanor thought it must be

colonel brandon

but it was not him

in fact it looked just like edward

she looked again

it was edward

she moved away from the window and sat

down

i will be calm

i will

must

be calm

her mother and sisters had recognized

edward too but not a word was spoken

and they all waited in silence for their

visitor to appear

he entered

looking pale

agitated

and afraid

mrs dashwood greeted him kindly and

wished him every happiness

he blushed and said something no one

could hear

eleanor desperately began to talk about

the weather

when she had finished expressing her

extreme delight in the dryness of the

season

a very awful pause took place

it was ended by mrs dashwood who felt it

necessary to hope that mrs ferris was

well

edward replied hurriedly that she was

another pause

is mrs ferris in plymouth

asked elena bravely

plymouth

he said surprised

no

my mother is in london

i meant

said eleanor taking up her sewing from

the table to ask about

mrs edward ferris

he blushed

looked puzzled

hesitated then said

perhaps you mean

my brother

you mean mrs

robert ferris

mrs robert ferrers

repeated marianne and mrs dashwood in

the greatest astonishment

eleanor could not speak

yes

said edward hurriedly

you may not have heard that my brother

is now married to

to

to miss lucy steele

elena could sit there no longer

she ran out of the room and as soon as

the door was closed burst into tears of

happiness

until then edward had avoided looking at

her

now he watched her hurry away

and seemed to fall into a dream

at last

without saying a word

he got up

left the room

and walked out of the house

great was the astonishment he left

behind him

one thing however was certain

edward was now free

and it was not hard to guess how he

would use this freedom

walking about in the fresh air made him

feel brave enough to return

and when they all sat down to tea at

four o’clock

edward had won his lady

gained her mother’s permission and was

the happiest man alive

his heart was now open to eleanor with

his weaknesses and mistakes confessed

and his boyish attachment to lucy

disgust with all the wise experience of

a man of 24

my engagement to lucy certainly was

foolish said he

but it would not have happened if my

mother had allowed me to choose a

profession

i had nothing to do and no friends to

advise me

so i imagined myself in love

when i met you my dear eleanor

i realized at once how weak i had been

eleanor’s mother and sisters were

delighted

they could not love edward enough nor

praise eleanor enough

and eleanor

how can her feelings be described

from the moment of learning that edward

was free to the moment of his asking her

to marry him

her mind was in a storm

but when all doubt was passed and she

heard his voice expressing his deep love

and affection for her

she knew her happiness was complete

edward stayed at the cottage for a week

and one of the first subjects of

discussion was of course lucy’s marriage

it appeared that robert had visited her

several times trying to persuade her to

set edward free

lucy had realized that it was now robert

not edward who would inherit his

mother’s fortune

being of similarly selfish character

they were attracted to each other

and decided to get married with speed

and secrecy

edward’s mother was naturally horrified

by robert’s marriage

she did not greatly approve of edward’s

engagement to eleanor either

but in the end was persuaded to accept

it and even rather unwillingly gave

edward ten thousand pounds

she had given the same defanny on her

marriage

this was much more than was expected by

edward and eleanor

who could now afford to marry very soon

and move into the vickers house at

delaford

there they were visited by all their

friends in relations who found them one

of the happiest couples in the world

even mrs ferris came to visit them

although they were never favorites with

her

that honor was reserved for robert and

lucy who by endless attentions and

respectful messages

finally regained their place in her

heart

the whole of lucy’s behavior in the

matter may be seen as a most encouraging

example of what self-interest can do to

gain wealth and position

with mrs farah’s generous help robert

and lucy lived in great comfort often

visiting john and fanny dashwood

only their frequent domestic

disagreement spoiled their happiness

elena’s move to delaford did not

separate her from her family as her

mother and sisters spent half their time

with her mrs dashwood was anxious to

bring marianne and colonel brandon

together which was also eleanor’s and

edward’s wish

knowing how good how kind the colonel

was

and how fondly he was attached to her

what could marianne do

at the age of 17 she had believed that

passionate feeling was the most

important thing in life

she had had her heart broken

and learnt to recover from it

then at 19

with feelings of only warm friendship

and respect

she agreed to marry a man she had once

considered dull and far too old for

marriage

but so it was

colonel brandon was now as happy as all

those who loved him believed he deserved

to be

and marianne who could never love by

halves

came in time to love her husband as much

as she had loved willoughby

willoughby himself was saddened to hear

of her marriage

but he did not die of a broken heart

he even managed to get some enjoyment

out of life as his wife was not always

unpleasant

and his home not always uncomfortable

but marianne remained his idea of the

perfect woman

and he often refused to admire a new

young beauty as nothing to compare with

mrs brandon

mrs dashwood stayed on at barton cottage

and as margaret soon grew old enough for

dancing and falling in love

sir john and mrs jennings did not miss

eleanor and marianne as much as they had

feared

barton and delaford were connected by

strong family affection and there was

constant communication between the two

places

eleanor and marianne lived in great

happiness

loved and respected by their husbands

and almost within sight of each other

the passing of the years

only serve to bring them all closer

together

you

第一章

达什伍德家族

多年来

曾有 dashwoods 住在

苏塞克斯

在英格兰南部

这家人拥有大片土地

在他们的乡间别墅诺兰公园周围

最近当上了一家之主

未婚的大龄男子

邀请了他的侄子到他家

谁应该继承房子

和土地

与他的妻子和孩子

侄子亨利·达什伍德先生

他的妻子举止和蔼可亲

对老先生若有所思

不是因为对他的财富感兴趣

但出于善意

这样他就可以度过最后的时光

舒适的岁月

带着这些愉快而愉快的

同伴

由他的第一任妻子

亨利·达什伍德先生有一个儿子

约翰

由他现在的妻子

三个女儿

约翰

一个可敬的严肃年轻人

收到了一大笔遗产

他的母亲

并且还增加了他的财富

自己的婚姻

因此对他来说

诺兰财富没有那么重要

至于他的姐妹们

他们自己的钱很少

当老先生去世时

发现他没有离开

他的财富让亨利·达什伍德做什么

他喜欢

但只能在他的一生中使用

关于亨利达什伍德的死

遗产将传给他的儿子

约翰

和约翰的儿子

一个四岁的孩子

老人开始喜欢小

偶尔访问诺兰岛的男孩

所以一个被宠坏的孩子

比亨利·达什伍德的温柔更受欢迎

妻子和女儿

尽管他们多年的关爱

然而，没有恶意

并且作为他爱的标志

姑娘们 老先生留给她们一个

每千磅

起初，亨利·达什伍德先生很痛苦

失望的

因为他更想要财富

他的妻子和女儿比他自己

但他很快意识到，如果他是

未来几年要小心理财

他可以节省足够的钱来提供

慷慨地为他的家人

很遗憾

他没有活着执行这个计划

因为他只比他的叔叔活了一个

年

一万英镑就够了

为他的遗孀和女儿们留下

就在他死前，他派人去取他的

儿子

并恳求他照顾好他的

继母和姐妹

约翰·达什伍德先生没有强者

其他家庭成员的感受

但在这样的时候这样的要求

自然对他产生了影响

所以他答应尽他所能

让他父亲的家人舒服

他不是一个坏年轻人

但比较冷酷

而且相当自私

虽然他总体上很好

受人尊敬

如果他娶了一个更讨人喜欢的女人

可能会更多

受人尊敬

也许已经变得令人愉快

自己

但他的妻子更冷酷更自私

比他

他父亲一死，

埋没

约翰·达什伍德夫人意外抵达

在诺兰和她的孩子和她

仆人

她想明确表示

因为房子是她丈夫的

从他父亲去世的那一刻起

她不需要她的任何邀请

岳母

给达什伍德太太的寡妇

这出现了

不可原谅的事实上，达什伍德夫人

敏感大方的女人

对她有如此强烈的感觉

媳妇的不愉快行为

她会离开家的

立即地

如果她的大女儿没有乞求

她要重新考虑

埃莉诺

这个大女儿的建议如此

有用

拥有大量的智慧和

常识

虽然只有 19

经常担任她母亲的顾问

为了全家人的利益

她经常能说服太太

dashwood 阻止暴力

可能导致的热情

他们都陷入困境

埃莉诺有一颗优秀的心

充满爱意

尽管她的感情很强烈

她知道如何控制他们

这是她妈妈的东西

还没学会做

以及她的姐妹中的哪个玛丽安

决定永远不学习

玛丽安就像埃莉诺一样慷慨

聪明而敏感

但不像埃莉诺，她渴望

一切

她的感情总是很强烈

并表示

在这

她和她妈妈很像

埃莉诺关切地看到她是多么渺小

姐姐可以控制自己的情绪

但她的母亲爱玛丽安为她

感性

现在在亨利·达什伍德先生死后

达什伍德夫人和玛丽安受到鼓励

彼此在他们的暴力中

不快乐

随着他们变得越来越痛苦

怀念过去，苦苦思索

未来的

埃琳娜也深受其害

但她仍然可以努力

和她的兄弟谈生意

对嫂子有礼貌

并试图说服她妈妈

比较平静

最小的妹妹玛格丽特是

13岁的可爱女孩

但因为她已经有了一些

玛丽安的感性

而她的智慧并不多

她似乎很可能没有她长大

姐姐的优点

约翰·达什伍德夫人现在确保

每个人都知道她是情妇

诺兰

还有她的婆婆和

嫂子作为访客在那里

然而，她的丈夫提醒她

他对垂死的父亲的承诺

他会照顾他的

继母和姐妹

我以为我亲爱的他补充说

给女孩一千英镑

每个

这肯定是一份慷慨的礼物

为他们

约翰·达什伍德夫人根本不赞成

这个的

这意味着要花三千

来自他们亲爱的财富的英镑

小男孩

她恳求丈夫再想一想

他怎么能抢他的孩子和他唯一的

这么多钱的孩子

达什伍德小姐怎么可能

只与他有半血缘关系

她认为根本没有关系

可能期望他如此慷慨

这是我父亲对我的最后要求

丈夫回答

我必须信守对他的承诺

我必须为他们做点什么，当他们

离开北地去新家

那么为他们做点什么

但你不必给他们三个

千英镑

考虑到当你给出

钱

它永远不会回来你的姐妹们

将结婚，它会从

家庭永远

你是对的，亲爱的

老公认真的说

也许我应该给他们一半

英镑将是一份珍贵的礼物

他们

哦，超越一切

地球上的兄弟会做一半

对他的姐妹们来说

即使

真的是他的姐妹

因为它只是半血

但你有这么大方的天性

我不想做任何事

在这种情况下最好也这样做

多而不是太少

甚至他们自己也不能期待更多

不知道他们会期待什么

女士说

但问题是你能负担得起什么

去做

当然

我想我有能力给他们

每个 500 磅

因为没有我的钱，他们每个人都会

他们身上有超过 3 000 磅

母亲的死

对任何年轻人来说都是一笔非常舒适的财富

女士

它的确是

事实上我开始认为他们需要

完全没有多余的钱

他们将能够过得很

舒适地在一起的利益

他们的一万英镑

这是非常正确的

因此我想知道

无论是整体

支付一些费用会更明智

期间定期给我继母的钱

她的一生

而不是给女孩钱

一年一百将使她和

女孩们完美地和她一起生活

自在

他的妻子为此有些犹豫

计划

这肯定比给予更好

1500 磅一次

但如果达什伍德夫人应该为

超过 15 年

这会让我们付出更多

她非常健康，而且只有

才四十

这是一件令人不快的事情

每年付钱

感觉自己的财富不是自己的

我相信你是对的我的爱

无论我偶尔能给他们什么

将是一个比一个更大的帮助

年度津贴

因为他们只会活得更久

如果他们确信的话，代价高昂

获得更大的收入

如果我给他们 50 英镑的礼物

时不时我会想

遵守我对父亲的承诺

最充分的方式

确保你会

说实话

我敢肯定你父亲不知道

你给了他们任何钱

他想到的帮助是我

敢说找个舒服的

他们的小房子

帮助他们移动家具

并偶尔向他们发送

时令鱼和肉

考虑一下达什伍德先生多么便宜

他们会生活

没有马车没有马只有一匹或

两个仆人

我无法想象他们将如何消费

他们一半的钱，这是愚蠢的

考虑给他们更多

他们将更有能力给你

某物

我相信你说的完全正确

达什伍德先生

现在我清楚地明白我父亲的意思了

意思是

他决定不再给他的

父亲的遗孀和女儿比这样

邻里助理作为他的妻子

建议

与此同时，他的继母迫不及待地

离开拥有如此多的北方大陆

给她的回忆

一直在寻找合适的房子

搬进不太远的地方

几间房子

她会批准的

已经被埃莉诺拒绝了

对他们的收入和

继续搜索

和两个家庭一起度过了六个月

住在诺兰

达什伍德太太开始不喜欢她了

儿媳越来越多

并且会发现不可能

和她住在同一个房子里

长

如果没有发生什么事

达什伍德夫人想留住她的女儿们

在诺兰待了一段时间

她注意到越来越多的依恋

她的大女儿之间

和约翰·达什伍德夫人的兄弟

一个绅士又讨人喜欢的年轻人

谁在他之后不久就来到了诺兰

姐姐的到来

谁花费了大部分

从那时起他在那里的时间

爱德华·费里斯是一个男人的大儿子

谁死得很富有

但他未来的财富是不确定的

因为他的全部财产

取决于他母亲的意愿

这些事实都没有影响夫人

达什伍德

对她来说，他爱她就足够了

女儿和那个埃莉诺归还了他的

感情

爱德华·费里斯不帅

他的举止也不是特别讨人喜欢

第一眼

但当他失去羞怯时

他的行为表明了多么开放

他有一颗深情的心

他的母亲和姐姐想让他

在某种程度上是世界上的好人物

但爱德华没有野心

他所有的愿望都是为了家的舒适

和安静的私人生活

幸好他有个弟弟

罗伯特更有前途

达什伍德夫人完全赞同

爱德华尽管举止安静

这和她感觉的方式很不一样

年轻人应该举止

当她看到最小的迹象时

爱他对埃莉诺的行为

她认为他们是认真的依恋

作为确定

并期待他们的婚姻

不久的将来

几个月后，我亲爱的玛丽安，她

说

埃莉诺要结婚了

我们会想念她，但她会很开心

哦妈妈

没有她我们怎么办

亲爱的，我们将住在几英里之内

每天都看到她

你会有一个兄弟

一个真正深情的兄弟，但你看起来

严肃的玛丽安

你不赞成你姐姐的

选择

也许我有点惊讶妈妈

他很愉快，但有

缺少的东西

他眼里没有火，我是

怕妈妈他没有真正的品味

他似乎对

音乐

我认为他对绘画知之甚少

或绘画

当我们讨论或讨论时，他是如此平静

阅读美丽的文字

听到他这么说我心碎了

安静地，很少感性

关于对我很重要的事情

我对一个这样做的人不满意

埃莉诺可能不会分享我所有的感受

对他很满意，因为她没有我

感觉，但妈妈我知道的越多

世界

我越是确定我永远见不到

一个我可以真正爱的男人

记住我的爱你还没有17岁

失去希望还为时过早

幸福

你为什么不如

你的母亲

埃莉诺自己觉得爱德华站着

在她看来非常高

她相信他也感受到了温暖

对着她

但她对此并不确定

和她的姐妹相处融洽

妈妈为她梦想的婚姻

爱德华有时显得很奇怪

和她在一起的时候很沮丧

这让她有点担心

她知道他的母亲正在创造生命

对他来说很难，也许会

不赞成他娶一个

没有大幸

但有时候

她害怕他认为她不

不仅仅是朋友

玛丽安和她妈妈没有这样的

疑虑

坚信任何有智慧的

年轻人必须爱埃莉诺

而爱本身就能解决一切

问题

玛丽安确实吓坏了

姐姐小心翼翼的形容她

对爱德华的喜欢和感觉

尊重而不是爱

喜欢他

尊重他她哭了

哦，冷酷的埃莉诺

你为什么要羞于表达

爱

约翰·达什伍德夫人也注意到了

她哥哥和她之间的依恋

埃莉诺这让她不安

她抓住了第一个机会

惹恼了她的婆婆

通过解释她家的高

爱德华的野心和重要性

他嫁得好

以及任何年轻女性的危险

试图诱使他结婚

达什伍德夫人无法阻止自己

从给出尖锐的答案并离开

房间立即确定，尽管

移除自己和她的不便

诺兰的女儿们尽快

可能的

在同一天

她收到了约翰爵士的来信

米德尔顿

一位远亲的绅士

她的

他写信给她附近的一个小房子

他和她在德文郡的家

女孩们可以建造他们的新家

虽然只是一间小屋

他答应做任何必要的事情

让它更舒适

他的信是这样写的

友好的方式

她急于离开诺兰

和她绝情的儿媳

在第一次询问埃琳娜的意见之后

达什伍德夫人写信接受约翰爵士

米德尔顿的好意

第2章

新家

达什伍德夫人非常高兴

通知她的继子和他的妻子

她找到了房子

还有她和她的女儿们

很快就会不再困扰他们

约翰·达什伍德夫人什么也没说

但她的丈夫表现出一些惊讶

我真希望他有礼貌地说

你不会离北岛不远

达什伍德夫人笑着回答

他们要去德文郡

爱德华·费里斯在房间里

时间

当他听到时迅速转向她

这

德文郡

他重复了一遍

你真的要去那里吗

离这里这么远

我可以问哪一部分

一个叫巴顿的地方

埃克斯特市以北四英里

达什伍德夫人回答

它只是一个小屋

但我希望我的许多朋友会

来那里看我

她向先生发出了非常友好的邀请

和约翰·达什伍德夫人去拜访她

巴顿

她给了爱德华一张甚至

更大的感情

尽管她最近与

她的儿媳让她

决心尽快离开北方大陆

可能的

她一点也不打算

爱德华和埃莉诺应该分开

发出如此明确的邀请

爱德华，她想表明她

儿媳不同意

爱德华和埃莉诺之间的依恋

没有产生最小的影响

约翰达什伍德先生告诉他的继母

一次又一次的对不起他

是不是她拿了房子

远离诺兰，他无法

帮助她搬家

家具

他真的很抱歉

因为他决定限制他的

向他父亲承诺这一提议

帮助的

现在没有任何用处

家具被送到德文郡

船

它主要包括床单晚餐

板书和漂亮的钢琴

玛丽安的

约翰·达什伍德夫人很遗憾看到

盒子离开

她觉得达什伍德太太没有必要

谁有这么少的收入来拥有任何

好家具

达什伍德太太拿走了房子

巴顿小屋 12 个月

它已经布置好并准备好让他们

立即入住

所有必要的安排都是

快速制作

埃莉诺建议她妈妈卖掉她

与马匹一起的马车

保存成本太高

并限制他们的数量

仆人三人

两名仆人被派往

立即德文郡

为他们准备房子

情妇的到来

在他临终前

亨利·达什伍德告诉他的妻子

承诺他的儿子和夫人

达什伍德从未怀疑过乔恩

会信守诺言

现在

当她和她的女儿们即将

离开北岛是最合适的时间

让他为他们提供帮助

但是达什伍德夫人很快就开始失去希望了

他经常谈到崛起

管理他的房子和土地的费用

他似乎需要更多的钱

自己

而不是有任何意图

捐钱

很快他们就准备出发了

许多是在

他们向他们如此深爱的家道别

很多

亲

亲爱的诺兰

玛丽安独自在公园里散步说

在他们的最后一个晚上

我会想念你一辈子

在他们旅程的第一部分

到德文郡

他们太痛苦了，没有注意到

任何事物

但是当他们进入巴顿谷

他们变得更加开朗并开始

表现出对乡村的兴趣

很快就会成为他们日常生活的一部分

生活

这是一个宜人的绿色山谷

有茂密的树林和开阔的田野

行驶超过一英里后

他们到了他们的家

巴顿小屋建造得很好

并且状况良好

楼下有两个客厅

和四间卧室

和楼上的两个仆人房间

与诺兰相比，这当然是

又穷又小

女孩们的眼泪流了下来

想起了他们的家

但他们很快就擦干了眼睛，

为快乐而努力

达什伍德夫人总体上是

对房子很满意

但她期待着做一些

变化

我们可以让自己很舒服

暂时在这里，她说

因为今年开始太晚了

任何建筑工程

确保房子太小

为了我们

但也许明年如果我有很多

正如我所期望的那样，我会

我们可以考虑扩大坐席

房间

并添加一个新餐厅和另一个

卧室

这很容易做到

可惜楼梯不多

英俊

但我想这并不难

扩大他们

我会看看我节省了多少

春天

目前还不太清楚这一切是如何工作的

可以从节省一个

年收入500

一个从未在她心里存过钱的女人

生活

所以与此同时

他们有足够的智慧接受

原来的房子

他们花了第一天安排

他们周围的东西

让自己成为一个家

第二天早餐后不久

他们收到了他们的访问

楼主 拥有巴顿的绅士

小屋

约翰米德尔顿爵士长得很好看

40岁左右开朗的男人

他们似乎真的很高兴

到达

他欢迎他们来到巴顿

为他们提供他自己的任何东西

房子和花园巴顿公园

缺乏在小屋

他对他们表现出浓厚的兴趣

安慰并希望他们能见面

他自己的家人经常在社交场合

可能的

他的好意不限于言语

因为在他离开他们之后不久

一个装满水果的大篮子和

蔬菜从公园运来

其次是另一个肉和鱼

他的妻子米德尔顿夫人

第二天来看望他们

dashwoods当然非常

急于见到一个如此倾心的人

他们在巴顿的舒适度必须取决于

虽然起初他们很欣赏

她的外表和她的优雅

他们很快就意识到她做到了

没有老公的温暖

或任何有趣的事情要说

但是也不乏

对话

正如米德尔顿夫人明智地把她带来的那样

大孩子和她一个好小男孩

大约六个

结果总有一些东西

谈谈关于

女士们不得不问他的名字和年龄

欣赏他的美

并问他问题

他的母亲为他回答的

一个孩子应该被带到每一个社会

打电话以协助交谈

在目前的情况下，它采取了

至少 10 分钟确定是否

这个男孩最像他的父亲

或母亲

为什么

每个人的想法都不一样

每个人都惊讶于

其他人的意见

dashwoods 很快就会得到

有机会讨论其余的

孩子们

正如约翰爵士让他们承诺的那样

第二天在公园吃晚饭

巴顿公园距离酒店大约半英里

小屋

那是一座漂亮的大房子

米德尔顿生活得非常舒适

他们都没有品味或任何

对书籍或音乐感兴趣

所以约翰是个运动员

米德尔顿夫人是一位母亲

他只能去拍摄一半

一年，而他的妻子能够宠坏

她的孩子一年四季

他非常好客，他们几乎

总是有亲戚或朋友留下来

在房子里

但米德尔顿夫人的主要兴趣在于

在她优雅的餐桌上

和她的家庭安排

她对此感到非常自豪

约翰爵士乐于社交

比他老婆还真实

他乐于收集有关他的信息

比他家更多的年轻人

抓住

他们越吵

他越喜欢它

巴顿公园以其夏天而闻名

聚会和远足

和它的冬舞

约翰爵士对达什伍德夫人很满意

和她年轻漂亮的女儿们

当他们到达公园时

晚上

他在门口迎接他们

并多次重复他的关心

他无法得到任何

时尚的年轻人来见他们

他说

那里只有一位绅士

一个特别的朋友住在

房子

但谁也不是很年轻

也不是很善于交际

他为体积小而道歉

派对

并承诺永远不会发生

再次

幸运的是，米德尔顿夫人的母亲刚刚

到达的

因为她是个快乐和蔼的女人

他希望年轻女士们不会找到

晚上太沉闷

詹宁斯夫人是他的岳母

是个快乐的胖子

比较粗俗的老太太

大笑大谈的人

晚餐时她说了很多有趣的事

关于恋人和丈夫的事情

希望达什伍德小姐没有离开

他们在苏塞克斯的心在他们身后

布兰登上校约翰爵士的特别资料

朋友

看起来和他的朋友不一样

詹宁斯夫人来自她的女儿

他沉默了

和严肃的

然而他的外表并不是

不愉快

尽管他在玛丽安和

玛格丽特的观点绝对古老

学士

因为他站在35的错误一边。

晚饭后，玛丽安被邀请到

唱歌弹钢琴

约翰爵士非常钦佩

每首歌的结尾

和他的谈话一样响亮

其他人，而每首歌都持续

米德尔顿夫人皱着眉头看着他

说话，但随后要求一首歌

玛丽安刚刚完成

只有布兰登上校在听

用心地，没有任何虚假的表现

喜

玛丽安对他感到尊重

其他缺乏品味的人没有

应得

他显然喜欢音乐

虽然也许不是她自己的深度

感觉的

然而

她有足够的理由接受

像上校一样老到 35 岁的男人

很可能已经超过了真实的感觉和

真正的享受

詹宁斯夫人是个寡妇

舒适的财富

她活着见到了她的两个女儿

分别结婚现在一无所有

去做

但要嫁给世界其他地方

她大部分时间都在计划

她为所有年轻人举办的婚礼

知道

并且非常迅速地发现

附件

她到达巴顿后不久

这种速度使她能够通知

米德尔顿和达什伍德

布兰登上校非常喜欢

爱上玛丽安

她非常确定

这将是一段美好的婚姻

因为他很富有

她很帅

很长一段时间以来，詹宁斯夫人一直

渴望让布兰登上校好起来

已婚

她总是急于得到一个好的

每个漂亮女孩的丈夫

对自己的直接优势

是她可以说不完的笑话吗

反对他们俩

在小屋里，她嘲笑玛丽安

在公园里，她嘲笑

上校

玛丽安自己也不知道要不要

被逗乐或恼怒

这是一个愚蠢的指责妈妈

我觉得这对太太很无情

詹宁斯对老大笑这么残忍

布兰登上校 他的年龄足以成为我的

父亲

亲爱的

达什伍德夫人微笑着说

我想不出一个年轻五岁的男人

比我像他那么古老

在你看来

但是妈妈真的

他一定比任何感情都长寿

爱到现在

如果他年轻的时候有过

一个人什么时候才能免受如此残忍的伤害

如果年龄和身体虚弱不能开玩笑

保护他

身体虚弱

埃莉诺说

我知道他比我们大

但你肯定必须接受他仍然

充分利用了他的胳膊和腿

你没听他抱怨过

背部不好

我最亲爱的孩子说她妈妈

笑

在你看来一定很惊人

我的生命一直延续到伟大的时代

40。

妈妈是认真的

我很清楚布兰登上校是

年龄还不够他的朋友担心

然而关于失去他

他可能再活20年

但 35 应该与

婚姻

也许说埃莉诺 35 和 17 有

最好不要有任何关系

结婚但单身的女人

例如 27

可以很容易地考虑布兰登上校的

35年没有劣势

一个 27 岁的女人说，玛丽安在

一时的念头永远无法感受到

再次真爱

如果她的家不舒服或她

小财运

我想她可以接受

为了成为一名护士的职责

妻子

这将是一种权宜婚姻，如果

布兰登上校娶了这样一个女人

世界会很高兴的

但在我眼里这不是婚姻

根本

elena 说的好像有点难

合理地

你认为布兰登上校病得很重

他需要护理

只是因为他碰巧抱怨

昨天肩膀疼

毕竟是阴冷潮湿的一天

玛丽安的观点保持不变

然而不久之后，当埃莉诺

离开房间

玛丽安和她妈妈聊了几句

她声音里的紧迫感

妈妈

我很担心爱德华·费里斯

我确定他病了

我们已经在这里待了将近两个星期

他还没有来看埃莉诺

亲爱的，请耐心回答达什伍德夫人

我没想到他这么快，我觉得

当然埃莉诺也不指望他

当我们昨天谈论一个新的

备用卧室的壁炉

她说不急

因为有些人不需要这个房间

时间

多奇怪

它的含义是什么

他们最后的告别是多么寒冷多么平静

是

埃莉诺是如此自制

她从不悲伤、不安或

悲惨的

我无法理解她

第3章

一个英俊的陌生人

达什伍德小姐现在开始觉得

真的在巴顿家里

他们走路

练习他们的绘画和音乐

比任何人都更享受

他们死后的时间

父亲 他们没有多少访客

除了那些来自巴顿公园的

因为里面几乎没有其他房子

步行距离

实际上有一个很大的舒适

看房子大约一英里

阿拉南村的小屋

但他们听说它的主人是个老

叫史密斯夫人的品行端正的女士

不幸的是还不够好混合

社会上

他们到处都是美丽的散步

他们

在树木繁茂的绿色山谷和

小屋后面的山丘

一天早上 玛丽安和玛格丽特

不理会他们的母亲和

埃莉诺的雨警告

决定在其中一座山上行走

他们爬到了顶峰

高兴地看到蓝天之间

云

笑着迎面而来的风

他们的头发和衣服

世界上没有比这更好的了

比这个叫玛丽安

可惜妈妈和埃琳娜没有来

和我们

但几分钟后蓝天

消失了

乌云聚集

大雨倾盆而下

他们的脸

他们感到惊讶和失望

被迫回头

幸好他们离家不远

这只是与所有人一起奔跑的问题

可能在陡峭的一侧加速

通往他们花园大门的小山

起初玛丽安领先

但足足迈了一步，她突然

地面

玛格丽特无法阻止自己

继续下山并穿过

花园大门

一位外出射击的绅士是

玛丽安的时候走上山

事故发生

他放下枪跑去帮助她

她的脚踝受伤了，不能

站立

这位先生提供了他的帮助

尽管玛丽安的抗议

把她抱起来抱在怀里

山坡下面

他直接带她进了屋子

将她小心翼翼地放在沙发上

客厅

埃莉诺和她妈妈站了起来

陌生人进来时感到惊讶

携带

玛丽安

当他们都看着他时

暗暗佩服他异乎寻常的英俊

外貌

他最礼貌地为自己的粗鲁道歉

入口

就算他老了又丑又俗

达什伍德夫人会非常

感谢他对她的照顾

孩子

但他的容貌和影响

优雅触动了她最深的感情

她一次又一次地感谢他

并询问对方的姓名

她欠了那么多

他回答说他的名字是威洛比

他现在的家在阿拉南

他真诚地希望她

让他明天打电话询问

在达什伍德小姐之后

立即获得许可，他

然后离开

让自己更有趣

在一场大雨中

人们普遍钦佩他

男子气概

玛丽安少见了他的人

比其他人因为她的自然

当他把她抱在怀里时，他感到很困惑

但他的外表和行为

对她来说似乎一切都是完美的

她的想象力忙着她的思绪

很愉快

脚踝的疼痛消失了

不被注意

当约翰爵士下次拜访他们时，他听到

关于玛丽安的意外

并被急切地问他是否知道

威洛比的任何绅士

在阿拉南

威洛比

约翰爵士哭了

我当然是了

他每年都来这里

星期四我要请他吃饭

他是个什么样的年轻人

一个好人知道我可以告诉你

他射得很好，没有更好的了

英国的骑手

你能对他说的就是这些吗

玛丽安哭了

但他怎么想

他的利益是什么

心

所以约翰看起来很困惑

好吧，我不知道那么多

他

但他很愉快，善于交际，并且有

得到了我见过的最好的小狗

你看到他的狗了吗

但他问埃莉诺是谁

他从哪里来

居住

他在艾伦汉姆有房子吗

这次约翰爵士有更准确的

给出的答案

他告诉他们威洛比先生没有房子

他自己在德文郡，但留下了

只有在拜访老太太时

史密斯夫人在阿拉南

看来他和她有关系

并将继承她的财产

是的，约翰爵士加到埃莉诺身上，他很好

值得捕捉

他在萨默塞特有房子和土地

好

如果我是你

我不允许我妹妹

尽管这一切都在坠落，但拥有他

下山

玛丽安小姐一定没想到会有

所有的男人都属于她自己

如果她不这样做，布兰登会嫉妒的

小心

我不相信达什伍德夫人说

微笑着说我的两个女儿都会

对你所说的进行任何尝试

抓住他

这不是他们的工作

已经长大

无论多么富有，男人对我们都很安全

他们是

然而，我很高兴听到他是一个

我们能见到的可敬的年轻人

社交上

我记得去年圣诞节

约翰爵士在舞会上说

公园

他从八点跳到四点没有

一旦坐下

他八点又起床了

射击

是他

玛丽安用闪亮的眼睛哭了

这就是我喜欢的一个年轻人

对他所做的一切充满热情和渴望

谁从不疲倦

我看看会怎么样

约翰爵士说

你现在会对他感兴趣

别想可怜的布兰登

玛格丽特所说的玛丽安的拯救者

他

很早就到了小屋

早晨

达什伍德夫人收到了

不仅仅是礼貌

在他访问期间

威洛比很快意识到

感受优雅亲情和家常

家人的舒适

意外介绍了他

埃莉诺和玛丽安都很漂亮

面孔和可爱的人物

但在玛丽安美丽的黑眼睛里

燃烧着热切的火焰，引来

威洛比对她

当他说起她时，她不能沉默

音乐和舞蹈，毫不害羞

在他们的讨论中

他们很快发现有多少兴趣

和他们分享的观点

早在他的访问结束之前

他们一起有说有笑

像老朋友一样

威洛比每次都参观巴顿小屋

在那之后的一天

起初，他的意图据说是

礼貌地询问玛丽安的健康状况

但很快他就不再装作来了

在她身边度过一整天

完全享受她的陪伴

他们阅读他们交谈他们一起唱歌

和玛丽安在威洛比发现的所有

爱德华的品味和感性

不幸的是，没有ferrers

达什伍德夫人认为他完美无缺

正如玛丽安所做的那样

就连埃莉诺也觉得他没有错

除了玛丽安的习惯

共享

太准备发表意见

关于其他人

并把他的个人乐趣

高于社会正确性

玛丽安现在开始意识到她有

错误地认为没有这样的

作为完美男人的生物

威洛比遇到了她对完美的想法

确切地

他的行为表明他分享了

她对他们未来的愿望

她妈妈也有他们的想法

婚姻

并暗暗祝贺自己

有两个像爱德华这样的女婿

和威洛比

然而，埃莉诺担心看到

詹宁斯夫人是对的

布兰登上校似乎

深深爱上了玛丽安

沉默还有什么希望

35岁的男人

反对一个善于交际的 25 人

也许她更坑他

因为威洛比和玛丽安似乎

决心笑他老了

和沉闷

布兰登就是说的那种人

威洛比有一天每个人都在说话

善于

没人关心

他受到全家人的尊敬

公园然而埃莉诺尖锐地说

他的谈话总是很愉快

但他无话可说

玛丽安哭了

他有常识，这就是我喜欢的

关于他，他非常受人尊敬

消息灵通，我相信真诚

好吧，达什伍德小姐说威洛比

笑我有三个无法回答

不喜欢布兰登上校的原因

他告诉我当我想下雨的时候

没关系

他不赞成我的新马车

我不能说服他买我的

马

所以尽管你很懂事

意见我会继续不喜欢他

永远

当他们搬到巴顿时

dashwoods 从未想过他们的

日子会如此充实

派对

参观和游览

所以约翰不能休息，如果有

年轻人娱乐

每天都有乘船旅行或

晚宴或开车兜风

乡村或公园舞会

在威洛比的每一次会议上

包括在内，这给了他

发展他的联系的机会

与达什伍德家族一起展示他的

对玛丽安的深深钦佩和

接受她对自己的行为

最清楚的证据

感情

埃莉诺不能对他们感到惊讶

依恋

她只希望它可以不那么公开

显示

并且有一两次试图建议

玛丽安，她应该有更多

自我控制

但玛丽安和威洛比也是

相信真正的感情永远不应该

被隐藏

并且这样做是错误的

当威洛比在场时

玛丽安没有别人的眼睛

埃琳娜的幸福并不像

她的姐妹们

在德文郡，她没有找到伴侣

谁能让她忘记欢乐

她的故居和苏塞克斯朋友

只有布兰登上校最接近

成为她需要的那种朋友

他经常与她交谈

因为他似乎找到了一些解脱

和她谈玛丽安

你姐姐我明白不

批准第二个附件

他说有一天晚上他的眼睛盯着

和威洛比跳舞的玛丽安

没有回复埃莉诺她的意见都是

浪漫的

她相信我们曾经坠入爱河

只在我们的生活中

但我希望几年后她会

变得更懂事

这可能会发生

但是当一个浪漫的年轻心灵被迫

改变

会有什么严重的结果

我根据经验说话

我曾经认识一位年轻女士，她

在这里他突然停了下来

并且似乎认为他也说过

很多

埃莉诺几乎可以肯定他是一个

失恋的故事

她对他的怜悯越来越深

第二天早上

埃莉诺听到一条消息

让她吃惊

玛丽安以最伟大的方式告诉她

喜

那个威洛比答应给她的

一匹马

这样他和她就可以骑马了

一起

她没有考虑过

饲养动物的费用

或者社会对她的看法

收到这么贵重的礼物

一个没有亲戚关系的年轻人

海伦娜花了一些时间让她

明白她不可能

接受礼物

但最后玛丽安同意了

不情愿地

第二天，埃琳娜获得了一个静止的

更清晰的玛丽安依恋照片

到威洛比

玛格丽特兴奋地过来告诉她

她确信玛丽安会结婚

威洛比很快

哦，埃​​琳娜，她哭了，我有这样一个秘密

告诉你

我昨晚在喝完茶后看到了他们

威洛比先生恳求玛丽安

某物

然后他切断了她的长锁

头发吻了它

放在他的口袋里

埃琳娜现在确信他们已经订婚了

只是惊讶于他们没有

告诉他们的亲戚和朋友

所以约翰的最新计划

娱乐是参观一座非常漂亮的房子

和花园叫惠特韦尔以下

日

他们中的一大群人会进去

带食物和饮料的车厢

他们在篮子里，度过了最愉快的一天

预计

因为惠特韦尔属于上校

布兰登的姐夫上校

会和他们一起去

看来只有他一个人可以安排

让他们参观房子

然而不幸的是

当他们在公园吃早餐时

全党聚集的地方

一封信被送到了上校

他快速地看了看

然后匆匆走出房间，没有

单词

过了一会儿，他回来看

比平时更严重

并解释了紧急事务

叫他去伦敦

因此他不能

参加参观惠特韦尔的聚会

尽管他不会进一步解释

詹宁斯夫人坚持询问

除了埃莉诺，每个人都努力

说服他推迟他的生意

游览可以进行

但他不能被影响

祝他们幸福后离开了家

再会

因为游览不再可能

决定该党将

而是在乡下开车，

订购了马车

willowbiz 是第一个

玛丽安看起来从来没有比这更快乐

当她进入

他开得很快

他们很快就不见了

他们什么也没看到

直到他们下午回来

那天晚上，他们都坐下来

晚餐

詹宁斯夫人悄悄地对玛丽安说话

但声音足够让埃莉诺听到

我找到你了，小姐，尽管

你的聪明

我知道你早上在哪里度过

玛丽安脸红了，连忙说在哪里

詹宁斯夫人会意地笑了

我希望你喜欢你的房子，玛丽安小姐

它肯定很大

当我来看你的时候，我希望

你会重新装修它

我小时候它急需新家具

最后在那里

玛丽安困惑地转过身去

詹宁斯夫人大声笑了起来

解释说她从

玛丽安和仆人

威洛比去了艾伦

并花了相当长的时间

在史密斯夫人家上空

埃琳娜觉得这难以置信

玛丽安从未被介绍给

史密斯夫人

这将是非常不礼貌的

让她进入房子，而太太

史密斯在里面

然而当她问她姐姐时

她发现这个故事是真的

玛丽安对她很生气

因为怀疑

我为什么不去看房子哭了

玛丽安我从来没有度过一个愉快的

我生命中的早晨

恐怕埃莉诺小声地回答，但是

牢牢

任何令人愉快的事

并不总是正确的

经过几分钟的认真思考

玛丽安 说

也许埃莉诺你可能是对的我

不应该去的

但房间很可爱有一个

美丽的小客厅

会很高兴与现代

家具

她会描述每个房间

如果埃莉诺让她的话，房子

埃莉诺没有时间去想为什么

布兰登上校来得太突然

现在打消了她所有的思绪

以玛丽安和威洛比为中心

对他们的异常沉默

订婚

他们似乎没有理由应该

不公开告诉妈妈和自己

即使他们不打算结婚

很快

威洛比并不富有

事实上他经常抱怨他很穷

所以他可能不得不等待他的

婚前遗产

但这个秘密是如此反对他们

开诚布公的一般观念

那个埃莉诺开始怀疑他们是否

真的订婚了

没有什么能表达更多的爱

他们都比威利比的行为

他似乎认为小屋是他的

回家，当达什伍德夫人提到

她计划的未来建筑工作

他看起来几乎吓坏了并恳求

她连一块石头都不换

没有达什伍德夫人，他哭了

不要破坏这所房子

它是完美的

记住我所知道的幸福

在这里向我保证你什么都不会改变

什么都没有

尽职尽责地取悦达什伍德夫人

承诺的

我很高兴你的承诺

现在我要再问你一件事

告诉我，不仅你的家会

保持不变

但我总能找到你和

你的家人没有改变

并且你会一直考虑我

带着让你们所有人的善意

对我如此亲爱

承诺已被给予

和威利比斯那天晚上的行为

是他幸福的证明

社会

第 4 章出发和到达

第二天早上，达什伍德太太带着两个

她的女儿去拜访女士

米德尔顿

玛丽安希望留在家里

她的母亲认为，毫无疑问

威洛比曾答应拜访她

当她一个人的时候

很高兴同意

当他们从公园回来时

按预期发现

柳比的马车在外面等候

小屋

但他们没想到的是

进了屋

是为了看玛丽安冲出去

客厅控制不住地抽泣

跑上楼

他们既惊讶又担心地走进

房间

他们只发现威洛比

他的脸上流露出同样强烈的迹象

感动玛丽安的感情

他的玛丽安病了

达什伍德太太哭了

我希望不是

他回答说试图看起来很高兴

确实是我可能会生病

因为我现在正承受着沉重的痛苦

失望

我不能再来看你了

我表弟史密斯夫人今天早上有

决定送我去伦敦出差

作为一个可怜的依赖关系，我必须做

她问什么

我已经离开了埃琳娜

现在我来告别了

你

这很不幸

但史密斯夫人的生意不会继续下去

我希望你从我们这里很久

他回答的时候脸红了

你很善良

但我没有希望回到

立即德文郡

我从未拜访过史密斯夫人

年内重复

史密斯夫人是你唯一的朋友吗

allenum 是你唯一的房子吗

欢迎

我亲爱的威洛比

你当然不需要等待

巴顿小屋的邀请函

他的颜色加深了

他的眼睛盯着地面

只回复了

你太好了

达什伍德太太看着埃莉诺

惊喜和埃莉诺的感觉就像

吃惊

沉默片刻后威洛比

迷糊地补充

目前我的

我的时间不是我自己的 我不能指望

他停下来了

然后虚弱地笑着说

以这种方式继续下去是愚蠢的

我不会再惩罚自己了

留在与它的社会的朋友中

我现在不可能享受

他匆匆道别

然后离开了房子

他的马车很快就不见了

达什伍德夫人对他的担忧和担忧

突然离开对她来说太过分了

表达

埃莉诺也感到非常不安

威洛比的改变行为

有一瞬间，她害怕他从来没有

有任何认真的结婚打算

玛丽安和下一个

发生了不幸的争论

他和姐姐之间

但她最强烈的感觉是

可怜玛丽安

谁现在必须在

最猛烈的悲伤和她的浪漫

自然会认为它有责任喂养

并鼓励她的痛苦

很快，达什伍德太太就觉得可以讨论了

大女儿的情况

她现在更快乐了

并说服自己

威洛比刚刚离开德文郡

在他富有的亲戚的命令下

因为史密斯夫人怀疑并且

不赞成他订婚

玛丽安

他最大的愿望是她继续

尽快返回巴顿

埃莉诺耐心地听着同意

这很有可能

但如果他们订婚了，她说

虽然可能需要隐藏

史密斯夫人的真相

没有理由向我们隐瞒

我亲爱的孩子哭了她妈妈

你指责很奇怪

威洛比和玛丽安隐藏他们的

当你指责他们时的感受

太公开地表达自己的感受

我不想证明他们的感情说

埃莉诺

但他们订婚了

我对两者都非常满意

对玛丽安没有他的行为

至少过去两周表明他

爱她并认为她是他的未来

妻子

埃莉诺有没有可能怀疑他们的

订婚

威洛比必须知道你的

姐姐对他的爱

他怎么可能离开她

几个月没有告诉她他的

感情

我承认埃莉诺说一切

指向他们的参与

除了一件事，沉默

主题

对我来说这是最伟大的

所有人的困难

哦，埃​​莉诺，我不懂你

你宁愿相信坏事也不愿相信

好的

你怀疑威洛比吗

但他不是一个有荣誉感的人吗？

你不能真的认为他在骗人

玛丽安

我希望不是

我相信不是

埃莉诺哭了，我真诚地爱

威洛比

我觉得怀疑他很痛苦

意图

也许你确实是对的

并且有一个简单的解释

他今天早上的奇怪行为

他们什么也没看到玛丽安，直到

晚餐

当她坐在餐桌旁时

一言不发

她的眼睛是红色的，她的脸色苍白

她避免看任何人，并且可以

不吃饭不说话

她继续在痛苦的深处

整个晚上

任何提及与

威洛比让她泪流满面

即刻

虽然她的家人是最

为她的舒适而焦虑

他们不可能避开

她的感受的每一个主题

与他有关

玛丽安会认为自己很

如果她能够入睡，则麻木不仁

分手后的第一个晚上

从威洛比她本来是

羞于面对她的家人

如果她没有再从床上起来

比躺下时更需要休息

在上面

但这没有危险

正在发生

她大半夜都在抽泣

苦涩

起床头疼

她度过了一天剩下的时间

几天后在喂食

她通过演奏所有的柳树而感到悲伤

最喜欢的歌曲

通过阅读他们曾经读过的书

一起

独自走在山上

他们过去常常走路

直到她的心如此沉重

不能再增加悲伤

威洛比没有来信

玛丽安似乎没有预料到

她妈妈很惊讶

和埃莉诺再次

开始担心

大约一周后的一个早晨

埃琳娜说服玛丽安加入她的行列

散步的姐妹

当他们沿着远离

小屋

他们看到一位绅士骑着马向他们走来

玛丽安立刻大叫起来

喜

是他，我知道是她急切地跑去

见他

但埃莉诺喊道

玛丽安，我认为你错了

这不是威洛比

但玛丽安不听

并继续奔跑，直到她

离骑手很近

当她突然停下

她意识到这不是威洛比

她的失望也差不多

好受

就在这时，那位先生叫她

她认出了爱德华·费勒

他是世界上唯一一个

在那一刻可以原谅不

威洛比

她冲他笑了笑，阻止了她

眼泪

然而，在问候之后

她越来越惊讶地看着他的

对埃莉诺礼貌而疏远的行为

这和情人的很不一样

当她听说他已经

在德文郡待了两周

没有来看埃莉诺

她几乎开始不喜欢他了

你最近去过苏塞克斯吗

问埃琳娜

大约一个月前我在诺兰

爱德华回答

亲爱的亲爱的诺兰看起来哭了

玛丽安

亲爱的诺兰说埃莉诺

可能看起来和它差不多

通常在每年的这个时候

树林和人行道上覆盖着厚厚的

枯叶

哦，玛丽安哭了

那些落叶给了我这样的

喜

我以前多么喜欢看到他们开车

被风围绕在我身边

现在没有人看他们没有人

关心

不是每个人都说埃莉诺

你对枯叶的热情

他们都回到了小屋

爱德华收到的地方

夫人最亲切的欢迎

达什伍德

在她温暖的影响下，他开始

失去害羞或冷漠

并且变得更像他自己

但他似乎仍然不开心

全家人都注意到了这一点

爱德华好

达什伍德太太晚饭后说

你妈妈对你有什么计划

展示

费里斯夫人还想让你做一个

政治家

不

我希望我妈妈意识到我永远做不到

那

我怕她和我永远不会同意

在我们为我选择的职业中

如你所知

我不喜欢学习法律

我一直更喜欢教堂，但

这对我的家人来说太普通了

那你怎么成名

因为那是你全家的

想要我明白

我不会尝试

我不想成为盛大的人

或重要的

我有充分的理由希望我永远不会

应该

我知道你不是雄心勃勃的爱德华

不

我希望像其他人一样

完全快乐，但以我自己的方式

伟大不会让我快乐

你哭得多么正确，玛丽安

与财富或伟大有什么关系

幸福

很少有人说埃莉诺

但财富与它有很大关系

埃莉诺惊呼玛丽安震惊

金钱只能在哪里给幸福

没有什么可以给它的

除了满足我们的基本需求之外

对我们毫无用处

也许埃莉诺微笑着说我们可以

最终同意

你的基本需求和我的财富非常

很像我期望的

来

你的基本身材是什么

一年两千不超过

埃莉诺笑了

一年两千

一个是我的财富

我猜到你会说什么

然而一年两千不是

一个家庭无法生活的巨额收入

较少的

合适数量的仆人一辆马车

骑马不能付钱

少于那个

埃琳娜又笑了

听到她姐姐这样描述

准确地说她未来的生活

威洛比

在爱德华来访期间，埃莉诺

小心翼翼地以她平时的方式对待他

礼貌和兴趣

但在她的心里，她被他的

对她冷淡

很明显他不开心

她很怀疑他是否

还是爱她

然而，她可以看出他的感受

很困惑

有时一会儿

他像往常一样看着她

这又给了她希望

第二天

当玛丽安递茶给

爱德华

她注意到他的手指上有一枚戒指

提到它

我以前从没见过你戴戒指

爱德华，她哭了

是你姐姐在戒指上的头发吗

但肯定她的颜色更深

爱德华脸红了

飞快地看着埃莉诺说是的

这是范妮的头发

它看起来比实际轻

埃莉诺见到了他的眼睛并且知道

真相

她确信头发是她自己的

但它一定是从她那里拿走的

在她不知情的情况下

不过她没心情

不赞成这个动作

并迅速转移话题

达什伍德一家很遗憾听到这个消息

爱德华只得离开他们

星期

尽管他表示非常高兴

见到这样的老朋友

并且不能给他的充分理由

离开

似乎有什么东西在强迫他

离开

埃莉诺责备他的母亲

奇怪的行为

他缺乏快乐很容易

解释为他缺乏独立性

她想知道如果有的话

他的母亲最终会放弃她的一切

对他的抱负，并允许他做出

他自己的人生选择

一个更令人欣慰的想法是记忆

他对她愉快的眼神和言语

在他访问期间

最重要的是

他穿着的爱的证明

绕着他的手指

尽管爱德华的痛苦

离开埃琳娜决心躲起来

她的感情和勇敢面对

世界

这样做并没有减轻她的悲伤

但至少阻止了她的家人

担心她

玛丽安无法欣赏这种行为

不像她自己的

她相信自我控制很容易

适合像埃莉诺这样平静的性格

根本不可能充满激情

像她这样的人

爱德华离开后不久的一个早晨

约翰爵士、米德尔顿夫人和夫人

jennings 来拜访 dashwoods

带来了帕尔默先生和夫人

夏洛特·帕尔默是詹宁斯夫人

小女儿

但和她姐姐完全不同

各方面的米德尔顿夫人

她又矮又胖，有一个

非常漂亮的脸，微笑或大笑

所有

她的丈夫看起来很严肃

年轻人

谁不努力取悦或成为

高兴

他大部分时间看报纸

访问

只是时不时抬起头

给他一个十字架不苟言笑的回答

妻子的愚蠢问题

然而，她立刻喜欢上了

埃莉诺和玛丽安花了很多时间

在与埃莉诺的谈话中

特别的

当埃莉诺意识到他们的家

在威洛比附近的萨默塞特

她希望听到更多关于他的消息

特点

于是她问帕尔默夫人他们是否认识他

哦，是的，我非常了解他 回复

帕尔默夫人

不是我真的和他说过话，而是

我经常在城里看到他

每个人都喜欢和钦佩他

我很清楚你为什么问

我很高兴你姐姐能

嫁给他

你比我知道得多

说艾伦很惊讶

如果你有任何理由期待

不要假装这不是真的，因为你

知道伦敦的每个人都是这样

谈起

我亲爱的帕尔默夫人

以我的名誉，他们都在谈论它

我在邦德街遇到了布兰登上校

他立即告诉了我

你让我很惊讶

我不指望布兰登上校

提供此类信息，即使它是

真的很好，当我遇到他时，我说上校

我听说巴顿有一个新家庭

小屋和妈妈说女孩们很

漂亮，其中一个订婚了

威洛比先生是真的吗

他什么也没说

但从他的表情我知道是

肯定

我当然认识布兰登上校

很久

我相信她小声补充

他会很高兴嫁给我的

如果他能

但妈妈觉得他不够好

丈夫为我

无论如何，我比现在快乐多了

帕尔默先生正是我喜欢的那种人

第五章

露西斯蒂尔的秘密

帕尔默回到萨默塞特

明天

但没过多久，约翰爵士

巴顿公园的更多游客

早上去埃克塞特旅行

他和他的婆婆认识了两个

年轻的女士们，斯蒂尔斯小姐

詹宁斯夫人发现是谁

远房表亲

约翰爵士总是渴望社会

立即邀请他们留在

尽快停车

最幸运的是

他们能够接受邀请

几乎在

一旦年轻女士到达

他们的外表绝不是

过时的

他们的衣服很优雅

他们的举止很有礼貌

他们对房子很满意

家具，他们碰巧是这样

那位女士疯狂地喜欢孩子

米德尔顿对

他们在

停车一个小时

约翰爵士匆匆赶往巴顿小屋

告诉达什伍德小姐

他们是世界上最可爱的女孩

他说

埃琳娜对此微笑

她知道约翰爵士

世界上最可爱的女孩在

英格兰的每一个角落

可能的脸型和

特点

所以约翰希望全家人都走路

立即去公园看看他的

客人

善良体贴的人

他甚至感到痛苦

自己的第三个表弟

但尽管他努力

他只能获得 dashwood 的

承诺在一天内参观公园或

二

当承诺的访问发生时

他们发现没有什么值得欣赏的

老斯蒂尔小姐的出现

近30岁，脸很平淡

然而年轻的露西斯蒂尔小姐是谁

不超过 23

有相当的美丽

她的脸很漂亮

她有一双敏锐的眼睛

她以一种特定的神态保持着自己

埃琳娜很快就注意到了讨人喜欢的举止

和他们不断的关注

赢得了米德尔顿夫人的认可

他们对美丽赞不绝口

和她孩子的智慧

对女士充满钦佩

米德尔顿自己

幸运的是那些使用这些的人

聪明的把戏

慈母永远听不够

赞美她的孩子，因此

会吞下任何东西

米德尔顿夫人自豪地看着她

被宠坏的孩子拉了小姐抢断

他的头发偷走了他们的缝纫剪刀

撕毁他们的书

她毫不怀疑钢铁小姐

和她一样享受这一切

孩子们

她只是对埃莉诺和

玛丽安应该如此平静地坐着

参与其中

亲爱的小威廉她是多么顽皮

像她的第二个男孩一样亲切地说

猛烈拉扯斯蒂尔女士的手指

这是我亲爱的安娜玛丽亚

安静的小东西

她弯下腰去吻她的女儿，但

不幸的是，她的裙子上有一枚别针

挠了孩子的脖子

剧烈的尖叫声响起，

小钢厂急于帮助受难者

孩子

小女孩意识到声音越大

她尖叫得越是关注

会收到

没有办法让她平静下来

最后她妈妈被迫背着

她在楼上寻找她的护士

四个年轻的女士被留在了一个

房间不知道的安静

好几个小时

可怜的小动物

老钢铁小姐说

我不认为有任何真正的原因

为了报警，玛丽安坚定地说

米德尔顿夫人是个多么可爱的女人

露西斯蒂尔说

玛丽安保持沉默，因为这是不可能的

让她说出她不觉得

是埃莉诺被迫回答

她说她是一个非常疼爱的妈妈

如实

孩子们哭了我喜欢的露西

看到充满生机和乐趣的孩子

我不能忍受他们安静

我承认回答埃莉诺，虽然我

我在巴顿公园

我从没想过安静的孩子

不悦

长老打破了短暂的沉默

突然改变的斯蒂尔小姐

以说为主题

你喜欢德文郡胡须木吗

我想你很遗憾离开

苏塞克斯

诺兰是一个美丽的地方不是吗

我们听说约翰佩服它说

露西很快

埃莉诺很惊讶这位小姐

斯蒂尔似乎对她了解很多

家庭

确实这是一个可爱的地方

和你有很多英俊的年轻人

那里的单身汉

我们是静止的吗

恐怕你会觉得这里很无聊

我喜欢一个有很多东西的地方

英俊的年轻人

但他们必须穿着得体，举止得体

礼貌地

我想你哥哥是个不错的人

未婚前的优雅青年

埃琳娜回答得很好

如果他在结婚之前

他仍然是

因为他根本没有改变

哦亲爱的

我从没想过已婚男人

英俊的年轻人他们还有其他的

要做的事情

天哪，安妮哭了她的妹妹

你只能谈论年轻人

你会让达什伍德小姐相信你

想别的

她转向另一个话题

这次与小姐的会面交易

对埃琳娜来说已经足够了

谁不喜欢庸俗的自由和

长者的愚蠢和聪明的人

年轻人的借口

她不愿离开公园

更了解他们

然而斯蒂尔斯小姐认为

不同的

善于交际的约翰爵士也是如此

很快两院的小姐们

坐在一起或走在一起

几乎每天一两个小时

急于让他们了解

彼此很好

所以约翰有帮助地通知了女士

钢的所有细节

达什伍德的生活

很快，安斯蒂尔祝贺埃琳娜

关于她姐姐的幸运订婚

一个非常好的年轻人

这么年轻就结婚多好啊

她补充说

听说他很帅

我希望你能有这么好的运气

你自己

但也许你已经有人了

剧照小姐也听到了约翰爵士的消息

带着许多微笑和笑话

关于埃莉诺怀疑的依恋

一个最近访问过的年轻人

德文郡

他的名字是 pharas 低声说约翰爵士所以

每个人都能听到，但这是一个

大秘密

亚铁

重复老人钢

费罗斯先生

你嫂子的弟弟小姐

达什伍德

一个非常令人愉快的年轻人，我们认识他

很好

你怎么能说安妮哭了露西谁

几乎总是纠正她的一切

姐姐说

我们只在

我叔叔的

埃莉诺很惊讶

这个叔叔是谁

他住在哪里

他们是怎么认识爱德华的

她非常希望有这个话题

继续，但没有再说什么

关于这件事，她宁愿不问

质疑自己

在接下来的几天

露西没有错过任何参与的机会

谈话中的埃莉诺

她天生聪明，经常

很有趣，可以作为半年的伴侣

小时埃琳娜发现她很愉快

然而她对书籍音乐一无所知

或绘画，尽管她不断

努力显得消息灵通

埃琳娜因为她缺乏

教育

但不喜欢她的虚伪

不诚实和狭隘的私利

隐藏在她所有话语的背后

行动

有一天，他们独自行走

露西一起说

你会觉得我的问题很奇怪

怀疑

但你个人知道你的

嫂子的母亲 费里斯夫人

艾伦 我确实觉得这个问题很奇怪

我从没见过她

她回答得有点遥远

那你就不能告诉我是什么样的

她是女人

没有回复埃莉诺

谨慎给出她的真实意见

爱德华的妈妈

我对她一无所知

露西死死盯着埃莉诺

我希望我能告诉你

我希望你会相信我不只是

好奇或不礼貌

她犹豫了

我想要你的好意见

我敢肯定

我不会有丝毫的恐惧

信任你

的确，我会很高兴你的

建议

我处于如此不舒服的境地

很抱歉你不认识太太

摩天轮

我也很抱歉

埃莉诺吃惊地说

如果你知道它对你有什么用

我对她的看法

但我从来不明白你是

与那个家庭有关

我不奇怪你的惊讶

费里斯夫人目前对我来说什么都不是

但时候可能会到来

紧密相连

她说这话时害羞地低下头

只需快速浏览一下

埃莉诺

天哪，埃琳娜哭了

你是什​​么意思

与罗伯特·费里斯先生有关

她并没有感到很高兴

这样一个嫂子的想法

不

露西没有回答罗伯特·费里斯先生，我

我一生中从未见过他，但

用他的眼睛盯着埃莉诺

爱德华哥哥

埃琳娜沉默地看着露西

惊讶

你一定很惊讶继续露西

因为他当然从没提过

给你的任何家人

这是一个很大的秘密

我的亲戚都不知道

除了安妮

如果我没有，我永远不会告诉你

完全信任你

我真的认为我应该解释一下

我询问法拉夫人的行为

我知道费里斯先生不会不高兴的

当他听到我告诉你

因为他的意见最高

你全家的世界

看着你和另一个小姐

dashwoods 就像他自己的姐妹一样

elena 强迫自己冷静地说话

请问你订婚多久了

我们已经订婚四年了

四年了 elena 仍然觉得无法

相信它

我和姐姐经常住在我家

普利茅斯附近的叔叔家在这里

德文郡

爱德华来那里学了四年法律

年

所以我们相遇并订婚了

我非常不愿意进入它作为

你可以想象没有他母亲的

赞同

但我太年轻了也爱他

我应该像我应该的那样谨慎

已经

亲爱的爱德华

看

我随身带着他的照片

她从口袋里拿出一个小

绘画并展示给埃莉诺

埃莉诺对真相的最后怀疑

露西的故事消失了

认出了爱德华的脸

你想不到我有多痛苦

继续露西

一切都是那么不确定

我们很少见面

我想知道我的心没有碎

在这里，她把手放在眼睛上

但埃莉诺并不同情

有时露西补充说，我认为会是

如果我中断了对我们俩都更好

完全参与

她敏锐地看着她的同伴

但后来我无法忍受

让他苦不堪言

对我来说也是

他非常亲爱

你会建议我做什么小姐

塔什伍德

恐怕我不能在这种情况下给你建议

一种情况

你必须自己决定可怜的爱德华

他的母亲必须有一天供养他

但他对自己的未来非常沮丧

你不觉得他不开心吗？

最近到达巴顿

是的

埃莉诺说知道另一个事实

支持露西的故事

他一直和我们一起住在我的

叔叔的

这让他很痛苦不能

住两个多星期，看看

我好难过

他的感觉还是一样

在我离开埃克塞特之前我收到了他的来信

从她的口袋里拿出一封信

她挥舞着埃莉诺的信封

方向

埃莉诺认出了爱德华的作品

最后不得不接受他们必须

订婚

她的心在她里面沉了下去

可怜的爱德华连照片都没有

我的露西继续说，虽然我有他的

但我给了他一绺头发

最近响了，那是一些安慰

他对他说

也许你注意到他的戒指

手指

我做了

埃琳娜说

她的声音很平静

但她的冷静隐藏着不快

比她以往任何时候都更伟大

她很震惊

使困惑

和悲惨的

他们的谈话到此结束

埃莉诺独自思考

她确信爱德华的感情

还是她的

他当然爱她

也从未故意欺骗她

不幸的是，他现在被一个

早早和愚蠢地订婚

但不真诚的庸俗自私的女孩

他的主要兴趣在于他的未来

收入

埃琳娜的眼泪为爱德华流了更多

比她自己

她失去了幸福的机会

和他一起

但只会痛苦一段时间

虽然他什么都看不到

在生活中前进

在接下来的几天里，埃莉诺

小心翼翼地掩饰她的不快

她很高兴能为她的家人

爱德华的秘密令人震惊的消息

订婚

因为她知道他们的感情和

悲伤只会增加她的痛苦

在方便的时候，她回到了

与对象进行安静的交谈

露西

她得知露西决心

让爱德华订婚

那个露西嫉妒她，因为

爱德华显然总是提到她

非常钦佩

的确

露西还有什么理由

告诉埃莉诺她的秘密

如果不是为了警告她远离

爱德华

埃琳娜非常悲伤地意识到

爱德华不仅没有

对未来妻子的感情

但他甚至没有机会

在婚姻中相当幸福

第六章

伦敦的埃琳娜和玛丽安

詹宁斯夫人现在开始计划

回到她在伦敦的家

还很意外地邀请了长老

想和她呆在那里

我已经全心全意了，她在她心里说

舒适的方式

我们将度过一段愉快的时光

我知道在一起

如果你不喜欢去参观

和我在一起，你总是可以和我的一个一起去

女儿们

我很幸运找到了

我相信我女儿的丈夫

你妈妈会认为我是合适的

照顾你的人

如果我没有得到你们中的至少一个

结婚不是我的错

埃莉诺不愿意接受

因为她知道妈妈会想念

她和玛丽安非常

她也知道爱德华和

那时斯蒂尔斯小姐会在伦敦

时间并希望避免与他们见面

但玛丽安渴望看到

威洛比谁最有可能在

那时镇上给了达什伍德太太一个

坚持他们的绝佳理由

应该接受詹宁夫人的慷慨

邀请

于是就同意了

在为期三天的旅程中，埃莉诺

有很多比较的机会

玛丽安的令人愉快的期望

她自己接受了一个黯淡的未来

从玛丽安明亮的眼睛里看得很清楚

和她依赖的幸福微笑

在伦敦寻找威洛比

和埃莉诺决心了解更多

关于他的性格和意图

他们到达詹宁斯夫人时

漂亮的房子，年轻的女士们

给夏洛特的旧房间一个大而

舒适的公寓

埃莉诺立即坐下来写信给

她的母亲和玛丽安也坐了下来

用笔和纸

我在给家里写信，玛丽安说埃莉诺

也许你应该推迟写作

一两天

我不写信给妈妈

玛丽安很快

埃莉诺意识到玛丽安一定是

写信给威洛比

并高兴地认为事实

他们对应的必须意味着他们

已订婚

信写完了，寄到

帖子

在晚上剩下的时间里，玛丽安

显得非常激动

她几乎什么都没吃，似乎

焦急地听着声音

每节车厢

晚饭后突然有敲门声

在前门

玛丽安急切地跳起来

走向客厅门

她忍不住哭了，哦，埃琳娜

威洛比

似乎几乎准备好投降

当布兰登上校投入他的怀抱

进入

震惊太大了

冷静，她立即离开了

房间

埃琳娜向上校打招呼

她特别对不起一个男人

爱上了她的妹妹

应该看到玛丽安没有任何感觉

但与他见面时感到非常失望

他显然感到惊讶和担心

看到玛丽安以这样的方式离开房间

大大地

你姐姐生病了吗

他焦急地问

埃莉诺不情愿地回答说她

曾是

谈到头痛和

过度疲劳和任何可能的事情

合理解释姐姐的行为

他们的谈话继续进行

非个人主体

直到詹宁斯夫人带着

她所有平常喧闹的快乐

哦，上校说她

我很高兴见到你

你看

我带来了两位年轻女士

你的朋友玛丽安小姐也在

你不会难过的

我不知道你和威洛比先生是什么

会做你之间的她

但是上校

自从我们在

巴顿公园

来

让我们在朋友之间没有秘密

他礼貌地回答，但没有给出真实的

回答并没有停留太久

女士们都同意早点睡觉

第二天早上，玛丽安看起来很开心

再次

昨天的失望似乎

被遗忘在愉快的期待中

那天发生了什么

他们花了一上午的时间在一家

伦敦时尚区与夫人

帕尔默

在这段时间里，玛丽安很不安

并且不专心总是向外看

街上，非常不耐烦

又回到家

他们一回来，她就跑了进去

热切地

有没有给我留下信 她问

服务员

没有错过他回答

你确定没有卡片或信件或

笔记

多么奇怪

她用失望的低声说

确实很奇怪

埃琳娜担心地想

如果威洛比在城里

他为什么不来

哦，我亲爱的妈妈，你一定是错的

允许女儿订婚

如此年轻，如此鲜为人知的男人

继续在这样一个令人怀疑和

神秘的方式

那天剩下的时间，玛丽安似乎

激动无法集中注意力

任何事物

当他们在下一次早餐时相遇时

早上，詹宁斯夫人说

如果这个晴朗的天气持续下去

约翰爵士不想离开了

巴顿来伦敦

运动员输球是一件可悲的事情

一天的拍摄

那是真实的

玛丽安突然高兴地叫道

我没想到

这个好天气将保持许多

该国的运动员

但现在是一月，它不能持续

我希望我们很快就会有霜冻

然后他们都会进城

为什么今晚它甚至会结冰

在接下来的几天里，埃莉诺

看到又好笑又难过

玛丽安对

天气

风变了，不是埃莉诺吗

我确信它比这更冷

早晨

我想我们今晚会有霜冻

詹宁斯太太总是对她很好

两位年轻客人

她的家庭安排很慷慨

她的朋友们很愉快，如果

有点沉闷

布兰登上校几乎拜访了他们

每天

他来看玛丽安并与

埃莉诺

谁关切地看到他继续

对姐姐的感情

他们到达后大约一周

在桌子上发现了威洛比的卡片

当他们早上回来时

驾驶

天哪，玛丽安哭了，他一直是

我们出去的时候在这里

从这一刻起，她的心

安静的

期望每小时见到他

那天让她不适合任何事情

她坚持留在家里

第二天早上其他人出去的时候

第二天送来纸条时

她快步上前接过

为了我，她哭了

但这是给詹宁斯夫人的，她是

再次失望

你期待一封信然后说

埃莉诺无法再保持沉默

是的

一点

不多

有一个短暂的停顿

你对我没有信心 玛丽安

elena 你怎么能说你有

对任何人都没有信心

我

埃莉诺困惑地回答

确实，玛丽安，我无话可说

我也没有坚定地回答玛丽安，所以我们的

情况相似

我们都没有什么要告诉你的

因为你什么都没有和我交流

因为我什么都不隐藏

埃莉诺意识到她已经答应了

不要告诉露西斯蒂尔的秘密

觉得她不能要求更高

玛丽安比她更开放

她自己准备提供

第二天晚上是在一个舞会上度过的

米德尔顿夫人在伦敦的家

一旦玛丽安意识到威洛比是

不存在

她对任何一个都不感兴趣

客人抱怨她发现

跳舞太累

但更糟的还在后头

詹宁斯夫人回来时告诉他们

那个威洛比被邀请了

并表示她很惊讶他有

没有出现

玛丽安看起来非常受伤

埃莉诺决定写信给他们

妈妈要她查明真相

从玛丽安

埃琳娜刚刚写完她的信

第二天早上，布兰登上校

到达的

讨厌任何类型的访客的玛丽安

除了一个人在他之前离开了房间

进入它，埃莉诺发现自己

和他单独在一起

他坐了一会儿，一言不发

然后激动地问她

他是否应该祝贺她

得到一个姐夫

elena 并没有为这样的事情做好准备

问他什么意思

他继续微笑着

你姐姐和先生订婚了

威洛比是众所周知的

她自己的家人不知道 elena

回答了

他说很惊讶

我很抱歉

我担心你会认为我不礼貌

我没想到有任何秘密

打算因为他们公开对应

刚才仆人让我进去的时候

看到他手里拿着一个信封和先生

威洛比的地址在你的

姐姐的文

我是来打听的，但恐怕我知道

答案

难道我不可能

但我没有成功的机会

告诉我，我求求你，这就是全部

安排，那么我将别无选择

隐藏我的感受

一世

听到他们的消息我并不感到惊讶

一致

埃莉诺回答说选择她的话

小心

我很清楚这种感情

他们彼此拥有

虽然他们还没有通知我们

他们订婚的细节

他静静地听着

我希望你的妹妹都可以想象

幸福

我希望威洛比会尝试

值得她

他用充满感情的声音说

然后起身离开

在接下来的几天里，威洛比也没有

来也没有写

玛丽安失去了希望

对她的外表感到沮丧和粗心

她不喜欢穿衣服

她和埃莉诺要参加的派对

与米德尔顿夫人

当他们到达炎热拥挤的

房间

她坐在椅子上，连看都没看

在其他客人

然而，埃莉诺看到威洛比站着

在附近与一个非常

优雅的年轻女士

她转向注​​意到他的玛丽安

在那一刻

她的整张脸突然高兴得发亮

她会立刻跑到他身边，如果

她姐姐没有抓住她

我的妈呀

玛丽安哭了，他在那里，哦，为什么

他不看我为什么我不能说话

他

我求你保持冷静，埃莉诺说尽量

隐藏你的感受

但这对玛丽安来说是不可能的

她坐在那里她的焦虑和不耐烦

清楚地写在她的脸上

威洛比终于转过身来

看着他们俩

玛丽安跳起来伸出手

对他深情

他走近了

和埃莉诺而不是她说话

姐姐

跟在夫人后面急忙问

达什伍德

玛丽安脸红了，哭了

这个威洛比是什么意思

你不和我握手好吗

他当时无法避免，但他坚持

她的手只有片刻

我有幸拜访你

上周你很不幸

不在家

但是你没有收到我的信吗

玛丽安焦急地叫道

一定有什么可怕的错误告诉

我威洛比我求求你什么是

事情

他看起来很惭愧

但在引起年轻人的注意

与他交谈过的女士

表情似乎变得僵硬

是的，他说

我很高兴收到

您抵达城镇的信息

你太好了，以至于寄给我

然后转身加入他的朋友

玛丽安看起来非常白

无法站立，埃莉诺帮忙

她坐在椅子上

很快威洛比就被看到离开了

派对和玛丽安显然身体不适

埃琳娜让米德尔顿夫人带他们去

家

姐妹之间什么也没说

玛丽安太痛苦了，说不出话来

埃琳娜现在意识到威洛比

附件结束了

她对他感到极度厌恶

结束它的方式

那天晚上两个姐姐都没怎么睡

埃莉诺还在的时候天还很黑

被激动的抽泣声吵醒

她看到玛丽安只穿了一半

以恒定的速度书写

眼泪会让她

玛丽安

我可以问一下吗

埃琳娜轻轻地说

没有埃莉诺

什么都不问

你很快就会知道一切

这话带着几分绝望的语气说

平静只持续多久

她说话了

她似乎在写

最后一次去威洛比

这封信被交给了一个仆人

亲手送来，姐妹俩去了

吃早餐

不久之后，一封来自

玛丽安

脸色惨白，瞬间奔跑

走出房间

詹宁斯夫人舒服地笑了

那是威洛比的情书吗

好吧，我从没见过这么年轻的女人

在我的生活中热情地爱着

我希望他不要让她久等

更长

渴望知道威洛比有什么

书面

埃莉诺匆匆回到他们的房间

玛丽安躺在床上抽泣

猛烈地

埃莉诺拉着姐姐的手

亲吻她几次

自己也泪流满面，玛丽安

虽然不能说话

似乎感受到了姐姐的爱

同情

默默地给她威洛比的

要读的信

我亲爱的女士

我刚刚有幸收到

我感谢你的来信

我担心发现有

昨晚我的行为中有什么

你不赞成

我请求你的原谅

我将永远记得我以前的访问

向你的家人致以最诚挚的谢意

乐趣

但我希望我从来没有给过任何人

有理由认为我对你感觉更多

比我曾经表达过的

你会接受我永远不可能

意味着更多

当你明白我的感情

订婚很久了

不会在几周之后

女士和我结婚了

我听从你的命令退还你的

字母

还有你那么亲切的一绺头发

给了我

你听话的仆人约翰威洛比

埃琳娜吓坏了

她曾期待认罪

解释和理由

但到目前为止还没有以某种方式表达

来自每一位尊贵绅士

感觉

威洛比怎么可能写出

信好残忍

太伤人了

玛丽安让她松了一口气

逃脱了与这样一个人的任何联系

她转向她的姐姐，她现在觉得

会说话

可怜的埃莉诺

我让你多么不开心

我只希望有我能做的事

做可能让你感到舒服的事

哦，埃​​莉诺

我好惨

玛丽安说

在她的声音完全消失之前

热情而苦涩的抽泣

让自己冷静下来，亲爱的玛丽安

想想你还有多少

如果发现他的真实

角色出现在你的结尾

订婚

订婚

玛丽安哭了，一直没有

订婚

他没有做出或违背任何承诺

我

但他告诉你他爱你

是的

不

从不绝对

他从来没有说过这么多话

但我每天都在他的眼里读到

我觉得自己就像是坚定地投入

律师为我们写了协议

不幸的是，他没有同样的感觉

他做了几个星期和几个星期的埃莉诺

做过

他说我的这绺头发

给了他，他恳求并恳求我

它在他的膝盖上

现在哦

哦

埃莉诺非常担心她

姐姐的健康是她的暴力

啜泣越来越大

但她设法说服她接受

一些药可以缓解她不安的疼痛

身心的

善良的詹宁斯夫人表现出真正的关心

当她看望病人时

她听说玛丽安的对手是

灰色小姐

一个拥有五万英镑的年轻女子

一年，威洛比认真对待

超支他的马车

急需钱

詹宁斯夫人说不出话来

描述他的行为

她真的很抱歉她这么开玩笑

经常是关于玛丽安的依恋

但随着她自然的回归

快乐希望一切都会

最好的，因为现在玛丽安可以

毕竟嫁给布兰登上校

第7章

关于威洛比的真相

第二天，玛丽安感觉就像

苦不堪言，无话可说

但威洛比

用深情的话鼓励埃琳娜

她谈谈她的感受

玛丽安决心避开太太

然而，詹宁斯的存在

她感觉不到埃莉诺她哭了

她的好意不是同情

她只对我感兴趣，因为她

会喜欢告诉她的朋友所有

我悲伤的情况的细节

不幸的是，许多人

优秀的智力和性格

像玛丽安这样既不合理也不

公平的

然后早餐后发生了一些事情

这让詹宁斯夫人在

玛丽安的意见

当夫人时，姐妹们在她们的房间里

詹宁斯急忙拿出一封信

在她的手中，带着愉快的微笑

她的脸

现在我亲爱的她哭了我带你去

我肯定会做的事

好的

玛丽安立刻想到了一封来自

威洛比充满爱意和

可信的解释

威洛比本人紧随其后

谁会热情地投身于

她的脚

一瞬间的工作被毁了

下一个

眼前是她妈妈的

写作

在此之前从未不受欢迎

她失望的苦涩

觉得她已经到达了她的深处

痛苦

她不能说话

泪水顺着她的脸庞滑落

詹宁斯夫人根本不知道

她做了什么

并用许多同情的话

很快就离开达什伍德小姐阅读

一起写信

它没有给他们带来任何安慰

因为它表达了达什伍德夫人的完整

信任和喜爱

威洛比

玛丽安的眼泪流得更快

她想她是多么震惊和难过

亲爱的妈妈会听到这个消息的

她现在非常渴望回家

德文郡

埃莉诺怀着沉重的心情坐下来

再给她妈妈写信

告诉她威洛比的表现如何

并询问他们应该怎么做

就在此刻

有人敲前门

玛丽安望着窗外看到

外面的布兰登上校

她急忙跑回她的房间和埃莉诺

留下来迎接他

他似乎心烦意乱，不开心

玛丽安焦急地问

我来了希望单独找到你

他有些困惑地说

因为

我唯一的愿望是给予安慰不不

舒适

在这个困难的时候支持你的妹妹

时间

我对她自己的感觉

给你妈妈

你能允许我通过告诉来证明吗

你的一些细节

的

如果我不认为它有用，我会

不打扰你

他停下来了

我明白你说埃莉诺

你对先生有话要说

威洛比将打开他的角色

对我们

告诉我就是最好的证明

对玛丽安的友好感觉

我祈求你

让我立刻听到

我必须告诉你一些关于我自己的事

第一的

也许你还记得在巴顿公园的时候

我提到了一位我曾经认识的年轻女士

她很像你的妹妹

热切的心灵温暖的心和伟大的

感性

她是我的远房表妹

从我们最早的日子开始，我们就玩

在一起，彼此相爱

但她 17 岁就结婚了

违背她的意愿

给我弟弟

就在婚礼前

她和我打算逃跑

秘密结婚

但我父亲发现了这个计划

送我去参军

这是一段极其不幸的婚姻

我哥哥不爱也不尊重她

把他的时间花在最快乐的事情上

不适合丈夫

她很年轻

没有朋友或家人给她建议

那时我已经被送到国外了

我哥哥的坏榜样总是

和她

我无法描述我收到的震惊

两年后我听到

她的离婚

他一时说不出话来

当他看到埃琳娜的关心和

同情

握住她的手，感激地吻了上去

当我回到英国三年

之后

我开始寻找她

但她不再和她的第一个

诱惑者

她离开她的那个男人

婚姻

完全有理由担心她有

离开他

只为更深入的生活

羞辱

六个月后，我确实找到了她

在债务人的监狱里

她变了

这么瘦

病得很重

她只剩下很短的时间了

所以我确保她看起来很漂亮

后

在她的最后时刻我和她在一起

他停下来控制

然后他自己继续

用更坚定的心态和更快乐的

婚姻

她本可以成为你想要的一切

活着看到你姐姐

她把她的小女孩留给我照顾

伊丽莎

她的第一个诱惑者的孩子

我送艾丽莎去学校

然后把她交给一个非常

生活在乡下的受人尊敬的女人

她现在 17 岁。

想象一下她突然间我的恐惧

一年前消失

在长达八个月的时间里，我搜索并

一无所获

你可以想象我的想法和

害怕

以及我是如何受苦的

我的妈呀

埃莉诺哭了

可以

威洛比 伊丽莎的第一个消息来了

在我在巴顿公园收到的信中

在我们计划的旅行的早上

惠特韦尔

这就是我突然离开的原因

威洛比不知道我是

被叫去帮助他创造的人

可怜又可怜

但如果他知道他会在意吗

不

他做了没有感情的人会做的事

做

他离开了那个他清白的女孩

引诱

让她无家可归 没有朋友

而且没有钱

这超出了一切

埃琳娜哭了

现在你明白他是什么样的了

想象一下我这几周的感受

了解他的性格并看到你的

姐姐一如既往地喜欢他

谁能说出他的意图是什么

对你姐姐

有一天，她无疑会心存感激

当她将自己的处境与

我可怜的伊丽莎的

至少在你的身上没有耻辱

姐姐的苦难和每一个朋友

她一定很关心她

不快乐和尊重她的勇敢

并承受它

埃琳娜热烈感谢上校的

种类

你有没有她继续说

你离开巴顿后见过威洛比

是的

一次

他认真地回答

正如伊丽莎向我坦白的那样

她的诱惑者

我指责他有不光彩的行为

并挑战他决斗

我们约好见面

但我们俩都毫发无损地回来了

我可怜的伊丽莎生了她的孩子

期待

现在留在国内

在这之后上校离开了

埃莉诺很快就通过了

与她的谈话细节

姐姐

效果和她不太一样

希望

玛丽安认真地听着

似乎接受了威洛比的内疚

她不再回避上校

他来到房子

温柔怜悯地跟他说话

嗓音

但她似乎更沮丧

现在威洛比的好人品有了

失去了他的心

达什伍德夫人的回信到了

明天

她的失望几乎更多

比玛丽安和她的愤怒还要痛苦

甚至超过埃莉诺的

但她建议他们不要缩短

他们和詹宁斯夫人住在一起

预计会持续五六周

因为快速返回巴顿只会

让玛丽安想起以前的快乐时光

与威洛比

她还希望埃莉诺能看到

更多即将到来的摩天家族

抵达伦敦

约翰爵士詹宁斯夫人和帕尔默夫人

有力地谈论威洛比和

决心与此无关

他再一次

然而，他们谈论了很多关于他的事

这对埃莉诺来说是一种幸福的解脱

当米德尔顿夫人只表现出冷静和

礼貌关心

每当讨论这个话题时，她

会轻轻地说

确实非常令人震惊

但私底下她已经在计划

拜访威洛比夫人，她将是

风华正茂的女人

詹宁斯夫人很失望地看到

上校看起来没有更多

高兴了，因为他不再有

玛丽安的竞争对手

似乎有更好的

大小姐之间的默契

达什伍德和上校

还有完全忘记的詹宁斯夫人

爱德华·费勒斯开始认为

埃莉诺将成为布兰登夫人

威利布的信两周后

埃莉诺来到了这里，承担着痛苦的职责

通知玛丽安他结婚了

玛丽安勇敢地在

首先什么也没说

但后来眼泪也疯狂地流了下来

像以前一样热情

大约在这个时候，埃莉诺很遗憾地看到

剧照小姐抵达伦敦

他们的出现总是让她痛苦

露西假装很高兴

在城里找到他们，埃莉诺不得不

用她所有的自制力来回答

礼貌地

一次愉快的会面发生了一点

后来当他们的兄弟约翰·达什伍德

来詹宁斯夫人那里探望他们

他询问了他们的健康状况和

妈妈们

并被介绍给布兰登上校

谁碰巧在那里

因为天气晴朗，他请埃莉诺

和他走一小段路

他们一出门

他的问题开始了

布兰登上校是谁？

财富

是的

他有一所大房子，有一些土地

我相信大约两千英镑

一年

我想埃莉诺我很快就会

祝贺你制作了一个非常

体面的婚姻

他看起来最绅士，他喜欢

你我确定

他一点也不想嫁给我

你错了埃莉诺

你身边的一点点努力就会

抓住他

一些小小的鼓励

女士们可以如此轻松地解决哪些问题

尽管你的渺小他

财富

你应该为他努力

如果范妮有一个兄弟和我，那该多好笑

有一个姐姐同时结婚

是爱德华·费里斯先生吗

艾伦平静地说要结婚

它实际上还没有安排，但是

女士是莫顿小姐

莫顿勋爵的独生女，三十岁

她自己的一千磅

爱德华的妈妈会非常慷慨地

如果他每年允许他一千

嫁给莫顿小姐

我希望我们能过得如此舒适

恐怕我们的收入不大

足以让我们随心所欲地生活

他悲伤地摇了摇头

想到自己的困难

接下来的一周，约翰先生和夫人

达什伍德举办了一场盛大的晚宴

米德尔顿家族的詹宁斯夫人上校

布兰登 达什伍德小姐和小姐

斯蒂尔斯都被邀请了

埃莉诺和露西都知道夫人

ferriss 将作为

可怜我亲爱的斯塔什伍德小姐

他们走上去时，露西低声说

楼梯

一会儿我会看到那个人

我所有的幸福都取决于谁

我未来的婆婆

费里斯夫人是个瘦小的女人

不愉快的表达

她不是一个话多的女人，但

她明确表示她强烈

不喜欢埃莉诺并强烈反对

批准露西

如果她知道露西的秘密想法

埃莉诺觉得她会怎么恨她

她几乎松了一口气，因为她可以

现在不希望成为爱德华的妻子

有这样的婆婆

第二天早上，埃莉诺收到了一份

曾经如此的露西来访

对法拉夫人的欢迎感到高兴

对她的行为，她觉得她

只需要告诉她亲爱的朋友

它

她对我这么好你没注意到吗

它和你嫂子也是什么

他们是优雅可爱的女人

埃莉诺还没来得及

回复

门开了，爱德华走了进来

这是一个非常困难的时刻

其中三个

但埃莉诺控制了

情况

急于表明没有任何问题

她以平常的方式欢迎他

露西保持沉默

凝视着埃莉诺

她的眼角，而爱德华没有

知道在他的困惑中说什么

无法继续对话

很快，埃莉诺勇敢地决定离开

订婚的夫妇单独待了一段时间，

去接玛丽安

兴高采烈地冲进房间

玛丽安哭了亲爱的爱德华

这是一个非常幸福的时刻

深情地看着他和她

姐姐

短暂的沉默

我亲爱的爱德华玛丽安继续说

你昨晚为什么不来你家

姐姐的晚宴我们都在那里

我有

一个预约

别的地方

一个预约

但是，当这样的时候，那有那么重要吗？

朋友想见你

也许玛丽安小姐顺利地说露西

你认为年轻人从不保留他们的

约会或他们的承诺

埃莉诺很生气

但玛丽安刚刚回答

不，我相信爱德华，他是最

我曾经有过深思熟虑的无私的人

遇见

他永远不会故意伤害任何人

知道

这种赞美是如此令人无法接受

爱德华说他很快就起身离开了

埃莉诺完全有理由期待

这场痛苦的会面不会

重复

约翰和范妮达什伍德继续看到

伦敦派对上的埃莉诺和玛丽安

和舞蹈

约翰开始考虑邀请

他的姐妹们要住几天

然而，范妮对此感到惊讶

建议

我的爱

我会全心全意地问他们是否

是可能的

但我刚决定问女士

斯蒂尔斯和我们在一起

我们可以再问你姐姐一年

你知道达什伍德先生立刻同意了

范妮为逃脱而感到高兴和自豪

她的快速思考

写信邀请露西和她姐姐

这让露西真的很开心

这么接近爱德华的机会

他的家人是最有用的东西

在世界上为她

当邀请显示给

埃莉诺

她第一次开始分享

露西的期待

并准备正式听

订婚的

第 8 章

爱德华兹订婚

詹宁斯夫人此时很忙

因为她的女儿夏洛特刚刚

宝贝，显然需要一个喜欢

妈妈的忠告

她至少拜访了夏洛特两次

日

正是在帕尔默家

她听到一段最有趣的

消息

她急忙赶回去告诉

埃莉诺

我亲爱的达什伍德小姐，你听说了吗

你嫂子病了

夏洛特的医生告诉我，你呢

知道为什么

看来爱德华·费勒斯年轻

我曾经和你开玩笑的人有

和露西订婚一年多了

斯蒂尔

没有人知道这件事的一个字

除了她的妹妹安妮

你能相信这样的事吗

可能的

这是怎么回事

斯蒂尔斯小姐和你在一起

你知道的兄弟和他的妻子

安妮是一个善良的生物，但不是

伟大的智慧认为那里

不会像范妮冲刺那样困难

似乎非常喜欢露西，所以她

告诉她所有关于订婚的事

好

你嫂子掉到地上了

然后开始抽泣和尖叫

暴力地，你的兄弟不得不发送

给医生

露西和安妮被告知要收拾行李

打包并立即离开

摩天家族当然想要

爱德华嫁给那个有钱的莫顿小姐

但我并不同情他们

我无法忍受那些想钱或想钱的人

伟大很重要

爱德华没有理由不

嫁给露西

她比任何人都知道如何制作

最重要的

如果爱德华的母亲允许他 500

他们可以活下去的一年磅

舒适地

詹宁斯夫人不再让埃琳娜松了一口气

怀疑她对

爱德华

但她无话可说

埃莉诺知道玛丽安会

她对爱德华的愤怒很激烈

现在急于告诉姐姐真相

并让她做好听主题的准备

厌恶

玛丽安听了埃莉诺的故事

惊恐地哭了起来

有一段时间，爱德华似乎是一秒钟

威洛比对她

她无法理解他的行为或

接受他能感受到爱

露西这样的人

你认识这个埃莉诺多久了

问

四个月

露西告诉我她在巴顿的订婚

我答应保守秘密

什么

你一直在照顾我

在我的痛苦中，这一直在你的心里

你怎么受得了

感觉我在尽我的职责

我必须保守露西的秘密

我不想让我的家人担心

和朋友

四个月

然而你爱他

是的，但我也爱我的家人

我很高兴让他们免于悲伤

知道我的感受

现在我不再感到不开心

我不认为爱德华有表现

以任何方式严重

我祝他幸福

他将永远尽职尽责，露西会

不缺理智

他们会结婚

时间会教他忘记

他曾经认为另一个女人更好

比她

如果这是你的思维方式

自控力可能会少一点

纳闷

我更明白

我知道你不认为我曾经

感觉很多，但玛丽安

四个月来，我一直在做这一切

我的心，无法言说

对一个单一的生物

那个人告诉了我这件事

早期的订婚摧毁了我的希望

幸福

她将我视为对手并很高兴

看到我被打败

我不得不听她说话

关于爱德华一次又一次

我不得不假装不

对他感兴趣

我不得不忍受他的无情

妹妹和他母亲的粗鲁

不享受任何好处

对他的依恋

我现在知道我将与

永远的爱德华

如果你能认为我有能力

感觉玛丽安

你肯定会认为我有

现在受苦

这些话直奔玛丽安的话

心

哦，埃​​莉诺，她哭了

你让我永远恨自己

我对你有多不友善

你

谁是我唯一的安慰

两姐妹陷入了抽泣

彼此的怀抱

玛丽安很抱歉她误判了

她答应做的姐姐

埃琳娜想要的任何东西

讨论公众参与

没有苦涩

与露西见面而不表现出任何不喜欢

甚至与爱德华本人交谈，如果

机会让他们和她走到了一起

通常

第二天早上的友善带来了

考验她的自制力

当约翰·达什伍德来看望夫人时

詹宁斯和他的姐妹们

你听说过我猜他是

最严肃的表情

昨天我们非常震惊的发现

他们都默默地表明他们有

说话的时间似乎太可怕了

他继续你的嫂子有

遭受了极大的痛苦

ferrous夫人也是如此，但我不会

太惊吓你了

医生说范妮很强壮而且会

及时好起来

她说她永远不会想好

又有人了

我不能像她那样徘徊

受骗

那些年轻女人是多么忘恩负义

在她向他们展示了这么多之后

善良

我全心全意地希望

可怜的范妮深情地说

我们邀请了你的姐妹

其中

在这里他停下来接受感谢

然后继续

可怜的费里斯夫人所受的不能是什么

描述

她不敢相信爱德华是

当她一直在偷偷订婚

一直在策划一个最优秀的

为他结婚

她叫他来，他来看她

很抱歉告诉你发生了什么事

下一个

我们所有试图说服爱德华

结束附件没用

即使他的母亲解释说，如果

他娶了莫顿小姐

她会慷慨地允许他

每年一千英镑

甚至当她提出要成功的时候

一千二百英镑他仍然坚持

他不会破坏订婚

法拉兹夫人然后告诉他他会收到

她一点钱都没有，如果他

进入任何职业

她会尽力阻止他

成功

我的妈呀

玛丽安哭了，这可能吗

你的惊喜很自然 玛丽安

她哥哥说

令人惊讶的是，爱德华不能

被说服

玛丽安即将强烈反对

记得她对埃莉诺的承诺

什么也没说

好

詹宁斯太太哭了，我想他有

表现得像个诚实的人

他必须遵守与露西结婚的诺言

斯蒂尔

如果他打破它，世界会认为他

一文不值的恶棍

我尊重你的意见，约翰女士说

有礼貌地划线

但恐怕好

像费里斯夫人一样体贴的母亲

如此巨大的财富

不能同意她儿子的秘密

和这个最不合适的年轻人订婚

女士

我很遗憾地说

一切都以最不幸的结局告终

分离

费里斯夫人让爱德华离开她

房子，他立刻服从了

她不想再见到他

现在已经决定非常可以理解

罗伯特不是爱德华应该继承

她死时的财产

可怜的爱德华

他的弟弟会很有钱

虽然他仍然很穷

我真诚地为他感到

约翰·达什伍德很快就离开了

三位女士立即加入

在他们坚决反对的情况下

费拉拉夫人的举止和他们的热情

爱德华兹的赞美

第二天早上，埃莉诺收到了一份

露西的来信

我希望我亲爱的达什伍德小姐你会

别介意我给你写信

我知道作为一个真正的朋友你会

很高兴听到我的消息

爱德华和我虽然我们受过苦

可怕的是，在我们最近的所有麻烦中

现在很好，感谢上帝，很高兴

彼此的爱我们很感激

给我们的朋友

你自己不是最不重要的

帮助我们通过我们的许多

困难

我会永远记住你的伟大

善良，我相信爱德华也会

你会很高兴听到我花了

昨天和他在一起的两个快乐时光

我向他提供了他的自由并准备好了

考虑我们的参与，如果

这就是他想要的

但他不会听到

并说他不在乎他的

只要他有我的母亲的愤怒

感情

生活对我们来说并不容易这是真的

但我们必须等待并希望最好

他很快就会进入教堂

如果你有机会

将他推荐给任何可以给予的人

他谋生，我相信你不会

忘记我们

还有亲爱的詹宁斯夫人

我希望她能为我们说一句好话

给任何可以帮助我们的朋友

我求你把我记在她心里

感激和恭敬地

还有约翰爵士和米德尔顿夫人

和亲爱的孩子们

把我的爱献给想念玛丽安

敬上

露西斯蒂尔

埃琳娜确信露西想要

詹宁斯夫人和

立即给她看

詹宁斯夫人赞不绝口

露西温暖的心

她写得多么漂亮 她说

她叫我亲爱的詹宁斯夫人，你看