As soon as Mrs Dashwood had recovered herself,to see Marianne was her first desire;and in two minutes she was with her beloved child,rendered dearer to her than ever by absence,unhappiness,and danger.Elinor's delight,as she saw what each felt in the meeting,was only checked by an apprehension of its robbing Marianne of further sleep:but Mrs Dashwood could be calm,could be even prudent,when the life of a child was at stake,and Marianne,satisfied in knowing her mother was near her,and conscious of being too weak for conversation,submitted readily to the silence and quiet prescribed by every nurse around her.Mrs Dashwood would sit up with her all night,and Elinor,in compliance with her mother's entreaty,went to bed.But the rest,which one night entirely sleepless and many hours of the most wearing anxiety seemed to make requisite,was kept off by irritation of spirits.Willoughby,‘poor Willoughby’,as she now allowed herself to call him,was constantly in her thoughts;she would not but have heard his vindication for the world,and now blamed,now acquitted herself，for having judged him so harshly before.But her promise of relating it to her sister was invariably painful.She dreaded the performance of it,dreaded what its effect on Marianne might be;doubted whether,after such an explanation,she could ever be happy with another,and for a moment,wished Willoughby a widower;then remembering Colonel Brandon,reproved herself,felt that to his sufferings and his constancy,far more than to his rival's,the reward of her sister was due,and wished anything rather than Mrs Willoughby's death.
The shock of Colonel Brandon's errand at Barton had been much softened to Mrs Dashwood by her own previous alarm;for so great was her uneasiness about Marianne,that she had already determined to set out for Cleveland on that very day,without waiting for any farther intelligence,and had so far settled her journey before his arrival that the Careys were then expected every moment to fetch Margaret away,as her mother was unwilling to take her where there might be infection.
Marianne continued to mend every day,and the brilliant cheerfulness of Mrs Dashwood's looks and spirits proved her to be,as she repeatedly declared herself,one of the happiest women in the world.Elinor could not hear the declaration,nor witness its proofs,without sometimes wondering whether her mother ever recollected Edward.But Mrs Dashwood,trusting to the temperate account of her own disappointment which Elinor had sent her,was led away by the exuberance of her joy to think only of what would increase it.Marianne was restored to her from a danger in which,as she now began to feel,her own mistaken judgment in encouraging the unfortunate attachment to Willoughby had contributed to place her;and in her recovery she had yet another source of joy unthought of by Elinor.It was thus imparted to her,as soon as any opportunity of private conference between them occurred.
‘At last we are alone.My Elinor,you do not yet know all my happiness.Colonel Brandon loves Marianne;he has told me so himself.’
Her daughter,feeling by turns both pleased and pained,surprised and not surprised,was all silent attention.
‘You are never like me,dear Elinor,or I should wonder at your composure now.Had I sat down to wish for any possible good to my family,I should have fixed on Colonel Brandon's marrying one of you as the object most desirable.And I believe Marianne will be the most happy with him of the two.’
Elinor was half-inclined to ask her reason for thinking so,because satisfied that none founded on an impartial consideration of their age,characters,or feelings,could be given;-but her mother must always be carried away by her imagination on any interesting subject,and therefore,instead of an inquiry,she passed it off with a smile.
‘He opened his whole heart to me yesterday as we travelled.It came out quite unawares,quite undesignedly.I,you may well believe,could talk of nothing but my child;-he could not conceal his distress;I saw that it equalled my own,and he,perhaps,thinking that mere friendship,as the world now goes,would not justify so warm a sympathy-or rather not thinking at all,I suppose-giving way to irresistible feelings,made me acquainted with his earnest,tender,constant affection for Marianne.He has loved her,my Elinor,ever since the first moment of seeing her.’
Here,however,Elinor perceived,not the language,not the professions of Colonel Brandon,but the natural embellishments of her mother's active fancy,which fashioned everything delightful to her,as it chose.
‘His regard for her,infinitely surpassing anything that Willoughby ever felt or feigned,as much more warm,as more sincere or constant-whichever we are to call it-has subsisted through all the knowledge of dear Marianne's unhappy prepossession for that worthless young man!-and without selfishness-without encouraging a hope!-could he have seen her happy with another？Such a noble mind!-such openness,such sincerity!-no one can be deceived in him.’
‘Colonel Brandon's character,’said Elinor,‘as an excellent man,is well established.’
‘I know it is,’replied her mother seriously,‘or after such a warning,I should be the last to encourage such affection,or even to be pleased by it.But his coming for me as he did,with such active,such ready friendship,is enough to prove him one of the worthiest of men.’
