She was an altered creature,quieted,stupefied,indifferent to everything that passed.The being left with her sister and nephew,and all the house under her care,had been an advantage entirely thrown away;she had been unable to direct or dictate,or even fancy herself useful.When really touched by affliction,her active powers had been all benumbed;and neither Lady Bertram nor Tom had received from her the smallest support or attempt at support.She had done no more for them,than they had done for each other.They had been all solitary,helpless,and forlorn alike;and now the arrival of the others only established her superiority in wretchedness.Her companions were relieved,but there was no good for her.Edmund was almost as welcome to his brother,as Fanny to her aunt;but Mrs Norris,instead of having comfort from either,was but the more irritated by the sight of the person whom,in the blindness of her anger,she could have charged as the demon of the piece.Had Fanny accepted Mr Crawford,this could not have happened.
Susan,too,was a grievance.She had not spirits to notice her in more than a few repulsive looks,but she felt her as a spy,and an intruder,and an indigent niece,and everything most odious.By her other aunt,Susan was received with quiet kindness.Lady Bertram could not give her much time,or many words,but she felt her,as Fanny's sister,to have a claim at Mansfield,and was ready to kiss and like her;and Susan was more than satisfied,for she came perfectly aware,that nothing but ill humour was to be expected from Aunt Norris;and was so provided with happiness,so strong in that best of blessings,an escape from many certain evils,that she could have stood against a great deal more indifference than she met with from the others.
She was now left a good deal to herself,to get acquainted with the house and grounds as she could,and spent her days very happily in so doing,while those who might otherwise have attended to her,were shut up,or wholly occupied each with the person quite dependent on them,at this time,for everything like comfort;Edmund trying to bury his own feelings in exertions for the relief of his brother's,and Fanny devoted to her aunt Bertram,returning to every former office,with more than former zeal,and thinking she could never do enough for one who seemed so much to want her.
To talk over the dreadful business with Fanny,talk and lament,was all Lady Bertram's consolation.To be listened to and borne with,and hear the voice of kindness and sympathy in return,was everything that could be done for her.To be otherwise comforted was out of the question.The case admitted of no comfort.Lady Bertram did not think deeply,but,guided by Sir Thomas,she thought justly on all important points;and she saw,therefore,in all its enormity,what had happened,and neither endeavoured herself,nor required Fanny to advise her,to think little of guilt and infamy.
Her affections were not acute,nor was her mind tenacious.After a time,Fanny found it not impossible to direct her thoughts to other subjects,and revive some interest in the usual occupations;but whenever Lady Bertram was fixed on the event,she could see it only in one light,as comprehending the loss of a daughter,and a disgrace never to be wiped off.
Fanny learnt from her,all the particulars which had yet transpired.Her aunt was no very methodical narrator;but with the help of some letters to and from Sir Thomas,and what she already knew herself,and could reasonably combine,she was soon able to understand quite as much as she wished of the circumstances attending the story.
Mrs Rushworth had gone,for the Easter holidays,to Twickenham,with a family whom she had just grown intimate with-a family of lively,agreeable manners,and probably of morals and discretion to suit-for to their house Mr Crawford had constant access at all times.His having been in the same neighbourhood,Fanny already knew.Mr Rushworth had been gone,at this time,to Bath,to pass a few days with his mother,and bring her back to town,and Maria was with these friends without any restraint,without even Julia;for Julia had removed from Wimpole Street two or three weeks before,on a visit to some relations of Sir Thomas;a removal which her father and mother were now disposed to attribute to some view of convenience on Mr Yates's account.Very soon after the Rushworths'return to Wimpole Street,Sir Thomas had received a letter from an old and most particular friend in London,who hearing and witnessing a good deal to alarm him in that quarter,wrote to recommend Sir Thomas's coming to London himself,and using his influence with his daughter,to put an end to an intimacy which was already exposing her to unpleasant remarks,and evidently making Mr Rushworth uneasy.
Sir Thomas was preparing to act upon this letter,without communicating its contents to any creature at Mansfield,when it was followed by another,sent express from the same friend,to break to him the almost desperate situation in which affairs then stood with the young people.Mrs Rushworth had left her husband's house;Mr Rushworth had been in great anger and distress to him (Mr Harding)for his advice;Mr Harding feared there had been at least,very flagrant indiscretion.The maidservant of Mrs Rushworth,senior,threatened alarmingly.He was doing all in his power to quiet everything,with the hope of Mrs Rushworth's return,but was so much counteracted in Wimpole Street by the influence of Mr Rushworth's mother,that the worst consequences might be apprehended.
