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Chapter 20
As the Miss Dashwoods entered
the drawing-room of the park the next day, at one
door, Mrs. Palmer
came running in at the other, looking as good humoured and
merry as before. She took them all most affectionately by
the hand, and expressed great delight in seeing
them again.
"I
am so glad to see you!" said she, seating herself between
Elinor and Marianne, "for
it is so bad a day I was afraid you might not come, which
would
be a shocking thing, as we go away again tomorrow. We must
go, for the Westons come to us next week you know. It was quite a sudden
thing our coming at all, and I knew nothing of
it till the carriage was coming to the door, and then Mr.
Palmer asked me if I would go with him to Barton. He is so droll! He
never tells me any thing! I am so sorry we
cannot stay longer; however we shall meet again in town very
soon, I hope."
They
were obliged to put an end to such an expectation.
"Not
go to town!" cried Mrs. Palmer, with a laugh, "I shall be
quite disappointed if
you do not. I
could get the nicest house in world for you,
next door to ours, in Hanover-square.
You must come, indeed.
I am sure I shall be very happy to chaperon
you at
any time till I am confined, if Mrs. Dashwood should
not like to go into public."
They
thanked her; but were obliged to resist all her entreaties.
"Oh,
my love," cried Mrs. Palmer to her husband, who just then
entered the room--"you
must help me to persuade the Miss Dashwoods to go to
town this winter."
Her
love made no answer; and after slightly bowing to the ladies,
began complaining of the
weather.
"How
horrid all this is!" said he. "Such
weather makes every thing and every body
disgusting. Dullness is
as much produced within doors as
without, by rain. It makes one detest all one's
acquaintance. What
the devil does Sir John mean by not having a billiard room in his
house? How few
people know what comfort is! Sir John
is as stupid as the weather."
The
rest of the company soon dropt in.
"I
am afraid, Miss Marianne," said Sir John, "you have not been
able to take your usual walk to
Allenham today."
Marianne
looked very grave and said nothing.
"Oh,
don't be so sly before us," said Mrs. Palmer; "for we know all
about it, I assure
you; and I admire your taste very much, for I think he is
extremely handsome. We do not live a great way from him in
the country, you know. Not above ten miles, I dare say."
"Much
nearer thirty," said her husband.
"Ah,
well! there is not much difference. I never was at his house;
but they say
it is a sweet pretty place."
"As
vile a spot as I ever saw in my life," said Mr. Palmer.
Marianne
remained perfectly silent, though her countenance betrayed her
interest in
what was said.
"Is
it very ugly?" continued Mrs. Palmer--"then it must be some
other place that is so
pretty I suppose."
When
they were seated in the dining room, Sir John observed with
regret that they were only
eight all together.
"My
dear," said he to his lady, "it is very provoking that we
should be so few. Why
did not you ask the Gilberts to come to us today?"
"Did
not I tell you, Sir John, when you spoke to me about it
before, that it could not be
done? They
dined with us last."
"You
and I, Sir John," said Mrs. Jennings, "should not stand upon
such
ceremony."
"Then
you would be very ill-bred," cried Mr. Palmer.
"My
love, you contradict every body," said his wife with her usual
laugh. "Do you know
that you are quite
rude?"
"I
did not know I contradicted any body in calling your mother
ill-bred."
"Ay,
you may abuse me as you please," said the good-natured old
lady, "you have taken Charlotte
off my hands, and cannot give her back again.
So there I have the whip hand of you."
Charlotte
laughed heartily to think that her husband could not get rid
of her; and
exultingly said, she did not care how cross he was to
her, as they must live together.
It was impossible for any one to be
more thoroughly good-natured, or more
determined to be happy than Mrs. Palmer.
The studied indifference, insolence, and
discontent of her husband gave her
no pain; and when he scolded or abused her, she
was highly diverted.
"Mr.
Palmer is so droll!" said she, in a whisper, to Elinor. "He is always out of
humour."
Elinor
was not inclined, after a little observation, to give him
credit for being so
genuinely and unaffectedly ill-natured or ill-bred as he
wished to
appear. His temper might perhaps be a little
soured by finding, like many others of his sex, that
through some unaccountable bias in favour of beauty, he was
the
husband of a very silly woman,--but she knew that this kind of
blunder was too common for any sensible man to be
lastingly hurt by it.-- It was rather a wish of distinction,
she
believed, which produced his contemptuous
treatment of every body, and his general abuse of every thing
before him. It was the desire of appearing superior
to other people. The motive was too common to be wondered
at; but the means, however they might succeed by
establishing his superiority in ill-breeding, were not likely
to
attach any one to him except his wife.
"Oh,
my dear Miss Dashwood," said Mrs. Palmer soon afterwards, "I
have got such a favour to ask of
you and your sister. Will you come and spend some time at
Cleveland this Christmas?
Now, pray do,--and come while the Westons
are with us. You
cannot think how happy I shall be!
It will be quite delightful!--My love,"
applying to her husband, "don't you long to have the Miss
Dashwoods come to Cleveland?"
"Certainly,"
he replied, with a sneer--"I came into Devonshire with no
other
view."
"There
now,"--said his lady, "you see Mr. Palmer expects you; so you
cannot refuse to
come."
They
both eagerly and resolutely declined her invitation.
"But
indeed you must and shall come. I
am sure you will like it of all things.
The Westons will be with us, and it will be
quite delightful. You
cannot think what a sweet place Cleveland is; and we
are so gay now, for Mr. Palmer is always going about the
country canvassing against the election; and so many people
came to dine with us that I never saw before, it is
quite charming! But, poor
fellow! it is very fatiguing to
him! for he is forced to make every body like him."
Elinor
could hardly keep her countenance as she assented to the
hardship of such an
obligation.
"How
charming it will be," said Charlotte, "when he is in
Parliament!--won't it? How I shall
laugh! It
will be so ridiculous to see all his letters
directed to him with an M.P.--But do you know, he says,
he will never frank for me?
He declares he won't.
Don't you,
Mr. Palmer?"
Mr.
Palmer took no notice of her.
"He
cannot bear writing, you know," she continued-- "he says it is
quite
shocking."
"No,"
said he, "I never said any thing so irrational. Don't palm all
your abuses of languages
upon me."
"There
now; you see how droll he is. This
is always the way with him!
Sometimes he won't speak to me for half a
day together, and then he comes out
with something so droll--all about any thing in the
world.
She
surprised Elinor very much as they returned into the
drawing-room, by asking her
whether she did not like Mr. Palmer excessively.
"Certainly,"
said Elinor; "he seems very agreeable."
"Well--I
am so glad you do. I
thought you would, he is so pleasant; and
Mr. Palmer is
excessively pleased with you and your sisters, I can tell
you, and you can't think how disappointed he will be if you
don't come to Cleveland.--I can't imagine why you
should object to it."
Elinor
was again obliged to decline her invitation; and by changing
the subject, put a stop
to her entreaties. She thought it probable that as they
lived in the same county, Mrs. Palmer might be able
to give some more particular account of Willoughby's
general character, than could be gathered from
the Middletons' partial acquaintance with him; and she
was eager to gain from any one, such a confirmation of his
merits as might remove the possibility of fear from
Marianne. She
began by inquiring if they saw much of Mr.
Willoughby at Cleveland, and whether they were intimately
acquainted with him.
"Oh
dear, yes; I know him extremely well," replied Mrs.
Palmer;--"Not that I
ever spoke to him, indeed; but I have seen him for
ever in town. Somehow or other I never happened to be
staying at Barton while he was at Allenham.
Mama saw him here once before;-- but I was
with my uncle at
Weymouth. However,
I dare say we should have seen a great deal of him
in Somersetshire, if it had not happened very unluckily
that we should never have been in the country together. He is very
little at
Combe, I believe; but if he were ever
so much there, I do not think Mr. Palmer would visit
him, for he is in the opposition, you know, and besides
it is such a way off. I
know why you inquire about him, very
well; your sister is to marry him.
I am monstrous glad of it, for then I shall
have her for a
neighbour, you know."
"Upon
my word," replied Elinor, "you know much more of the matter
than I do, if you
have any reason to expect such a match."
"Don't
pretend to deny it, because you know it is what every body
talks of. I assure
you I heard of it in my way through town."
"My
dear Mrs. Palmer!"
"Upon
my honour I did.--I met Colonel Brandon Monday morning in
Bond-street, just
before we left town, and he told me of it directly."
"You
surprise me very much. Colonel
Brandon tell you of it! Surely
you must be
mistaken. To give
such intelligence to a person who could not
be interested in it, even if it were true, is not what I
should expect Colonel Brandon to do."
"But
I do assure you it was so, for all that, and I will tell you
how it
happened. When we
met him, he turned back and walked with us; and
so we began talking of my brother and sister, and one thing
and another, and I said to him, 'So, Colonel, there
is a new family come to Barton cottage, I hear, and mama
sends me word they are very pretty, and that one of
them is going to be married to Mr. Willoughby of Combe
Magna. Is it
true, pray? for of course you must know, as
you have been in Devonshire so lately.'"
"And
what did the Colonel say?"
"Oh--he
did not say much; but he looked as if he knew it to be true,
so from that moment
I set it down as certain.
It will be quite delightful, I
declare! When
is it to take place?"
"Mr.
Brandon was very well, I hope?
"Oh!
yes, quite well; and so full of your praises, he did nothing
but say fine things of
you."
"I
am flattered by his commendation.
He seems an excellent man; and I think him
uncommonly pleasing."
"So
do I.--He is such a charming man, that it is quite a pity he
should be so grave
and so dull.
Mamma says he was in love with your
sister too.-- I assure you it was a great compliment
if he was, for he hardly ever falls in love with any
body."
"Is
Mr. Willoughby much known in your part of Somersetshire?" said
Elinor.
"Oh!
yes, extremely well; that is, I do not believe many people are
acquainted with him,
because Combe Magna is so far off; but they all think him
extremely agreeable, I assure you.
Nobody is more liked than Mr.
Willoughby wherever
he goes, and so you may tell
your sister. She is a monstrous lucky girl to get
him, upon my honour; not but that he is much more lucky in
getting her, because she is so very handsome and
agreeable, that nothing can be good enough for her. However, I don't
think her hardly at all handsomer than you, I
assure you; for I think you both excessively pretty,
and so does Mr. Palmer too I am sure, though we
could not get him to own it last night."
Mrs.
Palmer's information respecting Willoughby was not very
material; but any testimony
in his favour, however small, was pleasing to her.
"I
am so glad we are got acquainted at last," continued
Charlotte.--"And now I
hope we shall always be great friends.
You can't think how much I longed to see
you! It is so delightful that you should live
at the cottage! Nothing can be like it, to be sure! And I am so
glad your
sister is going to be well
married! I hope you
will be a great deal at Combe Magna.
It is a sweet place, by all accounts."
"You
have been long acquainted with Colonel Brandon, have not you?"
"Yes,
a great while; ever since my sister married.-- He was a
particular friend of Sir
John's. I believe," she added in a low voice, "he would
have been very glad to have had me, if he could. Sir John and
Lady Middleton
wished it very much. But
mama did not think the match good enough for me, otherwise
Sir John would have mentioned it to the Colonel, and we
should have been married immediately."
"Did
not Colonel Brandon know of Sir John's proposal to your mother
before it was made? Had
he never owned his affection to yourself?"
"Oh,
no; but if mama had not objected to it, I dare say he would
have liked it of all
things. He had not seen me then above twice, for
it was before I left school.
However, I am much happier as I am. Mr. Palmer is
the kind of man I
like."
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