Wednesday, May 5, 2010 - ?Oh! sister, pray do not ask her now; for Fanny...
?Oh! sister, pray do not ask her now; for Fanny is not one of those
who can talk and work at the same timeIt is about Lovers? Vows
?I believe,? said Fanny to her aunt Bertram, ?there will be three
acts rehearsed to-morrow evening, and that will give you an opportunity
of seeing all the actors at once
147
Jane Austen
?You had better stay till the curtain is hung,? interposed Mrs
Norris; ?the curtain will be hung in a day or two?there is very little
sense in a play without a curtain?and I am much mistaken if you
do not find it draw up into very handsome festoons
Lady Bertram seemed quite resigned to waitingFanny did not
share her aunt?s composure: she thought of the morrow a great deal,
for if the three acts were rehearsed, Edmund and Miss Crawford
would then be acting together for the first time; the third act would
bring a scene between them which interested her most particularly,
and which she was longing and dreading to see how they would
performThe whole subject of it was love?a marriage of love was
to be described by the gentleman, and very little short of a declaration
of love be made by the lady
She had read and read the scene again with many painful, many
wondering emotions, and looked forward to their representation of
it as a circumstance almost too interestingShe did not believe they
had yet silver rolex daytona watches rehearsed it, even in private
The morrow came, the plan for the evening continued, and Fanny?s
consideration of it did not become less agitatedShe worked very
diligently under her aunt?s directions, but her diligence and her silence
concealed a very absent, anxious mind; and about noon she
made her escape with her work to the East room, that she might have
no concern in another, and, as she deemed it, most unnecessary rehearsal
of the first act, which Henry Crawford was just proposing,
desirous at once of having her time to herself, and of avoiding the
sight of MrA glimpse, as she passed through the hall, of
the two ladies walking up from the Parsonage made no change in her
wish of retreat, and she worked and meditated in the East room, undisturbed,
for a quarter of an hour, when a gentle tap at the door was
followed by the entrance of Miss Crawford
?Am I right? Yes; this is the East roomMy dear Miss Price, I beg
your pardon, but I have made my way to you on purpose to entreat
your help
Fanny, quite surprised, endeavoured to shew herself mistress of
the room by her civilities, and looked at the bright bars of her empty
grate with concern
?Thank you; I am quite warm, very warmAllow me to stay here
148
Mansfield Park
a little while, and do have the goodness to hear me my third actI
have brought my book, and if you prada brown handbags would but rehearse it with me, I
should be so obliged! I came here to-day intending to rehearse it
with Edmund?by ourselves?against the evening, but he is not in
the way; and if he were, I do not think I could go through it with
him, till I have hardened myself a little; for really there is a speech or
twoYou will be so good, won?t you??
Fanny was most civil in her assurances, though she could not give
them in a very steady voice
?Have you ever happened to look at the part I mean?? continued
Miss Crawford, opening her bookI did not think much
of it at first?but, upon my wordThere, look at that speech, and
that, and thatHow am I ever to look him in the face and say such
things? Could you do it? But then he is your cousin, which makes
all the differenceYou must rehearse it with me, that I may fancy
you him, and get on by degreesYou have a look of his sometimes
?Have I? I will do my best with the greatest readiness; but I must
read the part, for I can say very little of it
?None of it, I supposeYou are to have the book, of courseWe must have two chairs at hand for you to bring forward to
the front of the stageThere?very good school-room chairs, not
made for a theatre, I dare say; much more fitted for little girls to sit
and kick their feet against when they are learning a lessonWhat
would your governess and your chanel handbags on sale uncle say to see them used for such
a purpose? Could Sir Thomas look in upon us just now, he would
bless himself, for we are rehearsing all over the houseYates is storming
away in the dining-roomI heard him as I came upstairs, and
the theatre is engaged of course by those indefatigable rehearsers,
Agatha and FrederickIf they are not perfect, I shall be surprisedBy
the bye, I looked in upon them five minutes ago, and it happened
to be exactly at one of the times when they were trying not to embrace,
and MrRushworth was with meI thought he began to look
a little queer, so I turned it off as well as I could, by whispering to
him, ?We shall have an excellent Agatha; there is something so maternal
in her manner, so completely maternal in her voice and countenance
Was not that well done of me? He brightened up directly
Now for my soliloquy
149
Jane Austen
She began, and Fanny joined in with all the modest feeling which
the idea of representing Edmund was so strongly calculated to inspire;
but with looks and voice so truly feminine as to be no very
good picture of a manWith such an Anhalt, however, Miss Crawford
had courage enough; and they had got through half the scene, when
a tap at the door brought a pause, and the entrance of Edmund, the
next moment, suspended it all
Surprise, consciousness, and pleasure appeared mens gucci wallets in each of the
three on this unexpected meeting; and as Edmund was come on
the very same business that had brought Miss Crawford, consciousness
and pleasure were likely to be more than momentary in them
He too had his book, and was seeking Fanny, to ask her to rehearse
with him, and help him to prepare for the evening, without
knowing Miss Crawford to be in the house; and great was the joy
and animation of being thus thrown together, of comparing
schemes, and sympathising in praise of Fanny?s kind offices
She could not equal them in their warmthHer spirits sank under
the glow of theirs, and she felt herself becoming too nearly nothing
to both to have any comfort in having been sought by eitherThey
must now rehearse togetherEdmund proposed, urged, entreated
it, till the lady, not very unwilling at first, could refuse no longer,
and Fanny was wanted only to prompt and observe themShe was
invested, indeed, with the office of judge and critic, and earnestly
desired to exercise it and tell them all their faults; but from doing so
every feeling within her shrank?she could not, would not, dared
not attempt it: had she been otherwise qualified for criticism, her
conscience must have restrained her from venturing at disapprobation
She believed herself to feel too much of it in the aggregate for
honesty or safety in tiffany replica particul
|
|
|
|
About Me
« February 2012 »
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | |
Friends
|
