บทที่ บทที่ 5 · No sooner was her answer dispatched, than Mrs. Dashwood indulged

. No sooner was her answer dispatched, than Mrs. Dashwood indulged

herself in the pleasure of announcing to her son-in-law and his wife

that she was provided with a house, and should incommode them no longer

than till every thing were ready for her inhabiting it. They heard her

with surprise. Mrs. John Dashwood said nothing; but her husband civilly

hoped that she would not be settled far from Norland. She had great

satisfaction in replying that she was going into Devonshire.—Edward

turned hastily towards her, on hearing this, and, in a voice of

surprise and concern, which required no explanation to her, repeated,

“Devonshire! Are you, indeed, going there? So far from hence! And to

what part of it?” She explained the situation. It was within four miles

northward of Exeter.

“It is but a cottage,” she continued, “but I hope to see many of my

friends in it. A room or two can easily be added; and if my friends

find no difficulty in travelling so far to see me, I am sure I will

find none in accommodating them.”

She concluded with a very kind invitation to Mr. and Mrs. John Dashwood

to visit her at Barton; and to Edward she gave one with still greater

affection. Though her late conversation with her daughter-in-law had

made her resolve on remaining at Norland no longer than was

unavoidable, it had not produced the smallest effect on her in that

point to which it principally tended. To separate Edward and Elinor was

as far from being her object as ever; and she wished to show Mrs. John

Dashwood, by this pointed invitation to her brother, how totally she

disregarded her disapprobation of the match.

Mr. John Dashwood told his mother again and again how exceedingly sorry

he was that she had taken a house at such a distance from Norland as to

prevent his being of any service to her in removing her furniture. He

really felt conscientiously vexed on the occasion; for the very

exertion to which he had limited the performance of his promise to his

father was by this arrangement rendered impracticable.—The furniture

was all sent around by water. It chiefly consisted of household linen,

plate, china, and books, with a handsome pianoforte of Marianne’s. Mrs.

John Dashwood saw the packages depart with a sigh: she could not help

feeling it hard that as Mrs. Dashwood’s income would be so trifling in

comparison with their own, she should have any handsome article of

furniture.

Mrs. Dashwood took the house for a twelvemonth; it was ready furnished,

and she might have immediate possession. No difficulty arose on either

side in the agreement; and she waited only for the disposal of her

effects at Norland, and to determine her future household, before she

set off for the west; and this, as she was exceedingly rapid in the

performance of everything that interested her, was soon done.—The

horses which were left her by her husband had been sold soon after his

death, and an opportunity now offering of disposing of her carriage,

she agreed to sell that likewise at the earnest advice of her eldest

daughter. For the comfort of her children, had she consulted only her

own wishes, she would have kept it; but the discretion of Elinor

prevailed. _Her_ wisdom too limited the number of their servants to

three; two maids and a man, with whom they were speedily provided from

amongst those who had formed their establishment at Norland.

The man and one of the maids were sent off immediately into Devonshire,

to prepare the house for their mistress’s arrival; for as Lady

Middleton was entirely unknown to Mrs. Dashwood, she preferred going

directly to the cottage to being a visitor at Barton Park; and she

relied so undoubtingly on Sir John’s description of the house, as to

feel no curiosity to examine it herself till she entered it as her own.

Her eagerness to be gone from Norland was preserved from diminution by

the evident satisfaction of her daughter-in-law in the prospect of her

removal; a satisfaction which was but feebly attempted to be concealed

under a cold invitation to her to defer her departure. Now was the time

when her son-in-law’s promise to his father might with particular

propriety be fulfilled. Since he had neglected to do it on first coming

to the estate, their quitting his house might be looked on as the most

suitable period for its accomplishment. But Mrs. Dashwood began shortly

to give over every hope of the kind, and to be convinced, from the

general drift of his discourse, that his assistance extended no farther

than their maintenance for six months at Norland. He so frequently

talked of the increasing expenses of housekeeping, and of the perpetual

demands upon his purse, which a man of any consequence in the world was

beyond calculation exposed to, that he seemed rather to stand in need

of more money himself than to have any design of giving money away.

In a very few weeks from the day which brought Sir John Middleton’s

first letter to Norland, every thing was so far settled in their future

abode as to enable Mrs. Dashwood and her daughters to begin their

journey.

Many were the tears shed by them in their last adieus to a place so

much beloved. “Dear, dear Norland!” said Marianne, as she wandered

alone before the house, on the last evening of their being there; “when

shall I cease to regret you!—when learn to feel a home elsewhere!—Oh!

happy house, could you know what I suffer in now viewing you from this

spot, from whence perhaps I may view you no more!—And you, ye

well-known trees!—but you will continue the same.—No leaf will decay

because we are removed, nor any branch become motionless although we

can observe you no longer!—No; you will continue the same; unconscious

of the pleasure or the regret you occasion, and insensible of any

change in those who walk under your shade!—But who will remain to enjoy

you?”