Amanda Grange - Edmund Bertram’s Diary

‘And were there any balls?’ asked Maria.

‘Not in all that heat,’ said Mama.

‘Nothing would stop me dancing,’ said Julia. ‘Tell us about them, Tom.’

‘Oh, they were the usual sort of thing, you know,’ he said carelessly.

‘You have been breaking hearts, I warrant,’ said my aunt, putting her presentiments aside for the moment and joining in with the more agreeable conversation.

‘There were so many to break, it would have been ungentlemanly not to.’

‘Tom!’ protested Mama.

‘There is nothing the young ladies like better than the son of an English planter, and I could not disappoint them by refusing to flirt with them.’

‘Especially not as you are such a fine young man,’ said my aunt. Maria and Julia pulled faces behind Tom’s back at this, whilst Fanny looked at her new shoes; a fine pair, but two sizes too small.

‘The men were gentlemen, I hope?’ asked my aunt.

‘Lord, yes.’

‘Though not what we are used to over here, I suppose. Maria and Julia have been attracting a great deal of attention whilst you have been away. They are the belles of the neighborhood. all the young men are eager to dance with them, and if Mr. Rushworth does not propose to Maria by Christmas I will be very much surprised.’

Maria looked conscious, and Julia retaliated by saying that the young men roundabout were dull.

‘He is very taken with your sister,’ went on my aunt, as though Julia had not spoken. ‘And what a fine man he is, with a good face and figure, charming manners and a house in town. His fortune is sizeable, too, for he has twelve thousand a year.’

‘Then it is no wonder that Maria likes him,’ said Tom with a sly look. Maria blushed.

‘I am sure Mr. Rushworth has no thought of proposing,’ she said, tossing her head.

‘And I am sure he has,’ was my aunt’s rejoinder.

I could get nothing more out of Tom about Antigua for he said he must dance, and before long we were all doing some of the steps he had learnt in the Indies. Even Mama was persuaded to dance, whilst my aunt played, and Pug sat on the sofa and watched us all.

Thursday 22 October

The winter evenings have had enough balls even to satisfy my sisters, and Aunt Norris is now determined to see them well married.

‘Maria is twenty now, and of an age to be married,’ she said to me as we sat in the drawing room this evening. ‘And Julia, too, is not far behind. What a thing it would be if we could find suitable matches for them both before your father returns. I am sure Mr. Rushworth wants only a little encouragement to offer for Maria, and there are several young men who seem remarkably fond of Julia. And if poor Sir Thomas fails to return,’ she added, for she has still not despaired of him being shipwrecked, or lost overboard, ‘it will be a consolation to see Maria married, and to know that he would have approved.’

But no young men offered for my sisters tonight, despite my aunt’s hopes. We returned to find Fanny sitting peacefully with Mama. She looked up as I entered the room, an eager smile on her face, for though she is too young for balls, she loves to hear of them. I sat by her for half an hour and told her all about our evening. She wanted to know every dance I had danced, and with whom; and when I had done, I told her I was looking forward to standing up with her at her first ball, as soon as Mama thought she was old enough to at end. She looked at the floor, reminding me how young she was, for even the smallest compliment discomposes her. Perhaps it is a good thing she does not go into company, after all.

Monday 11 January

It seems my aunt’s fondest wishes are about to be fulfilled, for Maria has received an offer of marriage from Mr. Rushworth.

‘Such a nice man,’ said my aunt. ‘He has such a way with him; such manners, and such—’

‘—a large property,’ finished Tom.

My aunt perceived no irony in Tom’s comment, but replied with, ‘Very true, it is a fine property. One of the best in the country, and then there is his house in town as well. Maria is a very lucky girl to have attracted such a man, with everything in his favor: his home, his fortune and his person. I only hope the rest of you will marry as well. Julia, we will have to look about us and find another such a one for you.’ She turned to Maria. ‘We must have an early wedding.’

‘Sir Thomas’s permission must first be sought,’ said Mama, rousing herself a little as she lay on the chaise longue.

‘He will be very pleased, mark my words. What, to find his daughter affianced to such a man as Mr. Rushworth? To be sure, he will be delighted. A spring wedding would be very fine,’ said my aunt. ‘Dr Grant must perform the ceremony, for I am sure he does little enough since he bought the Mansfield living. And if you have an early wedding, you will be able to go to London for the Season, Maria. With such a fine house in town, it would be a pity not to make use of it this year.’

Maria was soon making plans with my aunt, and saying that she would invite Julia to spend the Season with her, so that she, too, could find a husband.

‘You must invite Fanny,’ I said. ‘She would enjoy the theatres and the galleries. Would you not, Fanny?’

‘I am sure it is more than she looks for,’ said my aunt ungraciously, before Fanny had time to reply. ‘There is no need to invite her.’

‘I have no objection to it,’ said Maria. ‘Fanny will be very welcome, only she is too young this year. But next year, Fanny, you must come and stay. You will be eighteen then, and of an age to enjoy everything.’

Fanny was all gratitude, and I liked to think of her having her share of the pleasure.

‘And Tom, you must visit your sister, too,’ said my aunt. ‘I am sure she will find you an heiress, someone with twenty or thirty thousand pounds, and a beauty besides.’

Tom laughed, and said he had no intention of marrying for at least another twenty years, whereupon my aunt remarked that it must be up to me, then, to make an advantageous marriage.

As the conversation continued I could not help but be grateful that it was not up to me to give or withhold my consent to Maria’s marriage. I have little liking for Rushworth. Indeed, if he did not have twelve thousand a year I would think him a very stupid fellow.

‘Maria,’ I said to her, calling her aside this evening. ‘Are you sure you wish to marry Rushworth?

Just because he has asked for your hand, does not mean you have to give it, you know. I am not happy about the match, I must confess. Rushworth seems to be a very dull fellow. Are you sure you have not been blinded to his faults by his fortune and his house in town? They are very desirable, I am sure, but is marriage to Rushworth a price worth paying for them? Do anything rather than marry without love, for that way great unhappiness lies.’

‘Oh, Edmund, you do prose on. Of course I love him.’

‘But you have seen very little of him, except at balls.’

‘I have seen quite enough of him, I assure you.’

I was not convinced I liked this answer, and told her so.

‘I want you to be happy,’ I said.

‘And I will be.’

‘If I could be sure—’

‘You must own me to be the best judge of my happiness,’ she said impatiently, ‘and I tell you I will be.’

With this I had to be content.

‘Very well. Then I will write to Papa tomorrow,’ I told her, but I did so with a heavy heart. It lightened somewhat when I talked the matter over with Fanny, for, as she reminded me, my father will no doubt say the marriage cannot take place without him. And that when he returns, he will be able to decide whether Maria is truly attached to Mr. Rushworth or not.

Friday 1 July

I wrote to my father this morning and I was just sending the letter when my aunt entered the drawing-room. She had visited the Grants to give them a hint of Maria’s nuptials and had returned from the Parsonage with some news.

‘One wedding brings on another. It seems you will not have to go to London in search of an heiress after all,’ she said portentously to Tom. ‘We are to have an addition to the neighborhood, or rather, two additions. Mrs. Grant’s brother and sister — her mother’s children by a second marriage — will soon be joining her. It is a sad tale. Their parents died some time ago, whereupon they went to live with an aunt and uncle, but now their aunt has died, too, and as their uncle proposes to move his mistress into the house, they do not feel they can stay with him any longer, and so they are to come here.’

‘Shocking,’ said Mama placidly, as she played with Pug. ‘I am sure Sir Thomas would never approve of such a thing.’

‘But although it may be unfortunate for Mr. and Miss Crawford, it is likely to be a good thing for us,’ said my aunt. ‘Miss Crawford is a considerable heiress, with twenty thousand pounds, and Mrs. Grant assures me she is as elegant as she is accomplished, being a beauty besides.’

‘How is that good for us?’ Tom teased my aunt.

‘Why, because you can marry her,’ she replied.

Tom was still laughing at the notion as we went out for a ride this afternoon.

‘I think you should marry Miss Crawford,’ he said to me,

‘in fact I have a mind to promote the match. I promised Papa that I would make it up to you for losing you the Mansfield living; and as the new incumbent, Dr Grant, is refusing to die of an apoplexy as I hoped he would, so that the living would revert to you, then a good marriage is the quickest way to ensure your prosperity.’