godmersham park, thursday (oct. 14).
my dearest cassandra,—now i will prepare for mr. lushington, and as it will be wisest also to prepare for his not coming, or my not getting a frank, i shall write very close from the first, and even leave room for the seal in the proper place. when i have followed up my last with this i shall feel somewhat less unworthy of you than the state of our correspondence now requires.
i left off in a great hurry to prepare for our morning visits. of course was ready a good deal the first, and need not have hurried so much. fanny wore her new gown and cap. i was surprised to find mystole so pretty.
the ladies were at home. i was in luck, and saw lady fagg and all her five daughters, with an old mrs. hamilton, from canterbury, and mrs. and miss chapman, from margate, into the bargain. i never saw so plain a family,—five sisters so very plain! they are as plain as the foresters, or the franfraddops, or the seagraves, or the rivers, excluding sophy. miss sally fagg has a pretty figure, and that comprises all the good looks of the family.
it was stupidish; fanny did her part very well, but there was a lack of talk altogether, and the[218] three friends in the house only sat by and looked at us. however, miss chapman's name is laura, and she had a double flounce to her gown. you really must get some flounces. are not some of your large stock of white morning gowns just in a happy state for a flounce—too short? nobody at home at either house in chilham.
edward bridges and his friend did not forget to arrive. the friend is a mr. wigram, one of the three-and-twenty children of a great rich mercantile, sir robert wigram, an old acquaintance of the footes, but very recently known to edward b. the history of his coming here is, that, intending to go from ramsgate to brighton, edw. b. persuaded him to take lenham on his way, which gave him the convenience of mr. w.'s gig, and the comfort of not being alone there; but, probably thinking a few days of gm. would be the cheapest and pleasantest way of entertaining his friend and himself, offered a visit here, and here they stay till to-morrow.
mr. w. is about five or six-and-twenty, not ill-looking, and not agreeable. he is certainly no addition. a sort of cool, gentlemanlike manner, but very silent. they say his name is henry, a proof how unequally the gifts of fortune are bestowed. i have seen many a john and thomas much more agreeable.
we have got rid of mr. r. mascall, however. i[219] did not like him, either. he talks too much, and is conceited, besides having a vulgarly shaped mouth. he slept here on tuesday, so that yesterday fanny and i sat down to breakfast with six gentlemen to admire us.
we did not go to the ball. it was left to her to decide, and at last she determined against it. she knew that it would be a sacrifice on the part of her father and brothers if they went, and i hope it will prove that she has not sacrificed much. it is not likely that there should have been anybody there whom she would care for. i was very glad to be spared the trouble of dressing and going, and being weary before it was half over; so my gown and my cap are still unworn. it will appear at last, perhaps, that i might have done without either. i produced my brown bombazine yesterday, and it was very much admired indeed, and i like it better than ever.
you have given many particulars of the state of chawton house, but still we want more. edward wants to be expressly told that all the round tower, etc., is entirely down, and the door from the best room stopped up; he does not know enough of the appearance of things in that quarter.
he heard from bath yesterday. lady b. continues very well, and dr. parry's opinion is, that while the water agrees with her she ought to remain there, which throws their coming away at a[220] greater uncertainty than we had supposed. it will end, perhaps, in a fit of the gout, which may prevent her coming away. louisa thinks her mother's being so well may be quite as much owing to her being so much out of doors as to the water. lady b. is going to try the hot pump, the cross bath being about to be painted. louisa is particularly well herself, and thinks the water has been of use to her. she mentioned our inquiries, etc., to mr. and mrs. alex. evelyn, and had their best compliments and thanks to give in return. dr. parry does not expect mr. e. to last much longer.
only think of mrs. holder's being dead! poor woman, she has done the only thing in the world she could possibly do to make one cease to abuse her. now, if you please, hooper must have it in his power to do more by his uncle. lucky for the little girl. an anne ekins can hardly be so unfit for the care of a child as a mrs. holder.
a letter from wrotham yesterday offering an early visit here, and mr. and mrs. moore and one child are to come on monday for ten days. i hope charles and fanny may not fix the same time, but if they come at all in october they must. what is the use of hoping? the two parties of children is the chief evil.
to be sure, here we are; the very thing has happened, or rather worse,—a letter from charles this very morning, which gives us reason to suppose[221] they may come here to-day. it depends upon the weather, and the weather now is very fine. no difficulties are made, however, and, indeed, there will be no want of room; but i wish there were no wigrams and lushingtons in the way to fill up the table and make us such a motley set. i cannot spare mr. lushington either, because of his frank, but mr. wigram does no good to anybody. i cannot imagine how a man can have the impudence to come into a family party for three days, where he is quite a stranger, unless he knows himself to be agreeable on undoubted authority. he and edw. b. are going to ride to eastwell, and as the boys are hunting, and my brother is gone to canty., fanny and i have a quiet morning before us.
edward has driven off poor mrs. salkeld. it was thought a good opportunity of doing something towards clearing the house. by her own desire mrs. fanny[26] is to be put in the room next the nursery, her baby in a little bed by her; and as cassy is to have the closet within, and betsey william's little hole, they will be all very snug together. i shall be most happy to see dear charles, and he will be as happy as he can with a cross child, or some such care, pressing on him at the time. i should be very happy in the idea of seeing little cassy again, too, did not i fear[222] she would disappoint me by some immediate disagreeableness....
the comfort of the billiard-table here is very great; it draws all the gentlemen to it whenever they are within, especially after dinner, so that my brother, fanny, and i have the library to ourselves in delightful quiet. there is no truth in the report of g. hatton being to marry miss wemyss. he desires it may be contradicted.
have you done anything about our present to miss benn? i suppose she must have a bed at my mother's whenever she dines there. how will they manage as to inviting her when you are gone? and if they invite, how will they continue to entertain her?
let me know as many of your parting arrangements as you can, as to wine, etc. i wonder whether the ink-bottle has been filled. does butcher's meat keep up at the same price, and is not bread lower than 2s. 6d.? mary's blue gown! my mother must be in agonies. i have a great mind to have my blue gown dyed some time or other. i proposed it once to you, and you made some objection, i forget what. it is the fashion of flounces that gives it particular expediency.
mrs. and miss wildman have just been here. miss is very plain. i wish lady b. may be returned before we leave gm., that fanny may[223] spend the time of her father's absence at goodnestone, which is what she would prefer.
friday.—they came last night at about seven. we had given them up, but i still expected them to come. dessert was nearly over; a better time for arriving than an hour and a half earlier. they were late because they did not set out earlier, and did not allow time enough. charles did not aim at more than reaching sittingbourne by three, which could not have brought them here by dinner-time. they had a very rough passage; he would not have ventured if he had known how bad it would be.
however, here they are, safe and well, just like their own nice selves, fanny looking as neat and white this morning as possible, and dear charles all affectionate, placid, quiet, cheerful good-humor. they are both looking very well, but poor little cassy is grown extremely thin, and looks poorly. i hope a week's country air and exercise may do her good. i am sorry to say it can be but a week. the baby does not appear so large in proportion as she was, nor quite so pretty, but i have seen very little of her. cassy was too tired and bewildered just at first to seem to know anybody. we met them in the hall—the women and girl part of us—but before we reached the library she kissed me very affectionately, and has since seemed to recollect me in the same way.
[224]
it was quite an evening of confusion, as you may suppose. at first we were all walking about from one part of the house to the other; then came a fresh dinner in the breakfast-room for charles and his wife, which fanny and i attended; then we moved into the library, were joined by the dining-room people, were introduced, and so forth; and then we had tea and coffee, which was not over till past ten. billiards again drew all the odd ones away; and edward, charles, the two fannies, and i sat snugly talking. i shall be glad to have our numbers a little reduced, and by the time you receive this we shall be only a family, though a large family, party. mr. lushington goes to-morrow.
now i must speak of him, and i like him very much. i am sure he is clever, and a man of taste. he got a volume of milton last night, and spoke of it with warmth. he is quite an m. p., very smiling, with an exceeding good address and readiness of language. i am rather in love with him. i dare say he is ambitious and insincere. he puts me in mind of mr. dundas. he has a wide smiling mouth, and very good teeth, and something the same complexion and nose. he is a much shorter man, with martha's leave. does martha never hear from mrs. craven? is mrs. craven never at home?
we breakfasted in the dining-room to-day, and[225] are now all pretty well dispersed and quiet. charles and george are gone out shooting together, to winnigates and seaton wood. i asked on purpose to tell henry. mr. lushington and edwd. are gone some other way. i wish charles may kill something; but this high wind is against their sport.
lady williams is living at the rose at sittingbourne; they called upon her yesterday; she cannot live at sheerness, and as soon as she gets to sittingbourne is quite well. in return for all your matches, i announce that her brother william is going to marry a miss austen, of a wiltshire family, who say they are related to us.
i talk to cassy about chawton; she remembers much, but does not volunteer on the subject. poor little love! i wish she were not so very palmery, but it seems stronger than ever. i never knew a wife's family features have such undue influence.
papa and mamma have not yet made up their mind as to parting with her or not; the chief, indeed the only, difficulty with mamma is a very reasonable one, the child's being very unwilling to leave them. when it was mentioned to her she did not like the idea of it at all. at the same time she has been suffering so much lately from sea-sickness that her mamma cannot bear to have her much on board this winter. charles is less[226] inclined to part with her. i do not know how it will end, or what is to determine it. he desires his best love to you, and has not written because he has not been able to decide. they are both very sensible of your kindness on the occasion.
i have made charles furnish me with something to say about young kendall. he is going on very well. when he first joined the "namur," my brother did not find him forward enough to be what they call put in the office, and therefore placed him under the schoolmaster; but he is very much improved, and goes into the office now every afternoon, still attending school in the morning.
this cold weather comes very fortunately for edward's nerves, with such a house full; it suits him exactly; he is all alive and cheerful. poor james, on the contrary, must be running his toes into the fire. i find that mary jane fowle was very near returning with her brother and paying them a visit on board. i forget exactly what hindered her; i believe the cheltenham scheme. i am glad something did. they are to go to cheltenham on monday se'nnight. i don't vouch for their going, you know; it only comes from one of the family.
now i think i have written you a good-sized letter, and may deserve whatever i can get in reply. infinities of love. i must distinguish that[227] of fanny, senior, who particularly desires to be remembered to you all.
yours very affectionately,
j. austen.
faversham, oct. 15, 1813.
miss austen, chawton, alton, hants.
per s. r. lushington.
