Northanger Abbey: Chapter 8
Chapter 8
CHAPTER 8
In spite of Udolpho and the dressmaker, however,
the party from Pulteney Street reached the Upper Rooms
in very good time. The Thorpes and James Morland
were there only two minutes before them; and Isabella
having gone through the usual ceremonial of meeting
her friend with the most smiling and affectionate haste,
of admiring the set of her gown, and envying the curl
of her hair, they followed their chaperones, arm in arm,
into the ballroom, whispering to each other whenever
a thought occurred, and supplying the place of many
ideas by a squeeze of the hand or a smile of affection.
The dancing began within a few minutes after they
were seated; and James, who had been engaged quite as long
as his sister, was very importunate with Isabella to stand up;
but John was gone into the card-room to speak to a friend,
and nothing, she declared, should induce her to join
the set before her dear Catherine could join it too.
"I assure you," said she, "I would not stand up without
your dear sister for all the world; for if I did we
should certainly be separated the whole evening."
Catherine accepted this kindness with gratitude,
and they continued as they were for three minutes longer,
when Isabella, who had been talking to James on the other
side of her, turned again to his sister and whispered,
"My dear creature, I am afraid I must leave you,
your brother is so amazingly impatient to begin; I know
you will not mind my going away, and I dare say John will
be back in a moment, and then you may easily find me out."
Catherine, though a little disappointed, had too much good
nature to make any opposition, and the others rising up,
Isabella had only time to press her friend's hand and say,
"Good-bye, my dear love," before they hurried off.
The younger Miss Thorpes being also dancing, Catherine was
left to the mercy of Mrs. Thorpe and Mrs. Allen,
between whom she now remained. She could not help being
vexed at the non-appearance of Mr. Thorpe, for she not
only longed to be dancing, but was likewise aware that,
as the real dignity of her situation could not be known,
she was sharing with the scores of other young ladies still
sitting down all the discredit of wanting a partner.
To be disgraced in the eye of the world, to wear the
appearance of infamy while her heart is all purity,
her actions all innocence, and the misconduct of another
the true source of her debasement, is one of those
circumstances which peculiarly belong to the heroine's life,
and her fortitude under it what particularly dignifies
her character. Catherine had fortitude too; she suffered,
but no murmur passed her lips.
From this state of humiliation, she was roused,
at the end of ten minutes, to a pleasanter feeling,
by seeing, not Mr. Thorpe, but Mr. Tilney, within three
yards of the place where they sat; he seemed to be
moving that way, but be did not see her, and therefore
the smile and the blush, which his sudden reappearance
raised in Catherine, passed away without sullying her
heroic importance. He looked as handsome and as lively
as ever, and was talking with interest to a fashionable
and pleasing-looking young woman, who leant on his arm,
and whom Catherine immediately guessed to be his sister;
thus unthinkingly throwing away a fair opportunity of
considering him lost to her forever, by being married already.
But guided only by what was simple and probable,
it had never entered her head that Mr. Tilney could
be married; he had not behaved, he had not talked,
like the married men to whom she had been used; he had
never mentioned a wife, and he had acknowledged a sister.
From these circumstances sprang the instant conclusion
of his sister's now being by his side; and therefore,
instead of turning of a deathlike paleness and falling
in a fit on Mrs. Allen's bosom, Catherine sat erect,
in the perfect use of her senses, and with cheeks only a
little redder than usual.
Mr. Tilney and his companion, who continued,
though slowly, to approach, were immediately preceded
by a lady, an acquaintance of Mrs. Thorpe; and this lady
stopping to speak to her, they, as belonging to her,
stopped likewise, and Catherine, catching Mr. Tilney's eye,
instantly received from him the smiling tribute
of recognition. She returned it with pleasure,
and then advancing still nearer, he spoke both to her
and Mrs. Allen, by whom he was very civilly acknowledged.
"I am very happy to see you again, sir, indeed; I was
afraid you had left Bath." He thanked her for her fears,
and said that he had quitted it for a week, on the very
morning after his having had the pleasure of seeing her.
"Well, sir, and I dare say you are not sorry to be
back again, for it is just the place for young people--
and indeed for everybody else too. I tell Mr. Allen,
when he talks of being sick of it, that I am sure he
should not complain, for it is so very agreeable a place,
that it is much better to be here than at home at this
dull time of year. I tell him he is quite in luck
to be sent here for his health."
"And I hope, madam, that Mr. Allen will be obliged
to like the place, from finding it of service to him."
"Thank you, sir. I have no doubt that he will.
A neighbour of ours, Dr. Skinner, was here for his health
last winter, and came away quite stout."
"That circumstance must give great encouragement."
"Yes, sir--and Dr. Skinner and his family were here
three months; so I tell Mr. Allen he must not be in a hurry
to get away."
Here they were interrupted by a request from Mrs. Thorpe
to Mrs. Allen, that she would move a little to accommodate
Mrs. Hughes and Miss Tilney with seats, as they had
agreed to join their party. This was accordingly done,
Mr. Tilney still continuing standing before them;
and after a few minutes' consideration, he asked Catherine
to dance with him. This compliment, delightful as it was,
produced severe mortification to the lady; and in giving
her denial, she expressed her sorrow on the occasion
so very much as if she really felt it that had Thorpe,
who joined her just afterwards, been half a minute earlier,
he might have thought her sufferings rather too acute.
The very easy manner in which he then told her that he
had kept her waiting did not by any means reconcile her
more to her lot; nor did the particulars which he entered
into while they were standing up, of the horses and dogs
of the friend whom he had just left, and of a proposed
exchange of terriers between them, interest her so much
as to prevent her looking very often towards that part of the
room where she had left Mr. Tilney. Of her dear Isabella,
to whom she particularly longed to point out that gentleman,
she could see nothing. They were in different sets.
She was separated from all her party, and away from all
her acquaintance; one mortification succeeded another,
and from the whole she deduced this useful lesson,
that to go previously engaged to a ball does not necessarily
increase either the dignity or enjoyment of a young lady.
From such a moralizing strain as this, she was suddenly
roused by a touch on the shoulder, and turning round,
perceived Mrs. Hughes directly behind her, attended by Miss
Tilney and a gentleman. "I beg your pardon, Miss Morland,"
said she, "for this liberty--but I cannot anyhow get to
Miss Thorpe, and Mrs. Thorpe said she was sure you would
not have the least objection to letting in this young lady
by you." Mrs. Hughes could not have applied to any creature
in the room more happy to oblige her than Catherine.
The young ladies were introduced to each other, Miss Tilney
expressing a proper sense of such goodness, Miss Morland
with the real delicacy of a generous mind making light
of the obligation; and Mrs. Hughes, satisfied with having
so respectably settled her young charge, returned to
her party.
Miss Tilney had a good figure, a pretty face,
and a very agreeable countenance; and her air, though it
had not all the decided pretension, the resolute
stylishness of Miss Thorpe's, had more real elegance.
Her manners showed good sense and good breeding;
they were neither shy nor affectedly open; and she
seemed capable of being young, attractive, and at a ball
without wanting to fix the attention of every man
near her, and without exaggerated feelings of ecstatic
delight or inconceivable vexation on every little
trifling occurrence. Catherine, interested at once
by her appearance and her relationship to Mr. Tilney,
was desirous of being acquainted with her, and readily
talked therefore whenever she could think of anything
to say, and had courage and leisure for saying it.
But the hindrance thrown in the way of a very speedy intimacy,
by the frequent want of one or more of these requisites,
prevented their doing more than going through the first
rudiments of an acquaintance, by informing themselves how well
the other liked Bath, how much she admired its buildings
and surrounding country, whether she drew, or played,
or sang, and whether she was fond of riding on horseback.
The two dances were scarcely concluded before Catherine
found her arm gently seized by her faithful Isabella,
who in great spirits exclaimed, "At last I have got you.
My dearest creature, I have been looking for you this hour.
What could induce you to come into this set, when you
knew I was in the other? I have been quite wretched
without you."
"My dear Isabella, how was it possible for me to get
at you? I could not even see where you were."
"So I told your brother all the time--but he would
not believe me. Do go and see for her, Mr. Morland,
said I--but all in vain--he would not stir an inch.
Was not it so, Mr. Morland? But you men are all so
immoderately lazy! I have been scolding him to such
a degree, my dear Catherine, you would be quite amazed.
You know I never stand upon ceremony with such people."
"Look at that young lady with the white beads round
her head," whispered Catherine, detaching her friend
from James. "It is Mr. Tilney's sister."
"Oh! Heavens! You don't say so! Let me look at her
this moment. What a delightful girl! I never saw anything
half so beautiful! But where is her all-conquering brother? Is
he in the room? Point him out to me this instant, if he is.
I die to see him. Mr. Morland, you are not to listen.
We are not talking about you."
"But what is all this whispering about? What is going on?"
"There now, I knew how it would be. You men have
such restless curiosity! Talk of the curiosity of women,
indeed! 'Tis nothing. But be satisfied, for you are not
to know anything at all of the matter."
"And is that likely to satisfy me, do you think?"
"Well, I declare I never knew anything like you.
What can it signify to you, what we are talking of.
Perhaps we are talking about you; therefore I would advise
you not to listen, or you may happen to hear something not
very agreeable."
In this commonplace chatter, which lasted some time,
the original subject seemed entirely forgotten; and though
Catherine was very well pleased to have it dropped for a while,
she could not avoid a little suspicion at the total suspension
of all Isabella's impatient desire to see Mr. Tilney.
When the orchestra struck up a fresh dance, James would
have led his fair partner away, but she resisted.
"I tell you, Mr. Morland," she cried, "I would not do such
a thing for all the world. How can you be so teasing;
only conceive, my dear Catherine, what your brother wants
me to do. He wants me to dance with him again, though I
tell him that it is a most improper thing, and entirely
against the rules. It would make us the talk of the place,
if we were not to change partners."
"Upon my honour," said James, "in these public assemblies,
it is as often done as not."
"Nonsense, how can you say so? But when you men
have a point to carry, you never stick at anything.
My sweet Catherine, do support me; persuade your brother
how impossible it is. Tell him that it would quite shock
you to see me do such a thing; now would not it?"
"No, not at all; but if you think it wrong,
you had much better change."
"There," cried Isabella, "you hear what your sister says,
and yet you will not mind her. Well, remember that it
is not my fault, if we set all the old ladies in Bath
in a bustle. Come along, my dearest Catherine,
for heaven's sake, and stand by me." And off they went,
to regain their former place. John Thorpe, in the meanwhile,
had walked away; and Catherine, ever willing to give
Mr. Tilney an opportunity of repeating the agreeable
request which had already flattered her once, made her
way to Mrs. Allen and Mrs. Thorpe as fast as she could,
in the hope of finding him still with them--a hope which,
when it proved to be fruitless, she felt to have been
highly unreasonable. "Well, my dear," said Mrs. Thorpe,
impatient for praise of her son, "I hope you have had
an agreeable partner."
"Very agreeable, madam."
"I am glad of it. John has charming spirits,
has not he?"
"Did you meet Mr. Tilney, my dear?" said Mrs. Allen.
"No, where is he?"
"He was with us just now, and said he was so tired
of lounging about, that he was resolved to go and dance;
so I thought perhaps he would ask you, if he met with you."
"Where can he be?" said Catherine, looking round;
but she had not looked round long before she saw him
leading a young lady to the dance.
"Ah! He has got a partner; I wish he had asked you,"
said Mrs. Allen; and after a short silence, she added,
"he is a very agreeable young man."
"Indeed he is, Mrs. Allen," said Mrs. Thorpe,
smiling complacently; "I must say it, though I am his mother,
that there is not a more agreeable young man in the world."
This inapplicable answer might have been too much
for the comprehension of many; but it did not puzzle
Mrs. Allen, for after only a moment's consideration,
she said, in a whisper to Catherine, "I dare say she
thought I was speaking of her son."
Catherine was disappointed and vexed. She seemed
to have missed by so little the very object she had
had in view; and this persuasion did not incline her
to a very gracious reply, when John Thorpe came up
to her soon afterwards and said, "Well, Miss Morland,
I suppose you and I are to stand up and jig it together again."
"Oh, no; I am much obliged to you, our two dances
are over; and, besides, I am tired, and do not mean
to dance any more."
"Do not you? Then let us walk about and quiz people.
Come along with me, and I will show you the four greatest
quizzers in the room; my two younger sisters and their partners.
I have been laughing at them this half hour."
Again Catherine excused herself; and at last he walked
off to quiz his sisters by himself. The rest of the evening
she found very dull; Mr. Tilney was drawn away from their
party at tea, to attend that of his partner; Miss Tilney,
though belonging to it, did not sit near her, and James
and Isabella were so much engaged in conversing together
that the latter had no leisure to bestow more on her friend
than one smile, one squeeze, and one "dearest Catherine."
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