Chapter 11: Luck Of The Stars
Harriet was too excited to pay attention to this slight criticism and she continued, her cheeks flushed with emotion:
"I can now appreciate the distance which separates a man of common sense who can occasionally write a decent letter, from one who knows how to give his thought in such delicate form!" But, dear Miss Burton, I will never have the courage to return the paper and say that I have guessed.
"I'll take care of it. It matters that you can choose your moment to smile at him; report to me.
"What a pity I can't copy this delightful charade into my book!"
"Leave out the last two lines and there's no reason why you shouldn't transcribe it."
- Oh ! but those last two lines are…
The most precious, I grant you, but they were written for you alone and they must be kept intimate. The personal allusion aside, it remains a very pretty charade that can hold its place in any collection. Believe me, Mr. Elton would not be flattered to see his work set aside; give me the ledger; the copy will be in my hand; in this way you will stay completely out of this initiative.
Harriet reluctantly submitted and said only:
"I will never leave my book lying around again.
Very well ! said Amanda, it is a natural feeling; but here is my father: you will see no objection, I think, to my reading the charade to him. He will find great pleasure in listening to it. He loves everything that is in praise of women. His feelings of gallantry towards our sex are most pronounced. I will read it to him. Harriet remained serious.
My dear Harriet, this charade should not be overemphasized. Do not be confused by such a small tribute of admiration. If Mr. Elton had desired secrecy, he would not have left the paper in my presence, and affected on the contrary to return it to me. Let us not bring too much solemnity into this affair.
Oh ! Nope ; I hope I don't make myself ridiculous. Do as you wish.
Mr. Burton came in and soon brought the subject up again, asking his usual question:
"Well, my dear children, is your work progressing? Did you receive any new input?
"Yes dad, we're going to read you something new. We found, this morning, on the table, a paper probably left by a fairy and which contained a very pretty charade: I immediately copied it.
She read it to him as he liked to be read to him: quietly and distinctly, two or three times, adding explanations for each part. He was particularly struck, as she had expected, by the final compliment.
Here is what is very true and well said: the woman, the divine woman. This charade is so pretty, my dear, that I can easily guess the fairy who left it: it could only be you.
Amanda smiles without protest. After a few minutes of thought and a sigh, he added:
"You got that gift from your dear mother who wrote so elegantly. If only I had her memories. But I don't remember anything, not even that charade I told you about; you told me, I believe, my dear, that you had transcribed it.
"Yes dad, indeed, it is written on the second page of our notebook; we copied it into the selected pieces. She is from Garrick.
"I only remember that it started with 'Kitty.' This name always made me think of poor Isabelle who almost received the name of Catherine at baptism. I hope my daughter will come next week. Have you decided, my dear, in which room you will put her? And the kids?
Oh ! yes, Isabelle will have her bedroom as usual and the children will be placed in the nursery. What reason would there be to make a change?
"I don't know, my dear, but it's been so long since she's been here, since Easter and only for a few days!" Poor Isabella! She will be very sad when she arrives not to find Miss Taylor.
"In any case, Dad, it won't be a surprise.
"I'm not sure, my dear. For my part, I was very surprised when I learned that she was going to get married.
"We will have to invite Mr. and Mrs. Weston to dinner while Isabelle is there.
"Yes my dear, if there is time. She comes for a week; we can't do anything.
"It will be unfortunate, of course, that they cannot stay longer, but it is a case of force majeure: the demands of his profession compel Mr. John Knightley to be back on the 28th of this month; let us rather rejoice, papa, that this short stay will not be cut short by a visit of two or three days to the abbey. Mr. Knightley promised not to exercise his rights.
"It would be very hard, my dear, if poor Isabelle had to live anywhere but Hartfield.
Mr. Burton was silent for a moment, then added:
"But I don't see why poor Isabelle would have to go home so soon because of her husband. I have to persuade her to extend her stay. She could perfectly stay with the children. Oh! Daddy, that's what you never could get, and you won't be more successful this time: Isabelle can't bear to leave her husband.
This finding was too obvious to permit contradiction. Despite himself, Mr. Burton was compelled to submit with a sigh; Amanda realized that he was saddened by the thought of her daughter's marital affection, and she hastened to put the subject on more agreeable ground.
"Harriet will have to spend a lot of her time with us while my brother-in-law and sister are here. I'm sure she'll like the kids. We're very proud of the kids, aren't we, Dad. I wonder which of Henry or Jean will please Harriet more?
"Poor darlings, how glad they will be, to come. You know, Harriet, they love being in Hartfield.
"I don't doubt it, sir. Who would not be ?
Henri is a handsome boy, but Jean looks a lot like his mom. Henry is the eldest; he's named after me: He's a very smart boy. They both have such graceful manners. I am of the opinion that their father is often abrupt with them.
He seems brusque to you," Amanda said, because you have such gentle manners yourself. Mr. John Knightley wants his boys to be bold and active and can speak harshly on occasion, but he is a very loving father and the children love him very much.When their uncle comes, he grabs them and he lifts them up to the ceiling in a very scary way.
But Dad there's nothing they love so much." It is such a great pleasure for them that if their uncle had not made it a rule to take them one after the other, the first grabbed would never want to give up his place!
Just as the girls were going to part for dinner at four o'clock, the hero of the day appeared. Harriet looked away, but Amanda received him with her usual smile. Everything in Mr. Elton's demeanor indicated that he was conscious of having taken a step forward, and Amanda supposed that he had come to see the effect produced. The ostensible pretext for his visit was to inquire whether he was needed for Mr. Burton's game that evening: if his presence could be of use, he would postpone any other obligation, but, in the Otherwise, he would apologize, having conditionally promised his friend, Mr. Cole, to dine with him.
Amanda thanked him for his thoughtfulness, but did not want to hear that he was disappointing her friend because of them. Mr. Elton believed himself bound to further protests; then, as he was about to retire, Amanda took the paper from the table and passed it to him.
"Here is the charade that you so kindly left us and for which we thank you. We admired it so much that I took the liberty of transcribing it on Miss Smith's album. I hope your friend won't mind. Naturally, I only copied the first eight lines.
Mr. Elton looked a little taken aback. He mumbled a hint of "honor..." as he looked at Amanda and Harriet alternately; Finally, he took the notebook that was on the table and examined it attentively. Eager to dispel the embarrassment, Amanda said with a smile:"I apologize to your friend, but such a lovely charade must not remain the monopoly of a privileged few. The author can be sure of obtaining the suffrage of all women whenever he gives his writings such a gallant turn.
"I think I can step forward," replied Mr. Elton with some hesitation, "and vouch that if my friend saw his little composition in that place of honor, he would feel a sense of justifiable pride in it.
This speech over, Mr. Elton promptly took his leave; Amanda did not hold him back, for there was a kind of bombast in the young curate's way of speaking which, despite the benevolent dispositions she harbored towards him, was very likely to make him laugh. She ran away to give free rein to her mirth, leaving Harriet to enjoy her happiness.
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