Every Neighbourhood should have a
great Lady.--The great Lady of Sanditon,
was Lady Denham; & in their
Journey from Willingden to the Coast,
M^r Parker gave Charlotte a more
detailed account of her, than had been
called for before.--She had been necessarily
often mentioned at Willingden,--
for being his Colleague in Speculation,
Sanditon itself could not be talked of
long, without the introduction of Lady
Denham & that she was a very rich old
Lady, who had buried two Husbands,
who knew the value of Money, was very
much looked up to & had a poor Cousin
living with her, were facts already
( 32 )
well known, but some further particulars
of her history & her Character
served to lighten the tediousness of
a long Hill, or a heavy bit of road, and
to give the visiting Young Lady a suitable
Knowledge of the Person with
whom she might now expect to be
daily associating.--Lady D. had been
a rich Miss Brereton, born to Wealth
but not to Education. Her first Husband
had been a M^r Hollis, a man of
considerable Property in the Country,
of which a large share of the Parish of
Sanditon, with Manor & Mansion House
made a part. He had been an elderly
Man when she married him;--her own
age about 30.--Her motives for such
a Match could be little understood at
the distance of 40 years, but she had so
well nursed & pleased M^r Hollis, that
at his death he left her everything--
all his Estates, & all at her Disposal.
( 33 )
After a widowhood of some years, she
had been induced to marry again.
The late Sir Harry Denham, of Denham
Park in the Neighbourhood of
Sanditon had succeeded in removing
her & her large Income to his own
Domains, but he c^d not succeed in the
veiws of permanently enriching his
family, which were attributed to him.
She had been too wary to put anything
out of her own Power--and when on
Sir Harry’s Decease she returned again
to her own House at Sanditon, she was
said to have made this boast to a
friend “that though she had _got_
nothing but her Title from the Family,
still she had _given_ nothing for it.”--
For the Title, it was to be supposed
that she had married--& M^r P.
acknowledged there being just such
a degree of value for it apparent now,
as to give her conduct that natural
( 34 )
explanation. “There is at times said
he--a little self-importance--but it is
not offensive;--& there are moments,
there are points, when her Love of
Money is carried greatly too far. But
she is a goodnatured Woman, a very
goodnatured Woman,--a very obliging,
friendly Neighbour; a chearful, independant,
valuable character.--and her
faults may be entirely imputed to her
want of Education. She has good
natural Sense, but quite uncultivated.
--She has a fine active mind, as well
as a fine healthy frame for a Woman of
70, & enters into the improvement of
Sanditon with a spirit truly admirable
--though now & then, a Littleness _will_
appear. She cannot look forward quite
as I would have her--& takes alarm at
a trifling present expence, without
considering what returns it _will_ make
her in a year or two. That is--we
( 35 )
think _differently_, we now & then, see
things _differently_, Miss H.--Those who
tell their own Story you know must be
listened to with Caution.--When you
see us in contact, you will judge for
yourself.”--Lady D. was indeed a great
Lady beyond the common wants of
Society--for she had many Thousands
a year to bequeath, & three distinct
sets of People to be courted by; her
own relations, who might very reasonably
wish for her Original Thirty Thousand
Pounds among them, the legal
Heirs of M^r Hollis, who must hope to
be more endebted to _her_ sense of
Justice than he had allowed them to
be to _his_, and those Members of the
Denham Family, whom her 2^d Husband
had hoped to make a good Bargain for.
--By all of these, or by Branches of
them, she had no doubt been long, &
still continued to be, well attacked;--
( 36 )
and of these three divisions, M^r P. did
not hesitate to say that M^r Hollis’
Kindred were the _least_ in favour & Sir
Harry Denham’s the _most_.--The former
he beleived, had done themselves irremediable
harm by expressions of very
unwise & unjustifiable resentment at
the time of Mr. Hollis’s death;--the
Latter, to the advantage of being the
remnant of a Connection which she
certainly valued, joined those of having
been known to her from their Childhood,
& of being always at hand to
preserve their interest by reasonable
attention. Sir Edward, the present
Baronet, nephew to Sir Harry, resided
constantly at Denham Park; & M^r P--
had little doubt, that he & his Sister
Miss D-- who lived with him, w^d be
principally remembered in her Will.
He sincerely hoped it.--Miss Denham
had a very small provision--& her
( 37 )
Brother was a poor Man for his rank
in Society. “He is a warm friend to
Sanditon--said M^r Parker--& his hand
w^d be as liberal as his heart, had he
the Power.--He would be a noble Coadjutor!
--As it is, he does what he can
--& is running up a tasteful little
Cottage Ornèe, on a strip of Waste
Ground Lady D. has granted him,
which I have no doubt we shall have
many a Candidate for, before the end
even of _this_ Season.” Till within the
last twelvemonth, M^r P. had considered
Sir Edw: as standing without
a rival, as having the fairest chance of
succeeding to the greater part of all
that she had to give--but there was
now another person’s claims to be
taken into the account, those of the
young female relation, whom Lady D.
had been induced to receive into her
Family. After having always protested
( 38 )
against any such Addition, and
long & often enjoyed the repeated
defeats she had given to every attempt
of her relations to introduce this young
Lady, or that young Lady as a Companion
at Sanditon House, she had
brought back with her from London
last Michaelmas a Miss Brereton, who
bid fair by her Merits to vie in favour
with Sir Edward, and to secure for
herself & her family that share of the
accumulated Property which they had
certainly the best right to inherit.--
M^r Parker spoke warmly of Clara
Brereton, & the interest of his story
increased very much with the introduction
of such a Character. Charlotte
listened with more than amusement
now;--it was solicitude & Enjoyment,
as she heard her described to be lovely,
amiable, gentle, unassuming, conducting
herself uniformly with great good
( 39 )
sense, & evidently gaining by her innate
worth, on the affections of her Patroness.
--Beauty, Sweetness, Poverty &
Dependance, do not want the imagination
of a Man to operate upon. With
due exceptions--Woman feels for
Woman very promptly & compassionately.
He gave the particulars which
had led to Clara’s admission at Sanditon,
as no bad exemplification of
that mixture of Character, that union
of Littleness with Kindness with Good
Sence with even Liberality which he saw
in Lady D.-- After having avoided
London for many years, principally
on account of these very Cousins,
who were continually writing, inviting
& tormenting her, & whom she was
determined to keep at a distance, she
had been obliged to go there last
Michaelmas with the certainty of being
detained at least a fortnight.--She had
( 40 )
gone to an Hotel--living by her own
account as prudently as possible, to
defy the reputed expensiveness of such
a home, & at the end of three Days
calling for her Bill, that she might
judge of her state.--It’s amount was
such as determined her on staying not
another hour in the House, & she was
preparing in all the anger & perturbation
which a beleif of very gross imposition
_there_, & an ignorance of where to
go for better usage, to leave the Hotel
at all hazards, when the Cousins, the
politic & lucky Cousins, who seemed
always to have a spy on her, introduced
themselves at this important
moment, & learning her situation, persuaded
her to accept such a home for
the rest of her stay as their humbler
house in a very inferior part of London,
c^d offer.--She went; was delighted
with her welcome & the hospitality &
( 41 )
attention she received from every body
--found her good Cousins the B----
beyond her expectation worthy people
--& finally was impelled by a personal
knowledge of their narrow Income &
pecuniary difficulties, to invite one of
the girls of the family to pass the
Winter with her. The invitation was
to _one_, for six months--with the probability
of another being then to take
her place;--but in _selecting_ the one,
Lady D. had shewn the good part of
her Character--for passing by the
actual _daughters_ of the House, she had
chosen Clara, a Neice--, more helpless
& more pitiable of course than any--
a dependant on Poverty--an additional
Burthen on an encumbered Circle--&
one, who had been so low in every
worldly veiw, as with all her natural
endowments & powers, to have been
preparing for a situation little better
( 42 )
than a Nursery Maid.--Clara had returned
with her--& by her good sence
& merit had now, to all appearance
secured a very strong hold in Lady D.’s
regard. The six months had long been
over--& not a syllable was breathed of
any change, or exchange.--She was
a general favourite;--the influence of
her steady conduct & mild, gentle
Temper was felt by everybody. The
prejudices which had met her at first
in some quarters, were all dissipated.
She was felt to be worthy of Trust--to
be the very companion who w^d guide
& soften Lady D-- who w^d enlarge
her mind & open her hand.--She was
as thoroughly amiable as she was lovely
--& since having had the advantage
of their Sanditon Breezes, that Loveliness
was complete.
( 43 )