The Party were very soon moving
after Dinner. M^r P. could not be
satisfied without an early visit to the
Library, & the Library Subscription
book, & Charlotte was glad to see as
much, & as quickly as possible, where
all was new. They were out in the very
quietest part of a Watering-place Day,
when the important Business of Dinner
or of sitting after Dinner was going on
in almost every inhabited Lodging;--
here & there a solitary Elderly Man
might be seen, who was forced to move
early & walk for health--but in general,
it was a thorough pause of Company,
it was Emptiness & Tranquillity on the
( 70 )
Terrace, the Cliffs, & the Sands.--The
Shops were deserted--the Straw Hats
& pendant Lace seemed left to their
fate both within the House & without,
and M^{rs} Whitby at the Library was
sitting in her inner room, reading one
of her own Novels, for want of Employment.--The
List of Subscribers was
but commonplace. The Lady Denham,
Miss Brereton, M^r & M^{rs} P----
Sir Edw: Denham & Miss Denham,
whose names might be said to lead off
the Season, were followed by nothing
better than--M^{rs} Mathews--Miss
Mathews, Miss E. Mathews, Miss H.
Mathews.--D^r & M^{rs} Brown--M^r
Richard Pratt.--Lieut: Smith R.N.
Capt: Little,--Limehouse.--M^{rs} Jane
Fisher. Miss Fisher. Miss Scroggs.--
Rev: M^r Hanking. M^r Beard--Solicitor,
Grays Inn.--M^{rs} Davis. & Miss Merryweather.
--M^r P. could not but feel that
( 71 )
the List was not only without Distinction,
but less numerous than he had
hoped. It was but July however, &
August & September were the Months;
--And besides, the promised large
Families from Surry & Camberwell,
were an ever-ready consolation.--M^{rs}
Whitby came forward without delay
from her Literary recess, delighted to
see M^r Parker again, whose manners
recommended him to every body, &
they were fully occupied in their
various Civilities & Communications,
while Charlotte having added her name
to the List as the first offering to the
success of the Season, was busy in
some immediate purchases for the
further good of Every body, as soon as
Miss Whitby could be hurried down
from her Toilette, with all her glossy
curls & smart Trinkets to wait on her.
--The Library of course, afforded every
( 72 )
thing; all the useless things in the
World that c^d not be done without,
& among so many pretty Temptations,
& with so much good will for M^r P.
to encourage Expenditure, Charlotte
began to feel that she must check
herself--or rather she reflected that at
two & Twenty there c^d be no excuse
for her doing otherwise--& that it w^d
not do for her to be spending all her
Money the very first Evening. She
took up a Book; it happened to be a
vol: of _Camilla_. She had not _Camilla_’s
Youth, & had no intention of having
her Distress,--so, she turned from the
Drawers of rings & Broches repressed
farther solicitation & paid for what she
bought.--For her particular gratification,
they were then to take a Turn on
the Cliff--but as they quitted the
Library they were met by two Ladies
whose arrival made an alteration necessary,
( 73 )
Lady Denham & Miss Brereton.
--They had been to Trafalgar House,
& been directed thence to the Library,
& though Lady D. was a great deal too
active to regard the walk of a mile as
any thing requiring rest, & talked of
going home again directly, the Parkers
knew that to be pressed into their
House, & obliged to take her Tea with
them, would suit her best,--& therefore
the stroll on the Cliff gave way to
an immediate return home.--“No, no,
said her Ladyship--I will not have
you hurry your Tea on my account.--
I know you like your Tea late.--My
early hours are not to put my Neighbours
to inconvenience. No, no, Miss
Clara & I will get back to our own
Tea.--We came out with no other
Thought.--We wanted just to see you
& make sure of your being really
come--, but we get back to our own
( 74 )
Tea.”--She went on however towards
Trafalgar House & took possession of
the Drawing room very quietly--without
seeming to hear a word of M^{rs} P.’s
orders to the Servant as they entered,
to bring Tea directly. Charlotte was
fully consoled for the loss of her walk,
by finding herself in company with
those, whom the conversation of the
morn^g had given her a great curiosity
to see. She observed them well.--
Lady D. was of middle height, stout,
upright & alert in her motions, with a
shrewd eye, & self-satisfied air--but
not an unagreable Countenance--&
tho’ her manner was rather downright
& abrupt, as of a person who valued
herself on being free-spoken, there was
a good humour & cordiality about her
--a civility & readiness to be acquainted
with Charlotte herself, & a heartiness
of welcome towards her old friends,
( 75 )
which was inspiring the Good will, she
seemed to feel;--And as for Miss
Brereton, her appearance so completely
justified M^r P.’s praise that Charlotte
thought she had never beheld a more
lovely, or more Interesting young
Woman.--Elegantly tall, regularly
handsome, with great delicacy of complexion
& soft Blue eyes, a sweetly
modest & yet naturally graceful Address,
Charlotte could see in her only
the most perfect representation of
whatever Heroine might be most
beautiful & bewitching, in all the
numerous vol:^s they had left behind
them on M^{rs} Whitby’s shelves.--Perhaps
it might be partly oweing to her
having just issued from a Circulating
Library--but she c^d not separate the
idea of a complete Heroine from Clara
Brereton. Her situation with Lady
Denham so very much in favour of it!
( 76 )
--She seemed placed with her on purpose
to be ill-used. Such Poverty &
Dependance joined to such Beauty
& Merit, seemed to leave no choice in
the business.--These feelings were not
the result of any spirit of Romance in
Charlotte herself. No, she was a very
sober-minded young Lady, sufficiently
well-read in Novels to supply her
Imagination with amusement, but not
at all unreasonably influenced by them;
& while she pleased herself the first
5 minutes with fancying the Persecutions
which _ought_ to be the Lot of the
interesting Clara, especially in the form
of the most barbarous conduct on Lady
Denham’s side, she found no reluctance
to admit from subsequent observation,
that they appeared to be on very comfortable
Terms.--She c^d see nothing
worse in Lady Denham, than the sort
of oldfashioned formality of always
( 77 )
calling her _Miss Clara_--nor anything
objectionable in the degree of observance
& attention which Clara paid.--
On one side it seemed protecting kindness,
on the other grateful & affectionate
respect.--The Conversation
turned entirely upon Sanditon, its
present number of Visitants & the
Chances of a good Season. It was
evident that Lady D. had more anxiety,
more fears of loss, than her Coadjutor.
She wanted to have the Place fill
faster, & seemed to have many harassing
apprehensions of the Lodgings
being in some instances underlet.--
Miss Diana Parker’s two large Families
were not forgotten. “Very good, very
good, said her Ladyship.--A West Indy
Family & a school. That sounds well.
That will bring Money.”--“No people
spend more freely, I beleive, than W.
Indians.” observed M^r Parker.--“Aye
( 78 )
--so I have heard--and because they
have full Purses, fancy themselves
equal, may be, to your old Country
Families. But then, they who scatter
their Money so freely, never think of
whether they may not be doing mischeif
by raising the price of Things--
And I have heard that’s very much
the case with your West-injines--and
if they come among us to raise the
price of our necessaries of Life, we
shall not much thank them M^r Parker.”
--“My dear Madam, They can only
raise the price of consumeable Articles,
by such an extraordinary Demand for
them & such a diffusion of Money
among us, as must do us more Good
than harm.--Our Butchers & Bakers
& Traders in general cannot get rich
without bringing Prosperity to _us_.--If
_they_ do not gain, our rents must be
insecure--& in proportion to their
( 79 )
profit must be ours eventually in the
increased value of our Houses.” “Oh!
--well.--But I should not like to have
Butcher’s meat raised, though--& I
shall keep it down as long as I can.--
Aye--that young Lady smiles I see;
--I dare say she thinks me an odd sort
of a Creature,--but _she_ will come to
care about such matters herself in
time. Yes, Yes, my Dear, depend upon
it, you will be thinking of the price of
Butcher’s meat in time--tho’ you may
not happen to have quite such a Servants
Hall full to feed, as I have.--
And I do beleive _those_ are best off, that
have fewest Servants.--I am not a
Woman of Parade, as all the World
knows, & if it was not for what I owe
to poor M^r Hollis’s memory, I should
never keep up Sanditon House as I do;
--it is not for my own pleasure.--Well
M^r Parker--and the other is a Boarding
( 80 )
school, a French Boarding School,
is it?--No harm in that.--They’ll stay
their six weeks.--And out of such a
number, who knows but some may be
consumptive & want Asses milk--&
I have two Milch asses at this present
time.--But perhaps the little Misses
may hurt the Furniture.--I hope they
will have a good sharp Governess to
look after them.--” Poor M^r Parker
got no more credit from Lady D. than
he had from his Sisters, for the Object
which had taken him to Willingden.
“Lord! my dear Sir, she cried, how
could you think of such a thing?
I am very sorry you met with your
accident, but upon my word you deserved
it.--Going after a Doctor!--
Why, what sh^d we do with a Doctor
here? It w^d be only encouraging our
Servants & the Poor to fancy themselves
ill, if there was a D^r at hand.--
( 81 )
Oh! pray, let us have none of the Tribe
at Sanditon. We go on very well as we
are. There is the Sea & the Downs &
my Milch-asses--& I have told M^{rs}
Whitby that if any body enquires for
a Chamber-House, they may be supplied
at a fair rate--(poor M^r Hollis’s
Chamber-House, as good as new)--
and what can People want for more?--
Here have I lived 70 good years in the
world & never took Physic above twice
--and never saw the face of a Doctor
in all my Life, on my _own_ account.--
And I verily beleive if my poor dear
Sir Harry had never seen one neither,
he w^d have been alive now.--Ten fees,
one after another, did the Man take
who sent _him_ out of the World.--
I beseech you M^r Parker, no Doctors
here.”--The Tea things were brought
in.--“Oh! my dear M^{rs} Parker--you
should not indeed--why would you do
( 82 )
so? I was just upon the point of
wishing you good Evening. But since
you are so very neighbourly, I beleive
Miss Clara & I must stay.”----
( 83 )