Sense and Sensibility

o sooner was her answer dispatched, than Mrs. Dashwood indulged
herself in the pleasure of announcing to her son-in-law and his wife
that she was provided with a house, and should incommode them no longer
than till every thing were ready for her inhabiting it. They heard her
with surprise. Mrs. John Dashwood said nothing; but her husband civilly
hoped that she would not be settled far from Norland. She had great
satisfaction in replying that she was going into Devonshire.—Edward
turned hastily towards her, on hearing this, and, in a voice of
surprise and concern, which required no explanation to her, repeated,
“Devonshire! Are you, indeed, going there? So far from hence! And to
what part of it?” She explained the situation. It was within four miles
northward of Exeter.

“It is but a cottage,” she continued, “but I hope to see many of my
friends in it. A room or two can easily be added; and if my friends
find no difficulty in travelling so far to see me, I am sure I will
find none in accommodating them.”

She concluded with a very kind invitation to Mr. and Mrs. John Dashwood
to visit her at Barton; and to Edward she gave one with still greater
affection. Though her late conversation with her daughter-in-law had
made her resolve on remaining at Norland no longer than was
unavoidable, it had not produced the smallest effect on her in that
point to which it principally tended. To separate Edward and Elinor was
as far from being her object as ever; and she wished to show Mrs. John
Dashwood, by this pointed invitation to her brother, how totally she
disregarded her disapprobation of the match.

Mr. John Dashwood told his mother again and again how exceedingly sorry
he was that she had taken a house at such a distance from Norland as to
prevent his being of any service to her in removing her furniture. He
really felt conscientiously vexed on the occasion; for the very
exertion to which he had limited the performance of his promise to his
father was by this arrangement rendered impracticable.—The furniture
was all sent around by water. It chiefly consisted of household linen,
plate, china, and books, with a handsome pianoforte of Marianne’s. Mrs.
John Dashwood saw the packages depart with a sigh: she could not help
feeling it hard that as Mrs. Dashwood’s income would be so trifling in
comparison with their own, she should have any handsome article of
furniture.

Mrs. Dashwood took the house for a twelvemonth; it was ready furnished,
and she might have immediate possession. No difficulty arose on either
side in the agreement; and she waited only for the disposal of her
effects at Norland, and to determine her future household, before she
set off for the west; and this, as she was exceedingly rapid in the
performance of everything that interested her, was soon done.—The
horses which were left her by her husband had been sold soon after his
death, and an opportunity now offering of disposing of her carriage,
she agreed to sell that likewise at the earnest advice of her eldest
daughter. For the comfort of her children, had she consulted only her
own wishes, she would have kept it; but the discretion of Elinor
prevailed. Her wisdom too limited the number of their servants to
three; two maids and a man, with whom they were speedily provided from
amongst those who had formed their establishment at Norland.

The man and one of the maids were sent off immediately into Devonshire,
to prepare the house for their mistress’s arrival; for as Lady
Middleton was entirely unknown to Mrs. Dashwood, she preferred going
directly to the cottage to being a visitor at Barton Park; and she
relied so undoubtingly on Sir John’s description of the house, as to
feel no curiosity to examine it herself till she entered it as her own.
Her eagerness to be gone from Norland was preserved from diminution by
the evident satisfaction of her daughter-in-law in the prospect of her
removal; a satisfaction which was but feebly attempted to be concealed
under a cold invitation to her to defer her departure. Now was the time
when her son-in-law’s promise to his father might with particular
propriety be fulfilled. Since he had neglected to do it on first coming
to the estate, their quitting his house might be looked on as the most
suitable period for its accomplishment. But Mrs. Dashwood began shortly
to give over every hope of the kind, and to be convinced, from the
general drift of his discourse, that his assistance extended no farther
than their maintenance for six months at Norland. He so frequently
talked of the increasing expenses of housekeeping, and of the perpetual
demands upon his purse, which a man of any consequence in the world was
beyond calculation exposed to, that he seemed rather to stand in need
of more money himself than to have any design of giving money away.

In a very few weeks from the day which brought Sir John Middleton’s
first letter to Norland, every thing was so far settled in their future
abode as to enable Mrs. Dashwood and her daughters to begin their
journey.

Many were the tears shed by them in their last adieus to a place so
much beloved. “Dear, dear Norland!” said Marianne, as she wandered
alone before the house, on the last evening of their being there; “when
shall I cease to regret you!—when learn to feel a home elsewhere!—Oh!
happy house, could you know what I suffer in now viewing you from this
spot, from whence perhaps I may view you no more!—And you, ye
well-known trees!—but you will continue the same.—No leaf will decay
because we are removed, nor any branch become motionless although we
can observe you no longer!—No; you will continue the same; unconscious
of the pleasure or the regret you occasion, and insensible of any
change in those who walk under your shade!—But who will remain to enjoy
you?”