Surprise was the strongest emotion raised by their appearance; but Anne

was really glad to see them; and the others were not so sorry but that

they could put on a decent air of welcome; and as soon as it became

clear that these, their nearest relations, were not arrived with any

views of accommodation in that house, Sir Walter and Elizabeth were

able to rise in cordiality, and do the honours of it very well. They

were come to Bath for a few days with Mrs Musgrove, and were at the

White Hart. So much was pretty soon understood; but till Sir Walter

and Elizabeth were walking Mary into the other drawing-room, and

regaling themselves with her admiration, Anne could not draw upon

Charles's brain for a regular history of their coming, or an

explanation of some smiling hints of particular business, which had

been ostentatiously dropped by Mary, as well as of some apparent

confusion as to whom their party consisted of.

She then found that it consisted of Mrs Musgrove, Henrietta, and

Captain Harville, beside their two selves. He gave her a very plain,

intelligible account of the whole; a narration in which she saw a great

deal of most characteristic proceeding. The scheme had received its

first impulse by Captain Harville's wanting to come to Bath on

business. He had begun to talk of it a week ago; and by way of doing

something, as shooting was over, Charles had proposed coming with him,

and Mrs Harville had seemed to like the idea of it very much, as an

advantage to her husband; but Mary could not bear to be left, and had

made herself so unhappy about it, that for a day or two everything

seemed to be in suspense, or at an end. But then, it had been taken up

by his father and mother. His mother had some old friends in Bath whom

she wanted to see; it was thought a good opportunity for Henrietta to

come and buy wedding-clothes for herself and her sister; and, in short,

it ended in being his mother's party, that everything might be

comfortable and easy to Captain Harville; and he and Mary were included

in it by way of general convenience. They had arrived late the night

before. Mrs Harville, her children, and Captain Benwick, remained with

Mr Musgrove and Louisa at Uppercross.

Anne's only surprise was, that affairs should be in forwardness enough

for Henrietta's wedding-clothes to be talked of. She had imagined such

difficulties of fortune to exist there as must prevent the marriage

from being near at hand; but she learned from Charles that, very

recently, (since Mary's last letter to herself), Charles Hayter had

been applied to by a friend to hold a living for a youth who could not

possibly claim it under many years; and that on the strength of his

present income, with almost a certainty of something more permanent

long before the term in question, the two families had consented to the

young people's wishes, and that their marriage was likely to take place

in a few months, quite as soon as Louisa's. "And a very good living it

was," Charles added: "only five-and-twenty miles from Uppercross, and

in a very fine country: fine part of Dorsetshire. In the centre of

some of the best preserves in the kingdom, surrounded by three great

proprietors, each more careful and jealous than the other; and to two

of the three at least, Charles Hayter might get a special

recommendation. Not that he will value it as he ought," he observed,

"Charles is too cool about sporting. That's the worst of him."




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