Other opportunities of making her observations could not fail to occur.

Anne had soon been in company with all the four together often enough

to have an opinion, though too wise to acknowledge as much at home,

where she knew it would have satisfied neither husband nor wife; for

while she considered Louisa to be rather the favourite, she could not

but think, as far as she might dare to judge from memory and

experience, that Captain Wentworth was not in love with either. They

were more in love with him; yet there it was not love. It was a little

fever of admiration; but it might, probably must, end in love with

some. Charles Hayter seemed aware of being slighted, and yet Henrietta

had sometimes the air of being divided between them. Anne longed for

the power of representing to them all what they were about, and of

pointing out some of the evils they were exposing themselves to. She

did not attribute guile to any. It was the highest satisfaction to her

to believe Captain Wentworth not in the least aware of the pain he was

occasioning. There was no triumph, no pitiful triumph in his manner.

He had, probably, never heard, and never thought of any claims of

Charles Hayter. He was only wrong in accepting the attentions (for

accepting must be the word) of two young women at once.

After a short struggle, however, Charles Hayter seemed to quit the

field. Three days had passed without his coming once to Uppercross; a

most decided change. He had even refused one regular invitation to

dinner; and having been found on the occasion by Mr Musgrove with some

large books before him, Mr and Mrs Musgrove were sure all could not be

right, and talked, with grave faces, of his studying himself to death.

It was Mary's hope and belief that he had received a positive dismissal

from Henrietta, and her husband lived under the constant dependence of

seeing him to-morrow. Anne could only feel that Charles Hayter was

wise.

One morning, about this time Charles Musgrove and Captain Wentworth

being gone a-shooting together, as the sisters in the Cottage were

sitting quietly at work, they were visited at the window by the sisters

from the Mansion-house.

It was a very fine November day, and the Miss Musgroves came through

the little grounds, and stopped for no other purpose than to say, that

they were going to take a long walk, and therefore concluded Mary could

not like to go with them; and when Mary immediately replied, with some

jealousy at not being supposed a good walker, "Oh, yes, I should like

to join you very much, I am very fond of a long walk;" Anne felt

persuaded, by the looks of the two girls, that it was precisely what

they did not wish, and admired again the sort of necessity which the

family habits seemed to produce, of everything being to be

communicated, and everything being to be done together, however

undesired and inconvenient. She tried to dissuade Mary from going, but

in vain; and that being the case, thought it best to accept the Miss

Musgroves' much more cordial invitation to herself to go likewise, as

she might be useful in turning back with her sister, and lessening the

interference in any plan of their own.




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