Old friends and new fancies

by Sybil G. Brinton

"July.

"My Dear Georgiana,

"I make no apology for not writing, for you know what it is like here the first few days, so much to see, and Jane wanting me all the time, besides, you have all the news, now that I have left London there is nothing for me to relate. I received your letter from Mrs. Annesley's, but pray write again as soon as you possibly can and tell me if you have seen anything of Mr. P——. I was so enchanted to hear Miss Bingley ask him to call, as it meant I should hear of him from you. He stayed on quite a long time at the ball, and Mrs. Knightley told me he thanked her in such a particular and unmistakable way when he said good-night! I forgot to ask you, do you not think he dances exquisitely? I have never worn that rose-coloured gown since. How I long for November! What shall I do if he is prevented? I cannot describe how thankful I am that I did not go with Lydia to the West Indies. I have seen Mr. Morland, whom you told me of, a great many times; indeed, he spends half his time here, as Jane and Bingley are very fond of him. He is very pleasant, considering he is a clergyman. He is laying out his garden at the Rectory afresh, and Jane is giving him a quantity of plants, so we go down there frequently to help him to put them in. Now I must conclude, as Mr. Morland is coming to take me out in a boat on the lake. It will be very amusing, as I have never been able to get near enough to the water-lilies to gather them, but as I say to Mr. Morland, we can neither of us swim, and what will happen then? Jane sends you many messages.

"Your affectionate friend."

A postscript on another page added: "Mrs. K. says that Mr. P. is likely to be made commander very soon. I hope he will not be, for he would have to join the ship immediately, but would not Captain Price sound well?"

Captain Price sounded very well; even Georgiana could not help thinking so, as she smiled over Kitty's artless question, which resented the promotion while it welcomed the title. This letter, too, was just what might have been expected; Kitty was nursing her attachment in the country just as she had nursed it in town, and Georgiana was called upon to supply it with nourishment. She would have to wait until after she had seen Mr. Price to know whether any was forthcoming.

Mrs. Hurst's dinner-party took place, and closely resembled every other function of the same kind in fashionable houses, being very long, very correct and very sumptuous. Georgiana wished that Louisa would place her next to Mr. Price, but this was not done, and accordingly, though he walked straight towards her after having spoken to his host and hostesses, he had scarcely inquired after her health before he was drawn away to be introduced to his dinner partner, while Georgiana was accosted by hers, a certain Captain Wentworth whom, with his wife, she had met in Bath the year before. The Wentworths went there regularly, and the friendship which existed between them and the Darcy family had been renewed there in the previous April. On one occasion, when they had all happened to be in town together, Elizabeth had introduced the Wentworths to Mrs. Hurst, and the result had been a liking on the part of that lady stronger than with her cold and narrow disposition she was usually inclined to form. The liking was not, perhaps, quite so heartily returned, but Captain Wentworth was sociable and enjoyed mixing with the world, and Anne's tender solicitude for him caused her to accept willingly any invitations likely to procure him amusement, both at Winchester, where they lived, and in the course of their frequent visits to town.

Captain Wentworth well remembered Mr. and Mrs. Darcy's shy, handsome sister, and prepared for a pleasant evening when he found in her less of the former quality, and even more than she had used to possess of the latter. On her other side was seated the alarming Mr. Knightley, and Georgiana was glad to find she had at all events one companion so conversable as Captain Wentworth, who belonged to the profession she was most interested in, even though he was not the representative of it which she would have chosen.

Their talk was lively, for Captain Wentworth had the art of treating subjects amusingly, and of drawing from his companion professions of opinion which she had not till then known herself to hold. Somehow or other they had drifted on to the topic of inconsistency in sailors, and Captain Wentworth gravely undertook their defence against this charge.

"I assure you, Miss Darcy, it is a great mistake, made only because people are unacquainted with our true character. It is of long standing, but a fallacy just as much as many other accepted fallacies—for instance, that parrots always talk bad language, that ladies cannot keep accounts, that the King can do no wrong, etc."