 conduct, between love and consistency, was equally unobservant; and Mrs.
Norris was too busy in contriving and directing the general little matters of
the company, superintending their various dresses with economical expedient, for
which nobody thanked her, and saving, with delighted integrity, half-a-crown
here and there to the absent Sir Thomas, to have leisure for watching the
behaviour, or guarding the happiness of his daughters.
 

                                 Chapter XVIII

Every thing was now in a regular train; theatre, actors, actresses, and dresses,
were all getting forward: but though no other great impediments arose, Fanny
found, before many days were past, that it was not all uninterrupted enjoyment
to the party themselves, and that she had not to witness the continuance of such
unanimity and delight, as had been almost too much for her at first. Every body
began to have their vexation. Edmund had many. Entirely against his judgment, a
scene painter arrived from town, and was at work, much to the increase of the
expenses, and what was worse, of the eclat of their proceedings; and his
brother, instead of being really guided by him as to the privacy of the
representation, was giving an invitation to every family who came in his way.
Tom himself began to fret over the scene painter's slow progress, and to feel
the miseries of waiting. He had learned his part - all his parts - for he took
every trifling one that could be united with the Butler, and began to be
impatient to be acting; and every day thus unemployed, was tending to increase
his sense of the insignificance of all his parts together, and make him more
ready to regret that some other play had not been chosen.
    Fanny, being always a very courteous listener, and often the only listener
at hand, came in for the complaints and distresses of most of them. She knew
that Mr. Yates was in general thought to rant dreadfully, that Mr. Yates was
disappointed in Henry Crawford, that Tom Bertram spoke so quick he would be
unintelligible, that Mrs. Grant spoilt every thing by laughing, that Edmund was
behind-hand with his part, and that it was misery to have any thing to do with
Mr. Rushworth, who was wanting a prompter through every speech. She knew, also,
that poor Mr. Rushworth could seldom get any body to rehearse with him; his
complaint came before her as well as the rest; and so decided to her eye was her
cousin Maria's avoidance of him, and so needlessly often the rehearsal of the
first scene
