inhale a
breeze of mental strength herself. But she had more than fears of her own
perseverance to remove; she had begun to feel undecided as to what she ought to
do; and as she walked round the room her doubts were increasing. Was she right
in refusing what was so warmly asked, so strongly wished for? what might be so
essential to a scheme on which some of those to whom she owed the greatest
complaisance, had set their hearts? Was it not ill-nature - selfishness - and a
fear of exposing herself? And would Edmund's judgment, would his persuasion of
Sir Thomas's disapprobation of the whole, be enough to justify her in a
determined denial in spite of all the rest? It would be so horrible to her to
act, that she was inclined to suspect the truth and purity of her own scruples,
and as she looked around her, the claims of her cousins to being obliged, were
strengthened by the sight of present upon present that she had received from
them. The table between the windows was covered with work-boxes and
netting-boxes, which had been given her at different times, principally by Tom;
and she grew bewildered as to the amount of the debt which all these kind
remembrances produced. A tap at the door roused her in the midst of this attempt
to find her way to her duty, and her gentle come in, was answered by the
appearance of one, before whom all her doubts were wont to be laid. Her eyes
brightened at the sight of Edmund.
    »Can I speak with you, Fanny, for a few minutes?« said he.
    »Yes, certainly.«
    »I want to consult. I want your opinion.«
    »My opinion!« she cried, shrinking from such a compliment, highly as it
gratified her.
    »Yes, your advice and opinion. I do not know what to do. This acting scheme
gets worse and worse you see. They have chosen almost as bad a play as they
could; and now, to complete the business, are going to ask the help of a young
man very slightly known to any of us. This is the end of all the privacy and
propriety which was talked about at first. I know no harm of Charles Maddox; but
the excessive intimacy which must spring from his being admitted among us in
this manner, is highly objectionable, the more than intimacy - the familiarity.
I cannot think of it with any patience - and it does appear to me an evil of
such magnitude as must, if possible,