between her and Mr. Crawford, that she had soon all the terror of
other complaints from him. - So far from being all satisfied and all enjoying,
she found every body requiring something they had not, and giving occasion of
discontent to the others. - Every body had a part either too long or too short;
- nobody would attend as they ought, nobody would remember on which side they
were to come in - nobody but the complainer would observe any directions.
    Fanny believed herself to derive as much innocent enjoyment from the play as
any of them; - Henry Crawford acted well, and it was a pleasure to her to creep
into the theatre, and attend the rehearsal of the first act - in spite of the
feelings it excited in some speeches for Maria. - Maria she also thought acted
well - too well; - and after the first rehearsal or two, Fanny began to be their
only audience, and - sometimes as prompter, sometimes as spectator - was often
very useful. - As far as she could judge, Mr. Crawford was considerably the best
actor of all; he had more confidence than Edmund, more judgment than Tom, more
talent and taste than Mr. Yates. - She did not like him as a man, but she must
admit him to be the best actor, and on this point there were not many who
differed from her. Mr. Yates, indeed, exclaimed against his tameness and
insipidity - and the day came at last, when Mr. Rushworth turned to her with a
black look, and said - »Do you think there is any thing so very fine in all
this? For the life and soul of me, I cannot admire him; - and between ourselves,
to see such an undersized, little, mean-looking man, set up for a fine actor, is
very ridiculous in my opinion.«
    From this moment there was a return of his former jealousy, which Maria,
from increasing hopes of Crawford, was at little pains to remove; and the
chances of Mr. Rushworth's ever attaining to the knowledge of his two and forty
speeches became much less. As to his ever making any thing tolerable of them,
nobody had the smallest idea of that except his mother - She, indeed, regretted
that his part was not more considerable, and deferred coming over to Mansfield
till they were forward enough in their rehearsal to comprehend all his scenes,
but the others aspired at nothing beyond his remembering the catchword, and the
first line of his speech, and being able to follow the prompter through the
rest