the hall door, were given with genuine satisfaction. Mr.
Yates had staid to see the destruction of every theatrical preparation at
Mansfield, the removal of every thing appertaining to the play; he left the
house in all the soberness of its general character; and Sir Thomas hoped, in
seeing him out of it, to be rid of the worst object connected with the scheme,
and the last that must be inevitably reminding him of its existence.
    Mrs. Norris contrived to remove one article from his sight that might have
distressed him. The curtain over which she had presided with such talent and
such success, went off with her to her cottage, where she happened to be
particularly in want of green baize.
 

                                  Chapter III

Sir Thomas's return made a striking change in the ways of the family,
independent of Lovers' Vows. Under his government, Mansfield was an altered
place. Some members of their society sent away and the spirits of many others
saddened, it was all sameness and gloom, compared with the past; a sombre
family-party rarely enlivened. There was little intercourse with the Parsonage.
Sir Thomas drawing back from intimacies in general, was particularly
disinclined, at this time, for any engagements but in one quarter. The
Rushworths were the only addition to his own domestic circle which he could
solicit.
    Edmund did not wonder that such should be his father's feelings, nor could
he regret any thing but the exclusion of the Grants. »But they,« he observed to
Fanny, »have a claim. They seem to belong to us - they seem to be part of
ourselves. I could wish my father were more sensible of their very great
attention to my mother and sisters while he was away. I am afraid they may feel
themselves neglected. But the truth is that my father hardly knows them. They
had not been here a twelvemonth when he left England. If he knew them better, he
would value their society as it deserves, for they are in fact exactly the sort
of people he would like. We are sometimes a little in want of animation among
ourselves; my sisters seem out of spirits, and Tom is certainly not at his ease.
Dr. and Mrs. Grant would enliven us, and make our evenings pass away with more
enjoyment even to my father.«
    »Do you think so?« said Fanny. »In my opinion, my uncle would not like any
addition. I think he values the very quietness you speak of, and that the repose
of his own family-circle is all he wants. And it