neither smiled nor spoke.
Her next proposition, of shewing the house to such of them as had not been there
before, was more acceptable, for Miss Bertram was pleased to have its size
displayed, and all were glad to be doing something.
    The whole party rose accordingly, and under Mrs. Rushworth's guidance were
shewn through a number of rooms, all lofty, and many large, and amply furnished
in the taste of fifty years back, with shining floors, solid mahogany, rich
damask, marble, gilding and carving, each handsome in its way. Of pictures there
were abundance, and some few good, but the larger part were family portraits, no
longer any thing to any body but Mrs. Rushworth, who had been at great pains to
learn all that the housekeeper could teach, and was now almost equally well
qualified to shew the house. On the present occasion, she addressed herself
chiefly to Miss Crawford and Fanny, but there was no comparison in the
willingness of their attention, for Miss Crawford, who had seen scores of great
houses, and cared for none of them, had only the appearance of civilly
listening, while Fanny, to whom every thing was almost as interesting as it was
new, attended with unaffected earnestness to all that Mrs. Rushworth could
relate of the family in former times, its rise and grandeur, regal visits and
loyal efforts, delighted to connect any thing with history already known, or
warm her imagination with scenes of the past.
    The situation of the house excluded the possibility of much prospect from
any of the rooms, and while Fanny and some of the others were attending Mrs.
Rushworth, Henry Crawford was looking grave and shaking his head at the windows.
Every room on the west front looked across a lawn to the beginning of the avenue
immediately beyond tall iron palisades and gates.
    Having visited many more rooms than could be supposed to be of any other use
than to contribute to the window tax, and find employment for housemaids, »Now,«
said Mrs. Rushworth, »we are coming to the chapel, which properly we ought to
enter from above, and look down upon; but as we are quite among friends, I will
take you in this way, if you will excuse me.«
    They entered. Fanny's imagination had prepared her for something grander
than a mere, spacious, oblong room, fitted up for the purpose of devotion - with
nothing more striking or more solemn than the profusion of mahogany, and the
crimson velvet cushions appearing over the ledge of the family gallery above. »I
am