[Mansfield Park by Jane Austen]@TWC D-Link bookMansfield Park CHAPTER VIII 9/13
She had none of Fanny's delicacy of taste, of mind, of feeling; she saw Nature, inanimate Nature, with little observation; her attention was all for men and women, her talents for the light and lively.
In looking back after Edmund, however, when there was any stretch of road behind them, or when he gained on them in ascending a considerable hill, they were united, and a "there he is" broke at the same moment from them both, more than once. For the first seven miles Miss Bertram had very little real comfort: her prospect always ended in Mr.Crawford and her sister sitting side by side, full of conversation and merriment; and to see only his expressive profile as he turned with a smile to Julia, or to catch the laugh of the other, was a perpetual source of irritation, which her own sense of propriety could but just smooth over.
When Julia looked back, it was with a countenance of delight, and whenever she spoke to them, it was in the highest spirits: "her view of the country was charming, she wished they could all see it," etc.; but her only offer of exchange was addressed to Miss Crawford, as they gained the summit of a long hill, and was not more inviting than this: "Here is a fine burst of country.
I wish you had my seat, but I dare say you will not take it, let me press you ever so much;" and Miss Crawford could hardly answer before they were moving again at a good pace. When they came within the influence of Sotherton associations, it was better for Miss Bertram, who might be said to have two strings to her bow.
She had Rushworth feelings, and Crawford feelings, and in the vicinity of Sotherton the former had considerable effect.
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