Jane Austen

“ It was not a week, since Miss Diana Parker had been told by her feelings, that the Sea Air wd probably in her present state, be the death of her, and now she was at Sanditon, intending to make some Stay, & without appearing to have the slightest recollection of having written or felt any such thing.—It was impossible for Charlotte not to suspect a good deal of fancy in such an extraordinary state of health.—Disorders & Recoveries so very much out of the common way, seemed more like the amusement of eager Minds in want of employment than of actual afflictions & releif. ”

“ We have entirely done with the whole Medical [p. 62] Tribe. We have consulted Physician after Phyn in vain, till we are quite convinced that they can do nothing for us & that we must trust to our own knowledge of our own wretched Constitutions for any releif.—But if you think it advisable for the interest of the Place, to get a Medical Man there, I will undertake the commission with pleasure, & have no doubt of succeeding.—I could soon put the necessary Irons in the fire.—As for getting to Sanditon myself, it is quite an Impossibility. ”

“ Some natural delicacy of Constitution in fact, with an unfortunate turn for Medecine, especially quack Medecine, had given them an early tendency at various times, to various Disorders;—the rest of their sufferings was from Fancy, the love of Distinction & the love of the Wonderful.—They had Charitable hearts & many amiable feelings—but a spirit of restless activity, & the glory [p. 131] of doing more than anybody else, had their share in every exertion of Benevolence—and there was Vanity in all they did, as well as in all they endured.—Mr & Mrs P. spent a great part of the Eveng at the Hotel ”

“ Oh! my dear Mary, merely a Joke of his. He pretends to advise me to make a Hospital of it. He pretends to laugh at my Improvements. Sidney says any thing you know. He has always said what he chose of & to us, all. Most Families have such a member among them I beleive Miss Heywood.—There is a someone in most families privileged by superior abilities or spirits to say anything.—In ours, it is Sidney; who is a very clever Young Man,—and with great powers of pleasing.—He lives too much in the World to be settled ”

“ Sir, I assure you, Sanditon is not a place——” “I do not mean to take exceptions to any place in particular Sir, answered Mr H.—I only think our Coast is too full of them altogether—But had we not better try to get you”——“Our Coast too full”—repeated Mr P.—On that point perhaps we may not totally disagree;—at least there are enough. Our Coast is abundant enough ”

“ They never left home, & they had a gratification in saying so.—But very far from wishing their Children to do the same, they were glad to promote their getting out into the World, as much as possible. They staid at home, that their Children might get out;—and while making that home extremely comfortable, welcomed every change [p. 28] from it which could give useful connections or respectable acquaintance to Sons or Daughters. When Mr & Mrs Parker therefore ceased from soliciting a family-visit, and bounded their veiws to carrying back one Daughter with them, no difficulties were started. ”

“ The road to Sanditon H. was a broad, handsome, planted approach, between fields, & conducting at the end of a qr of a mile through second Gates into the Grounds, which though not extensive had all the Beauty & Respectability which an abundance of very fine Timber could give.—These [p. 167] Entrance Gates were so much in a corner of the Grounds or Paddock, so near one of its Boundaries, that an outside fence was at first almost pressing on the road—till an angle here, & a curve there threw them to a better distance. ”

“ In ascending, they passed the Lodge-Gates of Sanditon House, & saw the [p. 54] top of the House itself among its Groves. It was the last Building of former Days in that line of the Parish. A little higher up, the Modern began; & in crossing the Down, a Prospect House, a Bellevue Cottage, & a Denham Place were to be looked at by Charlotte with the calmness of amused Curiosity, & by Mr P. with the eager eye which hoped to see scarcely any empty houses.—More Bills at the Window than he had calculated on;—and a smaller shew of company on the Hill—Fewer Carriages, fewer Walkers. ”

“ Susan never eats I grant you—& just at present I shall want nothing; [p. 127] I never eat for about a week after a Journey—but as for Arthur, he is only too much disposed for Food. We are often obliged to check him.”—“But you have not told me any thing of the other Family coming to Sanditon, said Mr P. as he walked with her to the door of the House—the Camberwell Seminary; have we a good chance of them?” “Oh! Certain—quite certain.—I had forgotten them for the moment, but I had a letter 3 days ago from my friend Mrs Charles Dupuis which assured me of Camberwell. ”

“ And what good can such people do anybody?—except just as they take our empty Houses—and (between ourselves) I think they are great fools for not staying at home. Now, if we could get a young Heiress to be sent here for her health— (and if she was ordered to drink asses milk I could supply her) —and as soon as she got well, have her fall in love with Sir Edward!”—“That would be very fortunate indeed.” “And Miss Esther must marry somebody of fortune too—She must get a rich Husband. ”

“ Denham, said Charlotte, with such personal Advantages may be almost sure of getting a Woman of fortune, if he chuses it.”—This glorious sentiment seemed quite to remove suspicion. “Aye my Dear—That’s very sensibly said cried Lady D— And if we cd but get a young Heiress to S! But Heiresses are monstrous scarce! I do not think we have had an Heiress here, or even a Co—since Sanditon has been a public place. Families come after Families, but as far as [p. 100] I can learn, it is not one in an hundred of them that have any real Property, Landed or Funded.—An Income perhaps, but no Property. ”

“ But she is a goodnatured Woman, a very goodnatured Woman,—a very obliging, friendly Neighbour; a chearful, independant, valuable character.—and her faults may be entirely imputed to her want of Education. She has good natural Sense, but quite uncultivated.—She has a fine active mind, as well as a fine healthy frame for a Woman of 70, & enters into the improvement of Sanditon with a spirit truly admirable—though now & then, a Littleness will appear. ”

“ She was his rival in Lady D.’s favour, she was young, lovely & dependant.—He had very early seen the necessity of the case, & had now been long trying with cautious assiduity to make an impression on her heart, and to undermine her Principles.—Clara saw through him, & had not the least intention of being seduced—but she bore with him patiently enough to confirm the sort of attachment which her personal [p. 112] Charms had raised.—A greater degree of discouragement indeed would not have affected Sir Edw:—. ”

“ Decencies of Life;—nor can you, loveliest Miss Heywood— (speaking with an air of deep sentiment) —nor can any Woman be a fair Judge of what a Man may be propelled to say, write or do, by the sovereign impulses of illimitable Ardour.” This was very fine;—but if Charlotte understood it at all, not very moral—& being moreover by no means pleased with his extraordinary stile of compliment, she gravely answered “I really know nothing of the matter.—This is a charming day. The Wind I fancy must be Southerly.” ”

“ She talked however, the whole Evening as incessantly as Diana—& excepting that she sat with salts in her hand, took Drops two or three times from one, out of the several Phials already at home on the Mantlepeice,—& made a great many odd faces & contortions, Charlotte could perceive no symptoms of illness which she, in the boldness of her own good health, wd not have undertaken to [p. 133] cure, by putting out the fire, opening the Window, & disposing of the Drops & the salts by means of one or the other. She had had considerable curiosity to see Mr Arthur Parker ”

“ Though I dare say Sidney might find something extremely entertaining in this Letter & make us laugh for half an hour together I declare I by myself, can see nothing in it but what is either very pitiable or very creditable.—With all their sufferings, you perceive how much they are occupied in promoting [p. 65] the Good of others!—So anxious for Sanditon! Two large Families—One, for Prospect House probably, the other, for No 2. Denham Place—or the end house of the Terrace,—& extra Beds at the Hotel.—I told you my Sisters were excellent Women, Miss H——. ”

“ His Spirits rose with the very sight of the Sea & he cd almost feel his Ancle getting stronger already.—Trafalgar House, on the most elevated spot on the Down was a light elegant Building, standing in a small Lawn with a very young plantation round it, about an hundred yards from the brow of a steep, but not very lofty Cliff—and the nearest to it, of every Building, excepting one short row of smart-looking Houses, called the Terrace, with a broad walk in front, aspiring to be the Mall of the Place. ”

“ Many a respectable Family, many a careful Mother, many a pretty Daughter, might it secure us, to the prejudice of E. Bourne & Hastings.”—They were now approaching the Church & neat village of Sanditon, which stood at the foot of the Hill they were afterwards to ascend—a Hill, whose side was covered with the Woods & enclosures of Sanditon House and whose Height ended in an open Down where the new Buildgs might soon be looked for. ”

“ Camberwell will be here to a certainty, & very soon.—That good Woman (I do not know her name) not being so wealthy & independant as Mrs G.— can travel & chuse for herself.—I will tell you how I got at her. Mrs Charles Dupuis lives almost next door to a Lady, who has a relation lately settled [p. 128] at Clapham, who actually attends the Seminary and gives lessons on Eloquence and Belles Lettres to some of the Girls.—I got that Man a Hare from one of Sidney’s friends—and he recommended Sanditon;—Without my appearing however—Mrs Charles Dupuis managed it all. ”

“ She wanted to have the Place fill faster, & seemed to have many harassing apprehensions of the Lodgings being in some instances underlet.—Miss Diana Parker’s two large Families were not forgotten. “Very good, very good, said her Ladyship.—A West Indy Family & a school. That sounds well. That will bring Money.”—“No people spend more freely, I beleive, than W. [p. 78] Indians.” observed Mr Parker.—“Aye—so I have heard—and because they have full Purses, fancy themselves equal, may be, to your old Country Families. ”

“ The acquaintance, thus oddly begun, was neither short nor unimportant. For a whole fortnight the Travellors were fixed at Willingden; Mr. P.’s sprain proving too serious for him to move sooner.—He had fallen into very good hands. The Heywoods were a thoroughly respectable family, & every possible attention was paid in the kindest & most unpretending manner, to both Husband & wife. ”

“ The reason of this hesitation, was her having no connections in the place, & no means of ascertaining [p. 121] that she should have good accomodations on arriving there;—and she was particularly careful & scrupulous on all those matters more on account of a certain Miss Lambe a young Lady (probably a Neice) under her care, than on her own account or her Daughters.—Miss Lambe has an immense fortune—richer than all the rest—& very delicate health.—One sees clearly enough by all this, the sort of Woman Mrs G. must be—as helpless & indolent, as Wealth & a Hot Climate are apt to make us. ”

“ I have given it up you know to the Man who occupies the cheif of my Land. He gets a better House by it—& I, a rather better situation!—one other Hill brings us to Sanditon—modern Sanditon—a beautiful Spot.—Our Ancestors, you know always built in a hole.—Here were we, pent down in this little contracted Nook, without Air or Veiw, only one mile & 3 qrs from the noblest expanse of Ocean between the South foreland & the Land’s end, & without the smallest advantage from it. ”

“ I shall not know what to say.”—“My dear Mary, cried he, it is impossible you can be really at a loss. Nothing can be more simple. You have only to state the present afflicted situation of the family, their earnest application to me, & my being willing to promote a little subscription for [p. 161] their releif, provided it meet with her approbation.—” “The easiest thing in the World—cried Miss Diana Parker who happened to be calling on them at the moment—. ”

“ Poor Mr Parker got no more credit from Lady D. than he had from his Sisters, for the Object which had taken him to Willingden. “Lord! my dear Sir, she cried, how could you think of such a thing? I am very sorry you met with your accident, but upon my word you deserved it.—Going after a Doctor!—Why, what shd we do with a Doctor here? It wd be only encouraging our Servants & the Poor to fancy themselves [p. 81] ill, if there was a Dr at hand.—Oh! pray, let us have none of the Tribe at Sanditon. We go on very well as we are. ”

“ They hold forth the most splendid Portraitures of high Conceptions, Unbounded Veiws, illimitable Ardour, indomptible Decision—and even when the Event is mainly anti-prosperous to the high-toned Machinations of the prime Character, the potent, pervading Hero of the Story, it leaves us full of Generous Emotions for him;—our Hearts are paralized—. ”