brother-in-law: Emma knew him as indiscreet, and paused, thinking back on those matters, not secret but not in need of an airing, either, which had constituted her past life at Hartfield.
âDo not be concerned, please, Mrs. Knightley â I have brought a frown to your lovely face and I must wait until it is gone before I continue to draw it,â cried the Captain, laying down the crayon. âBe assured thatinstinct guides me, not tittle-tattle: I saw you by the door of a simple house in the street at Highbury â at Miss Batesâs. There, I have said it. I saw your degree of concern for others, your desire that lives not blessed as yours has been should not founder on the rocks of poverty or misfortune.â
âIndeed it is so,â said Emma sighing; and she could not help herself from reflecting that Captain Brocklehurst was very handsome â more handsome, by far, than Mr. Churchill, there was no denying it. That he was more sensible also to the efforts made by Emma to assist those with fewer advantages than herself only caused an increase in the good looks of the new visitor to Randalls. It was a pity, a very great pity, came the next thought, that Captain Brocklehurst could not be invited to the dinner at Donwell Abbey â an occasion in which Emma had lost all interest, since the evident mutual dislike of John Knightley and Miss Fairfax. The whole party was a grave mistake. If Mr. Knightley had permitted it, she would have found a reason to cancel the evening altogether.
âThe frown of the goddess does not diminish,â said the Captain softly. âThere are too many responsibilities, on such slender shoulders. Shall we walk in the beech woods? Now your companion has fled, may I accompany you to the Abbey?â
Emma shook her head, but rose nevertheless andmade her way down the winding path in the shrubbery towards the house. As she went, a teasing, happy, rebellious jig burst out of the drawing-room windows; and she halted. The Captain soon caught up with her. âThose will be the melodies Miss Fairfaxâs friend has brought with her. She was in exile in Switzerland â so she informed Mrs. Elton. A very dramatic life indeed, so I understand â and still so young!â
Emma, who often reflected that her life lacked drama in the extreme, stopped again, and turned to look up at the Captain, giving him a demure glance.
âBut the style of her life ⦠her adventures in wild lands ⦠has told on her,â said Captain Brocklehurst in a grave tone. âShe has not the freshness â the incomparable lovelinessââ He broke off; it was too evident he referred to Emma. Blushing at her determination to extract a further compliment from him, she walked on.
âLet me say, dear Mrs. Knightley, that Frank is devastated by the fate of Miss Fairfax.â
Emma felt, for a moment, the brush of the Captainâs fingers against her hand: to disguise her knowledge of it, she pulled a head of lavender from the low hedge by the path and lifted it to her nostrils. She had not wished to speak of the scandal of Highbury â as it remained, even after four years. But she had a strong sense at that moment that there would be a scandal this summer, which would make the jilt of Miss Fairfax by FrankChurchill a small misdemeanour of the past. What this would be, she could not say; but, standing now by the tall yew at the side of Hartfield, and with a waltz floating out from the windows beyond, her sense was that here and now was the beginning of the imbroglio: it was to do with the music, and the strong scent of lavender, and the sudden feeling that freedom lay somewhere in the future, even if she had not known how to embrace it in the past.
âMy sister was as good as ordered by our father to marry Frank,â continued the Captain. âI have a duty to tell you this, Mrs. Knightley, for you have Miss Fairfaxâs interests at heart, I know. It must
âDo not be concerned, please, Mrs. Knightley â I have brought a frown to your lovely face and I must wait until it is gone before I continue to draw it,â cried the Captain, laying down the crayon. âBe assured thatinstinct guides me, not tittle-tattle: I saw you by the door of a simple house in the street at Highbury â at Miss Batesâs. There, I have said it. I saw your degree of concern for others, your desire that lives not blessed as yours has been should not founder on the rocks of poverty or misfortune.â
âIndeed it is so,â said Emma sighing; and she could not help herself from reflecting that Captain Brocklehurst was very handsome â more handsome, by far, than Mr. Churchill, there was no denying it. That he was more sensible also to the efforts made by Emma to assist those with fewer advantages than herself only caused an increase in the good looks of the new visitor to Randalls. It was a pity, a very great pity, came the next thought, that Captain Brocklehurst could not be invited to the dinner at Donwell Abbey â an occasion in which Emma had lost all interest, since the evident mutual dislike of John Knightley and Miss Fairfax. The whole party was a grave mistake. If Mr. Knightley had permitted it, she would have found a reason to cancel the evening altogether.
âThe frown of the goddess does not diminish,â said the Captain softly. âThere are too many responsibilities, on such slender shoulders. Shall we walk in the beech woods? Now your companion has fled, may I accompany you to the Abbey?â
Emma shook her head, but rose nevertheless andmade her way down the winding path in the shrubbery towards the house. As she went, a teasing, happy, rebellious jig burst out of the drawing-room windows; and she halted. The Captain soon caught up with her. âThose will be the melodies Miss Fairfaxâs friend has brought with her. She was in exile in Switzerland â so she informed Mrs. Elton. A very dramatic life indeed, so I understand â and still so young!â
Emma, who often reflected that her life lacked drama in the extreme, stopped again, and turned to look up at the Captain, giving him a demure glance.
âBut the style of her life ⦠her adventures in wild lands ⦠has told on her,â said Captain Brocklehurst in a grave tone. âShe has not the freshness â the incomparable lovelinessââ He broke off; it was too evident he referred to Emma. Blushing at her determination to extract a further compliment from him, she walked on.
âLet me say, dear Mrs. Knightley, that Frank is devastated by the fate of Miss Fairfax.â
Emma felt, for a moment, the brush of the Captainâs fingers against her hand: to disguise her knowledge of it, she pulled a head of lavender from the low hedge by the path and lifted it to her nostrils. She had not wished to speak of the scandal of Highbury â as it remained, even after four years. But she had a strong sense at that moment that there would be a scandal this summer, which would make the jilt of Miss Fairfax by FrankChurchill a small misdemeanour of the past. What this would be, she could not say; but, standing now by the tall yew at the side of Hartfield, and with a waltz floating out from the windows beyond, her sense was that here and now was the beginning of the imbroglio: it was to do with the music, and the strong scent of lavender, and the sudden feeling that freedom lay somewhere in the future, even if she had not known how to embrace it in the past.
âMy sister was as good as ordered by our father to marry Frank,â continued the Captain. âI have a duty to tell you this, Mrs. Knightley, for you have Miss Fairfaxâs interests at heart, I know. It must
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