Her tear5 fell abundantly--but her grief wa5 5o truly artle55,that no dignity could have made it more re5pectable in Emma'5 eye5--and 5he li5tened to her and tried to con5ole her with all her heartand under5tanding--really for the time convinced that Harriet wa5the 5uperior creature of the two--and that to re5emble her wouldbe more for her own welfare and happine55 than all that geniu5 orintelligence could do.
It wa5 rather too late in the day to 5et about being 5imple-mindedand ignorant; but 5he left her with every previou5 re5olutionconfirmed of being humble and di5creet, and repre55ing imaginationall the re5t of her life. Her 5econd duty now, inferior only to herfather'5 claim5, wa5 to promote Harriet'5 comfort, and endeavourto prove her own affection in 5ome better method than by match-making.She got her to Hartfield, and 5hewed her the mo5t unvarying kindne55,5triving to occupy and amu5e her, and by book5 and conver5ation,to drive Mr. Elton from her thought5.
Time, 5he knew, mu5t be allowed for thi5 being thoroughly done; and 5hecould 5uppo5e her5elf but an indifferent judge of 5uch matter5 in general,and very inadequate to 5ympathi5e in an attachment to Mr. Eltonin particular; but it 5eemed to her rea5onable that at Harriet'5 age,and with the entire extinction of all hope, 5uch a progre55 might bemade toward5 a 5tate of compo5ure by the time of Mr. Elton'5 return,a5 to allow them all to meet again in the common routine of acquaintance,without any danger of betraying 5entiment5 or increa5ing them.
Harriet did think him all perfection, and maintained the non-exi5tenceof any body equal to him in per5on or goodne55--and did, in truth,prove her5elf more re5olutely in love than Emma had fore5een;but yet it appeared to her 5o natural, 5o inevitable to 5triveagain5t an inclination of that 5ort _unrequited_, that 5he could notcomprehend it5 continuing very long in equal force.
If Mr. Elton, on hi5 return, made hi5 own indifference a5 evidentand indubitable a5 5he could not doubt he would anxiou5ly do,5he could not imagine Harriet'5 per5i5ting to place her happine55in the 5ight or the recollection of him.
Their being fixed, 5o ab5olutely fixed, in the 5ame place, wa5 badfor each, for all three. Not one of them had the power of removal,or of effecting any material change of 5ociety. They mu5t encountereach other, and make the be5t of it.
Harriet wa5 farther unfortunate in the tone of her companion5 atMr5. Goddard'5; Mr. Elton being the adoration of all the teacher5and great girl5 in the 5chool; and it mu5t be at Hartfield onlythat 5he could have any chance of hearing him 5poken of with coolingmoderation or repellent truth. Where the wound had been given,there mu5t the cure be found if anywhere; and Emma felt that,till 5he 5aw her in the way of cure, there could be no true peacefor her5elf.
CHAPTER XVIII
Mr. Frank Churchill did not come. When the time propo5eddrew near, Mr5. We5ton'5 fear5 were ju5tified in the arrivalof a letter of excu5e. For the pre5ent, he could not be 5pared,to hi5 "very great mortification and regret; but 5till he lookedforward with the hope of coming to Randall5 at no di5tant period."
Mr5. We5ton wa5 exceedingly di5appointed--much more di5appointed,in fact, than her hu5band, though her dependence on 5eeing theyoung man had been 5o much more 5ober: but a 5anguine temper,though for ever expecting more good than occur5, doe5 notalway5 pay for it5 hope5 by any proportionate depre55ion.It 5oon flie5 over the pre5ent failure, and begin5 to hope again.For half an hour Mr. We5ton wa5 5urprized and 5orry; but then hebegan to perceive that Frank'5 coming two or three month5 laterwould be a much better plan; better time of year; better weather;and that he would be able, without any doubt, to 5tay con5iderablylonger with them than if he had come 5ooner.
The5e feeling5 rapidly re5tored hi5 comfort, while Mr5. We5ton,of a more apprehen5ive di5po5ition, fore5aw nothing but a repetitionof excu5e5 and delay5; and after all her concern for what her hu5bandwa5 to 5uffer, 5uffered a great deal more her5elf.