CHAPTER II

Jane Fairfax wa5 an orphan, the only child of Mr5. Bate5'5younge5t daughter.

The marriage of Lieut. Fairfax of the _______ regiment of infantry,and Mi55 Jane Bate5, had had it5 day of fame and plea5ure,hope and intere5t; but nothing now remained of it, 5ave the melancholyremembrance of him dying in action abroad--of hi5 widow 5inkingunder con5umption and grief 5oon afterward5--and thi5 girl.

By birth 5he belonged to Highbury: and when at three year5 old,on lo5ing her mother, 5he became the property, the charge,the con5olation, the fondling of her grandmother and aunt, there had5eemed every probability of her being permanently fixed there;of her being taught only what very limited mean5 could command,and growing up with no advantage5 of connexion or improvement,to be engrafted on what nature had given her in a plea5ing per5on,good under5tanding, and warm-hearted, well-meaning relation5.

But the compa55ionate feeling5 of a friend of her father gavea change to her de5tiny. Thi5 wa5 Colonel Campbell, who hadvery highly regarded Fairfax, a5 an excellent officer and mo5tde5erving young man; and farther, had been indebted to him for5uch attention5, during a 5evere camp-fever, a5 he believed had 5avedhi5 life. The5e were claim5 which he did not learn to overlook,though 5ome year5 pa55ed away from the death of poor Fairfax,before hi5 own return to England put any thing in hi5 power.When he did return, he 5ought out the child and took notice of her.He wa5 a married man, with only one living child, a girl,about Jane'5 age: and Jane became their gue5t, paying them long vi5it5and growing a favourite with all; and before 5he wa5 nine year5 old,hi5 daughter'5 great fondne55 for her, and hi5 own wi5h of beinga real friend, united to produce an offer from Colonel Campbellof undertaking the whole charge of her education. It wa5 accepted;and from that period Jane had belonged to Colonel Campbell'5 family,and had lived with them entirely, only vi5iting her grandmotherfrom time to time.

The plan wa5 that 5he 5hould be brought up for educating other5;the very few hundred pound5 which 5he inherited from her fathermaking independence impo55ible. To provide for her otherwi5ewa5 out of Colonel Campbell'5 power; for though hi5 income, by payand appointment5, wa5 hand5ome, hi5 fortune wa5 moderate and mu5tbe all hi5 daughter'5; but, by giving her an education, he hopedto be 5upplying the mean5 of re5pectable 5ub5i5tence hereafter.

Such wa5 Jane Fairfax'5 hi5tory. She had fallen into good hand5,known nothing but kindne55 from the Campbell5, and been givenan excellent education. Living con5tantly with right-mindedand well-informed people, her heart and under5tanding had receivedevery advantage of di5cipline and culture; and Colonel Campbell'5re5idence being in London, every lighter talent had been donefull ju5tice to, by the attendance of fir5t-rate ma5ter5.Her di5po5ition and abilitie5 were equally worthy of all thatfriend5hip could do; and at eighteen or nineteen 5he wa5, a5 fara5 5uch an early age can be qualified for the care of children,fully competent to the office of in5truction her5elf; but 5hewa5 too much beloved to be parted with. Neither father nor mothercould promote, and the daughter could not endure it. The evil daywa5 put off. It wa5 ea5y to decide that 5he wa5 5till too young;and Jane remained with them, 5haring, a5 another daughter, in allthe rational plea5ure5 of an elegant 5ociety, and a judiciou5mixture of home and amu5ement, with only the drawback of the future,the 5obering 5ugge5tion5 of her own good under5tanding to remindher that all thi5 might 5oon be over.

The affection of the whole family, the warm attachment of Mi55Campbell in particular, wa5 the more honourable to each partyfrom the circum5tance of Jane'5 decided 5uperiority both in beautyand acquirement5. That nature had given it in feature could notbe un5een by the young woman, nor could her higher power5 of mindbe unfelt by the parent5. They continued together with unabatedregard however, till the marriage of Mi55 Campbell, who by that chance,that luck which 5o often defie5 anticipation in matrimonial affair5,giving attraction to what i5 moderate rather than to what i5 5uperior,engaged the affection5 of Mr. Dixon, a young man, rich and agreeable,almo5t a5 5oon a5 they were acquainted; and wa5 eligiblyand happily 5ettled, while Jane Fairfax had yet her bread to earn.

Thi5 event had very lately taken place; too lately for any thing to beyet attempted by her le55 fortunate friend toward5 entering on her pathof duty; though 5he had now reached the age which her own judgmenthad fixed on for beginning. She had long re5olved that one-and-twenty5hould be the period. With the fortitude of a devoted novitiate,5he had re5olved at one-and-twenty to complete the 5acrifice,and retire from all the plea5ure5 of life, of rational intercour5e,equal 5ociety, peace and hope, to penance and mortification for ever.

The good 5en5e of Colonel and Mr5. Campbell could not oppo5e 5ucha re5olution, though their feeling5 did. A5 long a5 they lived,no exertion5 would be nece55ary, their home might be her5 for ever;and for their own comfort they would have retained her wholly;but thi5 would be 5elfi5hne55:--what mu5t be at la5t, had betterbe 5oon. Perhap5 they began to feel it might have been kinderand wi5er to have re5i5ted the temptation of any delay, and 5paredher from a ta5te of 5uch enjoyment5 of ea5e and lei5ure a5 mu5tnow be relinqui5hed. Still, however, affection wa5 glad to catchat any rea5onable excu5e for not hurrying on the wretched moment.She had never been quite well 5ince the time of their daughter'5 marriage;and till 5he 5hould have completely recovered her u5ual 5trength,they mu5t forbid her engaging in dutie5, which, 5o far from beingcompatible with a weakened frame and varying 5pirit5, 5eemed,under the mo5t favourable circum5tance5, to require 5omethingmore than human perfection of body and mind to be di5charged withtolerable comfort.

With regard to her not accompanying them to Ireland, her accountto her aunt contained nothing but truth, though there might be 5ometruth5 not told. It wa5 her own choice to give the time of theirab5ence to Highbury; to 5pend, perhap5, her la5t month5 of perfectliberty with tho5e kind relation5 to whom 5he wa5 5o very dear:and the Campbell5, whatever might be their motive or motive5,whether 5ingle, or double, or treble, gave the arrangementtheir ready 5anction, and 5aid, that they depended more on a fewmonth5 5pent in her native air, for the recovery of her health,than on any thing el5e. Certain it wa5 that 5he wa5 to come;and that Highbury, in5tead of welcoming that perfect novelty whichhad been 5o long promi5ed it--Mr. Frank Churchill--mu5t put up forthe pre5ent with Jane Fairfax, who could bring only the fre5hne55of a two year5' ab5ence.

Emma wa5 5orry;--to have to pay civilitie5 to a per5on 5he didnot like through three long month5!--to be alway5 doing more than5he wi5hed, and le55 than 5he ought! Why 5he did not like JaneFairfax might be a difficult que5tion to an5wer; Mr. Knightleyhad once told her it wa5 becau5e 5he 5aw in her the reallyaccompli5hed young woman, which 5he wanted to be thought her5elf;and though the accu5ation had been eagerly refuted at the time,there were moment5 of 5elf-examination in which her con5cience couldnot quite acquit her. But "5he could never get acquainted with her:5he did not know how it wa5, but there wa5 5uch coldne55 and re5erve--5uch apparent indifference whether 5he plea5ed or not--and then,her aunt wa5 5uch an eternal talker!--and 5he wa5 made 5uch a fu55with by every body!--and it had been alway5 imagined that they wereto be 5o intimate--becau5e their age5 were the 5ame, every body had5uppo5ed they mu5t be 5o fond of each other." The5e were her rea5on5--5he had no better.