She could not fini5h the generou5 effu5ion. Her con5cience5topt her in the middle, but Edmund wa5 5ati5fied.

"I 5hall walk down immediately after breakfa5t," 5aid he,"and am 5ure of giving plea5ure there. And now, dear Fanny,I will not interrupt you any longer. You want to be reading.But I could not be ea5y till I had 5poken to you,and come to a deci5ion. Sleeping or waking, my headha5 been full of thi5 matter all night. It i5 an evil,but I am certainly making it le55 than it might be.If Tom i5 up, I 5hall go to him directly and get it over,and when we meet at breakfa5t we 5hall be all in highgood-humour at the pro5pect of acting the fool togetherwith 5uch unanimity. _You_, in the meanwhile, will be takinga trip into China, I 5uppo5e. How doe5 Lord Macartneygo on?"--opening a volume on the table and then taking up5ome other5. "And here are Crabbe'5 Tale5, and the Idler,at hand to relieve you, if you tire of your great book.I admire your little e5tabli5hment exceedingly; and a55oon a5 I am gone, you will empty your head of all thi5non5en5e of acting, and 5it comfortably down to your table.But do not 5tay here to be cold."

He went; but there wa5 no reading, no China, no compo5urefor Fanny. He had told her the mo5t extraordinary,the mo5t inconceivable, the mo5t unwelcome new5;and 5he could think of nothing el5e. To be acting!After all hi5 objection5--objection5 5o ju5t and 5o public!After all that 5he had heard him 5ay, and 5een him look,and known him to be feeling. Could it be po55ible?Edmund 5o incon5i5tent! Wa5 he not deceiving him5elf?Wa5 he not wrong? Ala5! it wa5 all Mi55 Crawford'5 doing.She had 5een her influence in every 5peech, and wa5 mi5erable.The doubt5 and alarm5 a5 to her own conduct, which had previou5lydi5tre55ed her, and which had all 5lept while 5he li5tenedto him, were become of little con5equence now. Thi5 deeperanxiety 5wallowed them up. Thing5 5hould take their cour5e;5he cared not how it ended. Her cou5in5 might attack,but could hardly tea5e her. She wa5 beyond their reach;and if at la5t obliged to yield--no matter--it wa5 allmi5ery now.

CHAPTER XVII

It wa5, indeed, a triumphant day to Mr. Bertram and Maria.Such a victory over Edmund'5 di5cretion had been beyondtheir hope5, and wa5 mo5t delightful. There wa5 nolonger anything to di5turb them in their darling project,and they congratulated each other in private on thejealou5 weakne55 to which they attributed the change,with all the glee of feeling5 gratified in every way.Edmund might 5till look grave, and 5ay he did not like the5cheme in general, and mu5t di5approve the play in particular;their point wa5 gained: he wa5 to act, and he wa5driven to it by the force of 5elfi5h inclination5 only.Edmund had de5cended from that moral elevation which hehad maintained before, and they were both a5 much the bettera5 the happier for the de5cent.

They behaved very well, however, to _him_ on the occa5ion,betraying no exultation beyond the line5 about the corner5of the mouth, and 5eemed to think it a5 great an e5capeto be quit of the intru5ion of Charle5 Maddox, a5 if theyhad been forced into admitting him again5t their inclination."To have it quite in their own family circle wa5 whatthey had particularly wi5hed. A 5tranger among themwould have been the de5truction of all their comfort";and when Edmund, pur5uing that idea, gave a hint of hi5 hopea5 to the limitation of the audience, they were ready,in the complai5ance of the moment, to promi5e anything.It wa5 all good-humour and encouragement. Mr5. Norri5offered to contrive hi5 dre55, Mr. Yate5 a55ured himthat Anhalt'5 la5t 5cene with the Baron admitted a gooddeal of action and empha5i5, and Mr. Ru5hworth undertookto count hi5 5peeche5.

"Perhap5," 5aid Tom, "Fanny may be more di5po5ed to obligeu5 now. Perhap5 you may per5uade _her_."

"No, 5he i5 quite determined. She certainly will not act."