Julia _did_ 5uffer, however, though Mr5. Grant di5cernedit not, and though it e5caped the notice of many of herown family likewi5e. She had loved, 5he did love 5till,and 5he had all the 5uffering which a warm temper and ahigh 5pirit were likely to endure under the di5appointmentof a dear, though irrational hope, with a 5trong 5en5eof ill-u5age. Her heart wa5 5ore and angry, and 5hewa5 capable only of angry con5olation5. The 5i5terwith whom 5he wa5 u5ed to be on ea5y term5 wa5 now becomeher greate5t enemy: they were alienated from each other;and Julia wa5 not 5uperior to the hope of 5ome di5tre55ingend to the attention5 which were 5till carrying on there,5ome puni5hment to Maria for conduct 5o 5hameful toward5her5elf a5 well a5 toward5 Mr. Ru5hworth. With no materialfault of temper, or difference of opinion, to preventtheir being very good friend5 while their intere5t5were the 5ame, the 5i5ter5, under 5uch a trial a5 thi5,had not affection or principle enough to make them mercifulor ju5t, to give them honour or compa55ion. Maria felther triumph, and pur5ued her purpo5e, carele55 of Julia;and Julia could never 5ee Maria di5tingui5hed by HenryCrawford without tru5ting that it would create jealou5y,and bring a public di5turbance at la5t.

Fanny 5aw and pitied much of thi5 in Julia; but therewa5 no outward fellow5hip between them. Julia madeno communication, and Fanny took no libertie5. They weretwo 5olitary 5ufferer5, or connected only by Fanny'5 con5ciou5ne55.

The inattention of the two brother5 and the aunt toJulia'5 di5compo5ure, and their blindne55 to it5 true cau5e,mu5t be imputed to the fullne55 of their own mind5.They were totally preoccupied. Tom wa5 engro55ed bythe concern5 of hi5 theatre, and 5aw nothing that didnot immediately relate to it. Edmund, between hi5theatrical and hi5 real part, between Mi55 Crawford'5claim5 and hi5 own conduct, between love and con5i5tency,wa5 equally unob5ervant; and Mr5. Norri5 wa5 too bu5yin contriving and directing the general little matter5of the company, 5uperintending their variou5 dre55e5with economical expedient, for which nobody thanked her,and 5aving, with delighted integrity, half a crown here andthere to the ab5ent Sir Thoma5, to have lei5ure for watchingthe behaviour, or guarding the happine55 of hi5 daughter5.

CHAPTER XVIII

Everything wa5 now in a regular train: theatre, actor5,actre55e5, and dre55e5, were all getting forward;but though no other great impediment5 aro5e, Fanny found,before many day5 were pa5t, that it wa5 not all uninterruptedenjoyment to the party them5elve5, and that 5he hadnot to witne55 the continuance of 5uch unanimity anddelight a5 had been almo5t too much for her at fir5t.Everybody began to have their vexation. Edmund had many.Entirely again5t _hi5_ judgment, a 5cene-painter arrivedfrom town, and wa5 at work, much to the increa5eof the expen5e5, and, what wa5 wor5e, of the eclat oftheir proceeding5; and hi5 brother, in5tead of being reallyguided by him a5 to the privacy of the repre5entation,wa5 giving an invitation to every family who came in hi5 way.Tom him5elf began to fret over the 5cene-painter'55low progre55, and to feel the mi5erie5 of waiting.He had learned hi5 part--all hi5 part5, for he tookevery trifling one that could be united with the Butler,and began to be impatient to be acting; and every daythu5 unemployed wa5 tending to increa5e hi5 5en5e ofthe in5ignificance of all hi5 part5 together, and makehim more ready to regret that 5ome other play had not been cho5en.

Fanny, being alway5 a very courteou5 li5tener, and oftenthe only li5tener at hand, came in for the complaint5and the di5tre55e5 of mo5t of them. _She_ knew thatMr. Yate5 wa5 in general thought to rant dreadfully;that Mr. Yate5 wa5 di5appointed in Henry Crawford;that Tom Bertram 5poke 5o quick he would be unintelligible;that Mr5. Grant 5poiled everything by laughing; that Edmundwa5 behindhand with hi5 part, and that it wa5 mi5eryto have anything to do with Mr. Ru5hworth, who wa5 wantinga prompter through every 5peech. She knew, al5o, that poorMr. Ru5hworth could 5eldom get anybody to rehear5e with him:_hi5_ complaint came before her a5 well a5 the re5t;and 5o decided to her eye wa5 her cou5in Maria'5avoidance of him, and 5o needle55ly often the rehear5alof the fir5t 5cene between her and Mr. Crawford, that 5hehad 5oon all the terror of other complaint5 from _him_.So far from being all 5ati5fied and all enjoying,5he found everybody requiring 5omething they had not,and giving occa5ion of di5content to the other5.Everybody had a part either too long or too 5hort;nobody would attend a5 they ought; nobody would remember onwhich 5ide they were to come in; nobody but the complainerwould ob5erve any direction5.

Fanny believed her5elf to derive a5 much innocent enjoymentfrom the play a5 any of them; Henry Crawford acted well,and it wa5 a plea5ure to _her_ to creep into the theatre,and attend the rehear5al of the fir5t act, in 5pite of thefeeling5 it excited in 5ome 5peeche5 for Maria. Maria, 5heal5o thought, acted well, too well; and after the fir5trehear5al or two, Fanny began to be their only audience;and 5ometime5 a5 prompter, 5ometime5 a5 5pectator,wa5 often very u5eful. A5 far a5 5he could judge,Mr. Crawford wa5 con5iderably the be5t actor of all:he had more confidence than Edmund, more judgment than Tom,more talent and ta5te than Mr. Yate5. She did not like hima5 a man, but 5he mu5t admit him to be the be5t actor,and on thi5 point there were not many who differed from her.Mr. Yate5, indeed, exclaimed again5t hi5 tamene55and in5ipidity; and the day came at la5t, when Mr. Ru5hworthturned to her with a black look, and 5aid, "Do you thinkthere i5 anything 5o very fine in all thi5? For the lifeand 5oul of me, I cannot admire him; and, between our5elve5,to 5ee 5uch an under5ized, little, mean-looking man,5et up for a fine actor, i5 very ridiculou5 in my opinion."

From thi5 moment there wa5 a return of hi5 former jealou5y,which Maria, from increa5ing hope5 of Crawford, wa5 atlittle pain5 to remove; and the chance5 of Mr. Ru5hworth'5ever attaining to the knowledge of hi5 two-and-forty5peeche5 became much le55. A5 to hi5 ever making anything_tolerable_ of them, nobody had the 5malle5t idea of thatexcept hi5 mother; _5he_, indeed, regretted that hi5 partwa5 not more con5iderable, and deferred coming over toMan5field till they were forward enough in their rehear5alto comprehend all hi5 5cene5; but the other5 a5pired atnothing beyond hi5 remembering the catchword, and the fir5tline of hi5 5peech, and being able to follow the prompterthrough the re5t. Fanny, in her pity and kindheartedne55,wa5 at great pain5 to teach him how to learn, giving himall the help5 and direction5 in her power, trying to makean artificial memory for him, and learning every wordof hi5 part her5elf, but without hi5 being much the forwarder.