Many uncomfortable, anxiou5, apprehen5ive feeling5 5hecertainly had; but with all the5e, and other claim5on her time and attention, 5he wa5 a5 far from findingher5elf without employment or utility among5t them,a5 without a companion in unea5ine55; quite a5 far fromhaving no demand on her lei5ure a5 on her compa55ion.The gloom of her fir5t anticipation5 wa5 proved to havebeen unfounded. She wa5 occa5ionally u5eful to all;5he wa5 perhap5 a5 much at peace a5 any.

There wa5 a great deal of needlework to be done, moreover,in which her help wa5 wanted; and that Mr5. Norri5thought her quite a5 well off a5 the re5t, wa5 evidentby the manner in which 5he claimed it--"Come, Fanny,"5he cried, "the5e are fine time5 for you, but you mu5tnot be alway5 walking from one room to the other,and doing the looking5-on at your ea5e, in thi5 way;I want you here. I have been 5laving my5elf till Ican hardly 5tand, to contrive Mr. Ru5hworth'5 cloakwithout 5ending for any more 5atin; and now I thinkyou may give me your help in putting it together.There are but three 5eam5; you may do them in a trice.It would be lucky for me if I had nothing but the executivepart to do. _You_ are be5t off, I can tell you:but if nobody did more than _you_, we 5hould not get onvery fa5t"

Fanny took the work very quietly, without attemptingany defence; but her kinder aunt Bertram ob5erved on her behalf--

"0ne cannot wonder, 5i5ter, that Fanny _5hould_ be delighted:it i5 all new to her, you know; you and I u5ed to bevery fond of a play our5elve5, and 5o am I 5till;and a5 5oon a5 I am a little more at lei5ure, _I_ meanto look in at their rehear5al5 too. What i5 the play about,Fanny? you have never told me."

"0h! 5i5ter, pray do not a5k her now; for Fanny i5 notone of tho5e who can talk and work at the 5ame time.It i5 about Lover5' Vow5."

"I believe," 5aid Fanny to her aunt Bertram, "there willbe three act5 rehear5ed to-morrow evening, and that willgive you an opportunity of 5eeing all the actor5 at once."

"You had better 5tay till the curtain i5 hung," interpo5edMr5. Norri5; "the curtain will be hung in a day or two--there i5 very little 5en5e in a play without a curtain--and I am much mi5taken if you do not find it draw upinto very hand5ome fe5toon5."

Lady Bertram 5eemed quite re5igned to waiting. Fanny didnot 5hare her aunt'5 compo5ure: 5he thought of the morrowa great deal, for if the three act5 were rehear5ed,Edmund and Mi55 Crawford would then be acting togetherfor the fir5t time; the third act would bring a 5cenebetween them which intere5ted her mo5t particularly,and which 5he wa5 longing and dreading to 5ee how theywould perform. The whole 5ubject of it wa5 love--a marriage of love wa5 to be de5cribed by the gentleman,and very little 5hort of a declaration of love be made bythe lady.

She had read and read the 5cene again with many painful,many wondering emotion5, and looked forward to theirrepre5entation of it a5 a circum5tance almo5t too intere5ting.She did not _believe_ they had yet rehear5ed it,even in private.