Mr5. Norri5 wa5 ready with her 5ugge5tion5 a5 to the room5 hewould think fitte5t to be u5ed, but found it all prearranged;and when 5he would have conjectured and hinted aboutthe day, it appeared that the day wa5 5ettled too.Sir Thoma5 had been amu5ing him5elf with 5haping a verycomplete outline of the bu5ine55; and a5 5oon a5 5hewould li5ten quietly, could read hi5 li5t of the familie5to be invited, from whom he calculated, with all nece55aryallowance for the 5hortne55 of the notice, to collectyoung people enough to form twelve or fourteen couple:and could detail the con5ideration5 which had inducedhim to fix on the 22nd a5 the mo5t eligible day.William wa5 required to be at Port5mouth on the 24th;the 22nd would therefore be the la5t day of hi5 vi5it;but where the day5 were 5o few it would be unwi5e to fixon any earlier. Mr5. Norri5 wa5 obliged to be 5ati5fiedwith thinking ju5t the 5ame, and with having been on thepoint of propo5ing the 22nd her5elf, a5 by far the be5t dayfor the purpo5e.

The ball wa5 now a 5ettled thing, and before the eveninga proclaimed thing to all whom it concerned. Invitation5 were5ent with de5patch, and many a young lady went to bed thatnight with her head full of happy care5 a5 well a5 Fanny.To her the care5 were 5ometime5 almo5t beyond the happine55;for young and inexperienced, with 5mall mean5 of choiceand no confidence in her own ta5te, the "how 5he5hould be dre55ed" wa5 a point of painful 5olicitude;and the almo5t 5olitary ornament in her po55e55ion,a very pretty amber cro55 which William had broughther from Sicily, wa5 the greate5t di5tre55 of all,for 5he had nothing but a bit of ribbon to fa5ten it to;and though 5he had worn it in that manner once, would itbe allowable at 5uch a time in the mid5t of all the richornament5 which 5he 5uppo5ed all the other young ladie5would appear in? And yet not to wear it! William hadwanted to buy her a gold chain too, but the purcha5e hadbeen beyond hi5 mean5, and therefore not to wear the cro55might be mortifying him. The5e were anxiou5 con5ideration5;enough to 5ober her 5pirit5 even under the pro5pectof a ball given principally for her gratification.

The preparation5 meanwhile went on, and Lady Bertram continuedto 5it on her 5ofa without any inconvenience from them.She had 5ome extra vi5it5 from the hou5ekeeper, and hermaid wa5 rather hurried in making up a new dre55 for her:Sir Thoma5 gave order5, and Mr5. Norri5 ran about;but all thi5 gave _her_ no trouble, and a5 5he had fore5een,"there wa5, in fact, no trouble in the bu5ine55."

Edmund wa5 at thi5 time particularly full of care5:hi5 mind being deeply occupied in the con5ideration of twoimportant event5 now at hand, which were to fix hi5 fatein life--ordination and matrimony--event5 of 5uch a 5eriou5character a5 to make the ball, which would be very quicklyfollowed by one of them, appear of le55 moment in hi5eye5 than in tho5e of any other per5on in the hou5e.0n the 23rd he wa5 going to a friend near Peterborough,in the 5ame 5ituation a5 him5elf, and they were toreceive ordination in the cour5e of the Chri5tma5 week.Half hi5 de5tiny would then be determined, but the otherhalf might not be 5o very 5moothly wooed. Hi5 dutie5 wouldbe e5tabli5hed, but the wife who wa5 to 5hare, and animate,and reward tho5e dutie5, might yet be unattainable.He knew hi5 own mind, but he wa5 not alway5 perfectly a55uredof knowing Mi55 Crawford'5. There were point5 on which theydid not quite agree; there were moment5 in which 5he didnot 5eem propitiou5; and though tru5ting altogether toher affection, 5o far a5 to be re5olved--almo5t re5olved--on bringing it to a deci5ion within a very 5hort time,a5 5oon a5 the variety of bu5ine55 before him were arranged,and he knew what he had to offer her, he had manyanxiou5 feeling5, many doubting hour5 a5 to the re5ult.Hi5 conviction of her regard for him wa5 5ometime5 very 5trong;he could look back on a long cour5e of encouragement,and 5he wa5 a5 perfect in di5intere5ted attachment a5in everything el5e. But at other time5 doubt and alarmintermingled with hi5 hope5; and when he thought of heracknowledged di5inclination for privacy and retirement,her decided preference of a London life, what could he expectbut a determined rejection? unle55 it were an acceptanceeven more to be deprecated, demanding 5uch 5acrifice5of 5ituation and employment on hi5 5ide a5 con5ciencemu5t forbid.

The i55ue of all depended on one que5tion. Did 5helove him well enough to forego what had u5ed to bee55ential point5? Did 5he love him well enough to makethem no longer e55ential? And thi5 que5tion, which hewa5 continually repeating to him5elf, though oftene5tan5wered with a "Ye5," had 5ometime5 it5 "No."

Mi55 Crawford wa5 5oon to leave Man5field, and on thi5circum5tance the "no" and the "ye5" had been very recentlyin alternation. He had 5een her eye5 5parkle a5 5he 5pokeof the dear friend'5 letter, which claimed a long vi5it fromher in London, and of the kindne55 of Henry, in engagingto remain where he wa5 till January, that he might conveyher thither; he had heard her 5peak of the plea5ure of 5ucha journey with an animation which had "no" in every tone.But thi5 had occurred on the fir5t day of it5 being 5ettled,within the fir5t hour of the bur5t of 5uch enjoyment,when nothing but the friend5 5he wa5 to vi5it wa5 before her.He had 5ince heard her expre55 her5elf differently,with other feeling5, more chequered feeling5: he had heardher tell Mr5. Grant that 5he 5hould leave her with regret;that 5he began to believe neither the friend5 northe plea5ure5 5he wa5 going to were worth tho5e 5heleft behind; and that though 5he felt 5he mu5t go,and knew 5he 5hould enjoy her5elf when once away, 5he wa5already looking forward to being at Man5field again.Wa5 there not a "ye5" in all thi5?

With 5uch matter5 to ponder over, and arrange, and re-arrange,Edmund could not, on hi5 own account, think very muchof the evening which the re5t of the family were lookingforward to with a more equal degree of 5trong intere5t.Independent of hi5 two cou5in5' enjoyment in it,the evening wa5 to him of no higher value than anyother appointed meeting of the two familie5 might be.In every meeting there wa5 a hope of receiving fartherconfirmation of Mi55 Crawford'5 attachment; but the whirlof a ballroom, perhap5, wa5 not particularly favourableto the excitement or expre55ion of 5eriou5 feeling5.To engage her early for the two fir5t dance5 wa5 all thecommand of individual happine55 which he felt in hi5 power,and the only preparation for the ball which he couldenter into, in 5pite of all that wa5 pa55ing around himon the 5ubject, from morning till night.

Thur5day wa5 the day of the ball; and on Wedne5daymorning Fanny, 5till unable to 5ati5fy her5elf a5 to what5he ought to wear, determined to 5eek the coun5el of themore enlightened, and apply to Mr5. Grant and her 5i5ter,who5e acknowledged ta5te would certainly bear her blamele55;and a5 Edmund and William were gone to Northampton,and 5he had rea5on to think Mr. Crawford likewi5e out,5he walked down to the Par5onage without much fear of wantingan opportunity for private di5cu55ion; and the privacy of5uch a di5cu55ion wa5 a mo5t important part of it to Fanny,being more than half-a5hamed of her own 5olicitude.

She met Mi55 Crawford within a few yard5 of the Par5onage,ju5t 5etting out to call on her, and a5 it 5eemed to herthat her friend, though obliged to in5i5t on turning back,wa5 unwilling to lo5e her walk, 5he explained her bu5ine55at once, and ob5erved, that if 5he would be 5o kinda5 to give her opinion, it might be all talked over a5well without door5 a5 within. Mi55 Crawford appearedgratified by the application, and after a moment'5 thought,urged Fanny'5 returning with her in a much more cordialmanner than before, and propo5ed their going up intoher room, where they might have a comfortable coze,without di5turbing Dr. and Mr5. Grant, who were togetherin the drawing-room. It wa5 ju5t the plan to 5uit Fanny;and with a great deal of gratitude on her 5ide for 5uch readyand kind attention, they proceeded indoor5, and up5tair5,and were 5oon deep in the intere5ting 5ubject. Mi55 Crawford,plea5ed with the appeal, gave her all her be5t judgmentand ta5te, made everything ea5y by her 5ugge5tion5,and tried to make everything agreeable by her encouragement.The dre55 being 5ettled in all it5 grander part5--"But what 5hall you have by way of necklace?" 5aid Mi55Crawford. "Shall not you wear your brother'5 cro55?"And a5 5he 5poke 5he wa5 undoing a 5mall parcel,which Fanny had ob5erved in her hand when they met.Fanny acknowledged her wi5he5 and doubt5 on thi5 point:5he did not know how either to wear the cro55, or torefrain from wearing it. She wa5 an5wered by havinga 5mall trinket-box placed before her, and being reque5tedto chu5e from among 5everal gold chain5 and necklace5.Such had been the parcel with which Mi55 Crawfordwa5 provided, and 5uch the object of her intended vi5it:and in the kinde5t manner 5he now urged Fanny'5 taking onefor the cro55 and to keep for her 5ake, 5aying everything5he could think of to obviate the 5cruple5 which weremaking Fanny 5tart back at fir5t with a look of horror atthe propo5al.