The Sisters looked on each other with astonishment, when their Visitors had withdrawn.'Here's an unaccountable Honour!'cried Elizabeth at last.'Who would have thought of Lord Osborne's coming to Stanton.—He is very handsome—but Tom Musgrave looks all to nothing, the smartest and most fashionable Man of the two.I am glad he did not say anything to me; I would not have had to talk to such a great Man for the world.Tom was very agreable, was not he?—But did you hear him ask where Miss Penelope and Miss Margaret were, when he first came in?—It put me out of patience.—I am glad Nanny had not laid the Cloth however, it would have looked so awkward;—just the Tray did not signify.'To say that Emma was not flattered by Lord Osborne's visit, would be to assert a very unlikely thing, and describe a very odd youngLady; but the gratification was by no means unalloyed; His coming was a sort of notice which might please her vanity, but did not suit her pride, and she would rather have known that he wished the visit without presuming to make it, than have seen him at Stanton.—Among other unsatisfactory feelings it once occurred to her to wonder why Mr.Howard had not taken the same privilege of coming, and accompanied his Lordship—but she was willing to suppose that he had either known nothing about it, or had declined any share in a measure which carried quite as much Impertinence in its form as Goodbreeding.—Mr.W.was very far from being delighted, when he heard what had passed;—a little peevish under immediate pain, and ill disposed to be pleased, he only replied—'Phoo! Phoo!—What occasion could there be for Lord O.'s coming.I have lived here fourteen years without being noticed by any of the family.It is some foolery of that idle fellow T.Musgrave.I cannot return the visit.—I would not if I could.'And when T.Musgrave was met with again, he was commissioned with a message of excuse to Osborne Castle, on the too-sufficient plea of Mr.Watson's infirm state of health.
A week or ten days rolled quietly away after this visit, before any new bustle arose to interrupt even for half a day, the tranquil and affectionate intercourse of the two Sisters, whose mutual regard was increasing with the intimate knowledge of each other which such intercourse produced.—The first circumstance to break in on this serenity, was the receipt of a letter from Croydon to announce the speedy return of Margaret, and a visit of two or three days from Mr.and Mrs.Robert Watson, who undertook to bring her home and wished to see their Sister Emma.—It was an expectation to fill the thoughts of the Sisters at Stanton, and tobusy the hours of one of them at least—for as Jane had been a woman of fortune, the preparations for her entertainment were considerable, and as Elizabeth had at all times more good will than method in her guidance of the house, she could make no change without a Bustle.—An absence of fourteen years had made all her Brothers and Sisters Strangers to Emma, but in her expectation of Margaret there was more than the awkwardness of such an alienation; she had heard things which made her dread her return; and the day which brought the party to Stanton seemed to her the probable conclusion of almost all that had been comfortable in the house.—Robert Watson was an Attorney at Croydon, in a good way of Business; very well satisfied with himself for the same, and for having married the only daughter of the Attorney to whom he had been Clerk, with a fortune of six thousand pounds.—Mrs.Robert was not less pleased with herself for having had that six thousand pounds, and for being now in possession of a very smart house in Croydon, where she gave genteel parties, and wore fine cloathes.—In her person there was nothing remarkable; her manners were pert and conceited.— Margaret was not without beauty; she had a slight, pretty figure, and rather wanted Countenance than good features;—but the sharp and anxious expression of her face made her beauty in general little felt.—On meeting her long-absent Sister, as on every occasion of shew, her manner was all affection and her voice all gentleness; continual smiles and a very slow articulation being her constant resource when determined on pleasing.
