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1The dancing began within a few minutes after they were seated; and James, who had been engaged quite as long as his
2sister, was very importunate with Isabella to stand up; but John was gone into the card-room to speak to a friend, and
3nothing, she declared, should induce her to join the set before her dear Catherine could join it too. "I assure you,"
4said she, "I would not stand up without your dear sister for all the world; for if I did we should certainly be
5separated the whole evening." Catherine accepted this kindness with gratitude, and they continued as they were for three
6minutes longer, when Isabella, who had been talking to James on the other side of her, turned again to his sister and
7whispered, "My dear creature, I am afraid I must leave you, your brother is so amazingly impatient to begin; I know you
8will not mind my going away, and I dare say John will be back in a moment, and then you may easily find me out."
9Catherine, though a little disappointed, had too much good nature to make any opposition, and the others rising up,
10Isabella had only time to press her friend's hand and say, "Good-bye, my dear love," before they hurried off. The
11younger Miss Thorpes being also dancing, Catherine was left to the mercy of Mrs. Thorpe and Mrs. Allen, between whom she
12now remained. She could not help being vexed at the non-appearance of Mr. Thorpe, for she not only longed to be dancing,
13but was likewise aware that, as the real dignity of her situation could not be known, she was sharing with the scores of
14other young ladies still sitting down all the discredit of wanting a partner. To be disgraced in the eye of the world,
15to wear the appearance of infamy while her heart is all purity, her actions all innocence, and the misconduct of another
16the true source of her debasement, is one of those circumstances which peculiarly belong to the heroine's life, and her
17fortitude under it what particularly dignifies her character. Catherine had fortitude too; she suffered, but no murmur
18passed her lips. From this state of humiliation, she was roused, at the end of ten minutes, to a pleasanter feeling, by
19seeing, not Mr. Thorpe, but Mr. Tilney, within three yards of the place where they sat; he seemed to be moving that way,
20but he did not see her, and therefore the smile and the blush, which his sudden reappearance raised in Catherine, passed
21away without sullying her heroic importance. He looked as handsome and as lively as ever, and was talking with interest
22to a fashionable and pleasing-looking young woman, who leant on his arm, and whom Catherine immediately guessed to be
23his sister; thus unthinkingly throwing away a fair opportunity of considering him lost to her forever, by being married
24already. But guided only by what was simple and probable, it had never entered her head that Mr. Tilney could be
25married; he had not behaved, he had not talked, like the married men to whom she had been used; he had never mentioned a
26wife, and he had acknowledged a sister. From these circumstances sprang the instant conclusion of his sister's now being
27by his side; and therefore, instead of turning of a deathlike paleness and falling in a fit on Mrs. Allen's bosom,
28Catherine sat erect, in the perfect use of her senses, and with cheeks only a little redder than usual. Mr. Tilney and
29his companion, who continued, though slowly, to approach, were immediately preceded by a lady, an acquaintance of Mrs.
30Thorpe; and this lady stopping to speak to her, they, as belonging to her, stopped likewise, and Catherine, catching Mr.
31Tilney's eye, instantly received from him the smiling tribute of recognition. She returned it with pleasure, and then
32advancing still nearer, he spoke both to her and Mrs. Allen, by whom he was very civilly acknowledged. "I am very happy
33to see you again, sir, indeed; I was afraid you had left Bath." He thanked her for her fears, and said that he had
34quitted it for a week, on the very morning after his having had the pleasure of seeing her. "Well, sir, and I dare say
35you are not sorry to be back again, for it is just the place for young people--and indeed for everybody else too. I tell
36Mr. Allen, when he talks of being sick of it, that I am sure he should not complain, for it is so very agreeable a
37place, that it is much better to be here than at home at this dull time of year. I tell him he is quite in luck to be
38sent here for his health." "And I hope, madam, that Mr. Allen will be obliged to like the place, from finding it of
39service to him." "Thank you, sir. I have no doubt that he will. A neighbour of ours, Dr. Skinner, was here for his
40health last winter, and came away quite stout." "That circumstance must give great encouragement." "Yes, sir--and Dr.
41Skinner and his family were here three months; so I tell Mr. Allen he must not be in a hurry to get away." Here they
42were interrupted by a request from Mrs. Thorpe to Mrs. Allen, that she would move a little to accommodate Mrs. Hughes
43and Miss Tilney with seats, as they had agreed to join their party. This was accordingly done, Mr. Tilney still
44continuing standing before them; and after a few minutes' consideration, he asked Catherine to dance with him. This
45compliment, delightful as it was, produced severe mortification to the lady; and in giving her denial, she expressed her
46sorrow on the occasion so very much as if she really felt it, that had Thorpe, who joined her just afterwards, been half
47a minute earlier, he might have thought her sufferings rather too acute. The very easy manner in which he then told her
48that he had kept her waiting did not by any means reconcile her more to her lot; nor did the particulars which he
49entered into while they were standing up, of the horses and dogs of the friend whom he had just left, and of a proposed
50exchange of terriers between them, interest her so much as to prevent her looking very often towards that part of the
51room where she had left Mr. Tilney. Of her dear Isabella, to whom she particularly longed to point out that gentleman,
52she could see nothing. They were in different sets. She was separated from all her party, and away from all her
53acquaintance; one mortification succeeded another, and from the whole she deduced this useful lesson, that to go
54previously engaged to a ball does not necessarily increase either the dignity or enjoyment of a young lady. From such a
55moralizing strain as this, she was suddenly roused by a touch on the shoulder, and turning round, perceived Mrs. Hughes
56directly behind her, attended by Miss Tilney and a gentleman. "I beg your pardon, Miss Morland," said she, "for this
57liberty--but I cannot anyhow get to Miss Thorpe, and Mrs. Thorpe said she was sure you would not have the least
58objection to letting in this young lady by you." Mrs. Hughes could not have applied to any creature in the room more
59happy to oblige her than Catherine. The young ladies were introduced to each other, Miss Tilney expressing a proper
60sense of such goodness, Miss Morland with the real delicacy of a generous mind making light of the obligation; and Mrs.
61Hughes, satisfied with having so respectably settled her young charge, returned to her party. Miss Tilney had a good
62figure, a pretty face, and a very agreeable countenance; and her air, though it had not all the decided pretension, the
63resolute stylishness of Miss Thorpe's, had more real elegance. Her manners showed good sense and good breeding; they
64were neither shy nor affectedly open; and she seemed capable of being young, attractive, and at a ball without wanting
65to fix the attention of every man near her, and without exaggerated feelings of ecstatic delight or inconceivable
66vexation on every little trifling occurrence. Catherine, interested at once by her appearance and her relationship to
67Mr. Tilney, was desirous of being acquainted with her, and readily talked therefore whenever she could think of anything
68to say, and had courage and leisure for saying it. But the hindrance thrown in the way of a very speedy intimacy, by the
69frequent want of one or more of these requisites, prevented their doing more than going through the first rudiments of
70an acquaintance, by informing themselves how well the other liked Bath, how much she admired its buildings and
71surrounding country, whether she drew, or played, or sang, and whether she was fond of riding on horseback.
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