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1This dear William would soon be amongst them. There could be no doubt of his obtaining leave of absence immediately, for
2he was still only a midshipman; and as his parents, from living on the spot, must already have seen him, and be seeing
3him perhaps daily, his direct holidays might with justice be instantly given to the sister, who had been his best
4correspondent through a period of seven years, and the uncle who had done most for his support and advancement; and
5accordingly the reply to her reply, fixing a very early day for his arrival, came as soon as possible; and scarcely ten
6days had passed since Fanny had been in the agitation of her first dinner-visit, when she found herself in an agitation
7of a higher nature, watching in the hall, in the lobby, on the stairs, for the first sound of the carriage which was to
8bring her a brother. It came happily while she was thus waiting; and there being neither ceremony nor fearfulness to
9delay the moment of meeting, she was with him as he entered the house, and the first minutes of exquisite feeling had no
10interruption and no witnesses, unless the servants chiefly intent upon opening the proper doors could be called such.
11This was exactly what Sir Thomas and Edmund had been separately conniving at, as each proved to the other by the
12sympathetic alacrity with which they both advised Mrs. Norris's continuing where she was, instead of rushing out into
13the hall as soon as the noises of the arrival reached them. William and Fanny soon shewed themselves; and Sir Thomas had
14the pleasure of receiving, in his protégé, certainly a very different person from the one he had equipped seven years
15ago, but a young man of an open, pleasant countenance, and frank, unstudied, but feeling and respectful manners, and
16such as confirmed him his friend. It was long before Fanny could recover from the agitating happiness of such an hour as
17was formed by the last thirty minutes of expectation, and the first of fruition; it was some time even before her
18happiness could be said to make her happy, before the disappointment inseparable from the alteration of person had
19vanished, and she could see in him the same William as before, and talk to him, as her heart had been yearning to do
20through many a past year. That time, however, did gradually come, forwarded by an affection on his side as warm as her
21own, and much less encumbered by refinement or self-distrust. She was the first object of his love, but it was a love
22which his stronger spirits, and bolder temper, made it as natural for him to express as to feel. On the morrow they were
23walking about together with true enjoyment, and every succeeding morrow renewed a tête-à-tête which Sir Thomas could not
24but observe with complacency, even before Edmund had pointed it out to him. Excepting the moments of peculiar delight,
25which any marked or unlooked-for instance of Edmund's consideration of her in the last few months had excited, Fanny had
26never known so much felicity in her life, as in this unchecked, equal, fearless intercourse with the brother and friend
27who was opening all his heart to her, telling her all his hopes and fears, plans, and solicitudes respecting that long
28thought of, dearly earned, and justly valued blessing of promotion; who could give her direct and minute information of
29the father and mother, brothers and sisters, of whom she very seldom heard; who was interested in all the comforts and
30all the little hardships of her home at Mansfield; ready to think of every member of that home as she directed, or
31differing only by a less scrupulous opinion, and more noisy abuse of their aunt Norris, and with whom (perhaps the
32dearest indulgence of the whole) all the evil and good of their earliest years could be gone over again, and every
33former united pain and pleasure retraced with the fondest recollection. An advantage this, a strengthener of love, in
34which even the conjugal tie is beneath the fraternal. Children of the same family, the same blood, with the same first
35associations and habits, have some means of enjoyment in their power, which no subsequent connexions can supply; and it
36must be by a long and unnatural estrangement, by a divorce which no subsequent connexion can justify, if such precious
37remains of the earliest attachments are ever entirely outlived. Too often, alas! it is so. Fraternal love, sometimes
38almost everything, is at others worse than nothing. But with William and Fanny Price it was still a sentiment in all its
39prime and freshness, wounded by no opposition of interest, cooled by no separate attachment, and feeling the influence
40of time and absence only in its increase. An affection so amiable was advancing each in the opinion of all who had
41hearts to value anything good. Henry Crawford was as much struck with it as any. He honoured the warm-hearted, blunt
42fondness of the young sailor, which led him to say, with his hands stretched towards Fanny's head, "Do you know, I begin
43to like that queer fashion already, though when I first heard of such things being done in England, I could not believe
44it; and when Mrs. Brown, and the other women at the Commissioner's at Gibraltar, appeared in the same trim, I thought
45they were mad; but Fanny can reconcile me to anything"; and saw, with lively admiration, the glow of Fanny's cheek, the
46brightness of her eye, the deep interest, the absorbed attention, while her brother was describing any of the imminent
47hazards, or terrific scenes, which such a period at sea must supply. It was a picture which Henry Crawford had moral
48taste enough to value. Fanny's attractions increased--increased twofold; for the sensibility which beautified her
49complexion and illumined her countenance was an attraction in itself. He was no longer in doubt of the capabilities of
50her heart. She had feeling, genuine feeling. It would be something to be loved by such a girl, to excite the first
51ardours of her young unsophisticated mind! She interested him more than he had foreseen. A fortnight was not enough. His
52stay became indefinite. William was often called on by his uncle to be the talker. His recitals were amusing in
53themselves to Sir Thomas, but the chief object in seeking them was to understand the reciter, to know the young man by
54his histories; and he listened to his clear, simple, spirited details with full satisfaction, seeing in them the proof
55of good principles, professional knowledge, energy, courage, and cheerfulness, everything that could deserve or promise
56well. Young as he was, William had already seen a great deal. He had been in the Mediterranean; in the West Indies; in
57the Mediterranean again; had been often taken on shore by the favour of his captain, and in the course of seven years
58had known every variety of danger which sea and war together could offer. With such means in his power he had a right to
59be listened to; and though Mrs. Norris could fidget about the room, and disturb everybody in quest of two needlefuls of
60thread or a second-hand shirt button, in the midst of her nephew's account of a shipwreck or an engagement, everybody
61else was attentive; and even Lady Bertram could not hear of such horrors unmoved, or without sometimes lifting her eyes
62from her work to say, "Dear me! how disagreeable! I wonder anybody can ever go to sea." To Henry Crawford they gave a
63different feeling. He longed to have been at sea, and seen and done and suffered as much. His heart was warmed, his
64fancy fired, and he felt the highest respect for a lad who, before he was twenty, had gone through such bodily hardships
65and given such proofs of mind. The glory of heroism, of usefulness, of exertion, of endurance, made his own habits of
66selfish indulgence appear in shameful contrast; and he wished he had been a William Price, distinguishing himself and
67working his way to fortune and consequence with so much self-respect and happy ardour, instead of what he was!
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