第 70 节
作者:绝对601      更新:2022-04-16 12:12      字数:9290
  sensible   and   well…judging;   her   first   was   to   see   Anne   happy。   She
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  loved Anne better than she loved her own abilities; and when the
  awkwardness   of  the beginning  was   over;   found   little   hardship   in
  attaching   herself   as   a   mother   to   the   man   who   was   securing   the
  happiness of her other child。
  Of all the family; Mary was probably the one most immediately
  gratified   by   the   circumstance。   It   was   creditable   to   have   a   sister
  married;   and   she   might   flatter   herself   with   having   been   greatly
  instrumental   to   the   connexion;   by   keeping  Anne   with   her   in   the
  autumn; and as her own sister must be better than her husband’s
  sisters; it was very agreeable that Captain Wentworth should be a
  richer man than either Captain Benwick or Charles Hayter。—She
  had   something   to   suffer;   perhaps;   when   they   came   into   contact
  again;   in   seeing Anne   restored   to  the   rights   of  seniority;   and   the
  mistress of a very pretty landaulette; but she had a future to look
  forward to; of powerful consolation。 Anne had no Uppercross Hall
  before her; no landed estate; no headship of a family; and if they
  could   but   keep   Captain   Wentworth   from   being   made   a   baronet;
  she would not change situations with Anne。
  It would be well for the eldest sister if she were equally satisfied
  with   her   situation;   for   a   change   is   not   very   probable   there。   She
  had   soon  the  mortification   of  seeing  Mr。   Elliot  withdraw; and   no
  one of proper condition has since presented himself to raise even
  the unfounded hopes which sunk with him。
  The news of his cousins Anne’s engagement burst on Mr。 Elliot
  most      unexpectedly。       It   deranged      his   best    plan    of   domestic
  happiness;       his  best   hope    of  keeping     Sir   Walter     single   by   the
  watchfulness   which   a   son…in…law’s   rights   would   have   given。   But;
  though discomfited and disappointed; he could still do something
  for his own interest and his own enjoyment。 He soon quitted Bath;
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  and   on   Mrs。   Clay’s   quitting   it   soon   afterwards;   and   being   next
  heard   of   as   established   under   his   protection   in   London;   it   was
  evident      how    double     a   game     he   had    been    playing;    and    how
  determined he was to save himself from being cut out by one artful
  woman; at least。
  Mrs。   Clay’s   affections   had   overpowered   her   interest;   and   she
  had     sacrificed;     for  the    young     man’s     sake;    the   possibility     of
  scheming longer for Sir Walter。 She has abilities; however; as well
  as affections; and it is now a doubtful point whether his cunning;
  or  hers;   may  finally  carry  the   day;   whether;   after   preventing   her
  from   being   the   wife   of   Sir   Walter;   he   may   not   be   wheedled   and
  caressed at last into making her the wife of Sir William。
  It   cannot     be   doubted     that   Sir   Walter     and    Elizabeth     were
  shocked   and   mortified   by   the   loss   of   their   companion;   and   the
  discovery of their deception in her。 They had their great cousins;
  to be sure; to resort to for comfort; but they must long feel that to
  flatter  and   follow  others;   without   being   flattered   and   followed   in
  turn; is but a state of half enjoyment。
  Anne; satisfied at a very early period of Lady Russell’s meaning
  to love Captain Wentworth as she ought; had no other alloy to the
  happiness        of    her     prospects      than      what     arose     from      the
  consciousness   of   having   no   relations   to   bestow   on   him   which   a
  man of sense could value。 There she felt her own inferiority very
  keenly。 The disproportion in their fortune was nothing; it did not
  give her a moment’s regret; but to have   no  family  to  receive and
  estimate   him   properly;   nothing   of   respectability;   of   harmony;   of
  good   will   to   offer   in   return   for   all   the   worth   and   all   the   prompt
  welcome which met her in his brothers and sisters; was a source of
  as    lively   pain   as   her    mind    could     well   be   sensible     of  under
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  circumstances of otherwise strong felicity。 She had but two friends
  in   the   world   to   add   to   his   list;   Lady   Russell   and   Mrs。   Smith。   To
  those; however; he was very well disposed to attach himself。 Lady
  Russell;   in   spite   of   all   her   former   transgressions;   he   could   now
  value   from   his   heart。    While   he   was   not   obliged     to   say   that   he
  believed her to have been right in originally dividing them; he was
  ready to say almost everything else in her favour; and as for Mrs。
  Smith; she had claims of various kinds to recommend her quickly
  and permanently。
  Her     recent     good    offices    by    Anne     had    been     enough      in
  themselves;   and   their   marriage;   instead   of   depriving   her   of   one
  friend;   secured      her   two。   She   was    their   earliest   visitor   in  their
  settled life; and Captain Wentworth; by putting her in the way of
  recovering her husband’s property in the West Indies; by writing
  for   her;   acting    for  her;   and    seeing    her   through     all  the   petty
  difficulties of the case with the activity  and   exertion   of a   fearless
  man   and   a   determined   friend;   fully   requited   the   services   which
  she had rendered; or ever meant to render; to his wife。
  Mrs。 Smith’s enjoyments were not spoiled by this improvement
  of income; with some improvement of health; and the acquisition
  of such friends to be often with;   for  her  cheerfulness and   mental
  alacrity   did   not   fail   her;   and   while   these   prime   supplies   of   good
  remained; she might have bid defiance even to greater accessions
  of   worldly   prosperity。   She   might   have   been   absolutely   rich   and
  perfectly healthy; and   yet  be   happy。   Her spring  of  felicity  was   in
  the glow of her spirits; as her friend Anne’s was in the warmth of
  her heart。 Anne was tenderness itself; and she had the full worth
  of it in Captain Wentworth’s affection。 His profession was all that
  could ever make her friends wish that tenderness less; the   dread
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  of   a   future   war   all   that   could   dim   her   sunshine。   She   gloried   in
  being a sailor’s wife; but she must pay the tax of quick alarm for
  belonging        to   that    profession      which      is;  if   possible;     more
  distinguished        in   its   domestic      virtues     than     in   its  national
  importance。
  FINIS
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  Appendix
  ———————
  The Original Ending of
  Persuasion
  CHAPTER 10
  July 8。
  With   all   this   knowledge   of   Mr   E—&   this   authority   to   impart   it;
  Anne left Westgate Buildings—her mind deeply busy in revolving
  what     she   had   heard;    feeling;   thinking;   recalling    &   forseeing
  everything;   shocked   at   Mr。   Elliot—sighing   over   future   Kellynch;
  and  pained   for  Lady  Russell;   whose   confidence  in  him   had   been
  entire。—The Embarrassment which must be felt from this hour in
  his presence!—How to behave to him?—how to get rid of him?—
  what   to   do   by   any   of   the   Party   at   home?—where   to   be   blind?
  where   to   be   active?—It   was   altogether   a   confusion   of   Images   &
  Doubts—a perplexity; an agitation which she could not see the end
  of—and   she   was   i