Having once set out,and felt that he had done so,on this road to happiness,there was nothing on the side of prudence to stop him or make his progress slow;no doubts of her deserving,no fears from opposition of taste,no need of drawing new hopes of happiness from dissimilarity of temper.Her mind,disposition,opinions,and habits wanted no half concealment,no self deception on the present,no reliance on future improvement.Even in the midst of his late infatuation,he had acknowledged Fanny's mental superiority.What must be his sense of it now,therefore?She was of course only too good for him;but as nobody minds having what is too good for them,he was very steadily earnest in the pursuit of the blessing and it was not possible that encouragement from her should be long wanting.Timid,anxious,doubting as she was,it was still impossible that such tenderness as hers should not,at times,hold out the strongest hope of success,though it remained for a later period to tell him the whole delightful and astonishing truth.His happiness in knowing himself to have been so long the beloved of such a heart,must have been great enough to warrant any strength of language in which he could clothe it to her or to himself;it must have been a delightful happiness!But there was happiness elsewhere which no deion can reach.Let no one presume to give the feelings of a young woman on receiving the assurance of that affection of which she has scarcely allowed herself to entertain a hope.
Their own inclinations ascertained,there were no difficulties behind,no drawback of poverty or parent.It was a match which Sir Thomas's wishes had even forestalled.Sick of ambitious and mercenary connections,prizing more and more the sterling good of principle and temper,and chiefly anxious to bind by the strongest securities all that remained to him of domestic felicity,he had pondered with genuine satisfaction on the more than possibility of the two young friends finding their mutual consolation in each other for all that had occurred of disappointment to either;and the joyful consent which met Edmund's application,the high sense of having realised a great acquisition in the promise of Fanny for a daughter,formed just such a contrast with his early opinion on the subject when the poor little girl's coming had been first agitated,as time is for ever producing between the plans and decisions of mortals,for their own instruction,and their neighbours'entertainment.
Fanny was indeed the daughter that he wanted.His charitable kindness had been rearing a prime comfort for himself.His liberality had a rich repayment,and the general goodness of his intentions by her,deserved it.He might have made her childhood happier;but it had been an error of judgment only which had given him the appearance of harshness,and deprived him of her early love;and now,on really knowing each other,their mutual attachment became very strong.After settling her at Thornton Lacey with every kind attention to her comfort,the object of almost everyday was to see her there,or to get her away from it.
Selfishly dear as she had long been to Lady Bertram,she could not be parted with willingly by her.No happiness of son or niece could make her wish the marriage.But it was possible to part with her,because Susan remained to supply her place.-Susan became the stationary niece-delighted to be so!-And equally well adapted for it by a readiness of mind,and an inclination for usefulness,as Fanny had been by sweetness of temper,and strong feelings of gratitude.Susan could never be spared.First as a comfort to Fanny,then as an auxiliary,and last as her substitute,she was established at Mansfield,with every appearance of equal permanency.Her more fearless disposition and happier nerves made everything easy to her there.-With quickness in understanding the tempers of those she had to deal with,and no natural timidity to restrain any consequent wishes,she was soon welcome,and useful to all;and after Fanny's removal,succeeded so naturally to her influence over the hourly comfort of her aunt,as gradually to become,perhaps,the most beloved of the two.-In her usefulness,in Fanny's excellence,in William's continued good conduct,and rising fame,and in the general well-doing and success of the other members of the family,all assisting to advance each other,and doing credit to his countenance and aid,Sir Thomas saw repeated,and for ever repeated reason to rejoice in what he had done for them all,and acknowledge the advantages of early hardship and discipline,and the consciousness of being born to struggle and endure.
With so much true merit and true love,and no want of fortune or friends,the happiness of the married cousins must appear as secure as earthly happiness can be.-Equally formed for domestic life,and attached to country pleasures,their home was the home of affection and comfort;and to complete the picture of good,the acquisition of Mansfield living by the death of Dr Grant,occurred just after they had been married long enough to begin to want an increase of income,and feel their distance from the paternal abode an inconvenience.
On that event they removed to Mansfield,and the Parsonage there,which under each of its two former owners,Fanny had never been able to approach but with some painful sensation of restraint or alarm,soon grew as dear to her heart,and as thoroughly perfect in her eyes,as everything else,within the view and patronage of Mansfield Park,had long been.
THE END