第35章

"I did not think you had been so obstinate, Catherine,"said James; "you were not used to be so hard to persuade;you once were the kindest, best-tempered of my sisters.""I hope I am not less so now," she replied, very feelingly; "but indeed I cannot go. If I am wrong, I am doing what I believe to be right.""I suspect," said Isabella, in a low voice, "there is no great struggle."Catherine's heart swelled; she drew away her arm, and Isabella made no opposition. Thus passed a long ten minutes, till they were again joined by Thorpe, who, coming to them with a gayer look, said, "Well, I have settled the matter, and now we may all go tomorrow with a safe conscience.

I have been to Miss Tilney, and made your excuses.""You have not!" cried Catherine.

"I have, upon my soul. Left her this moment. Told her you had sent me to say that, having just recollected a prior engagement of going to Clifton with us tomorrow, you could not have the pleasure of walking with her till Tuesday.

She said very well, Tuesday was just as convenient to her;so there is an end of all our difficulties. A pretty good thought of mine--hey?"Isabella's countenance was once more all smiles and good humour, and James too looked happy again.

"A most heavenly thought indeed! Now, my sweet Catherine, all our distresses are over; you are honourably acquitted, and we shall have a most delightful party.""This will not do," said Catherine; "I cannot submit to this. I must run after Miss Tilney directly and set her right."Isabella, however, caught hold of one hand, Thorpe of the other, and remonstrances poured in from all three.

Even James was quite angry. When everything was settled, when Miss Tilney herself said that Tuesday would suit her as well, it was quite ridiculous, quite absurd, to make any further objection.

"I do not care. Mr. Thorpe had no business to invent any such message. If I had thought it right to put it off, I could have spoken to Miss Tilney myself.

This is only doing it in a ruder way; and how do I know that Mr. Thorpe has-- He may be mistaken again perhaps;he led me into one act of rudeness by his mistake on Friday.

Let me go, Mr. Thorpe; Isabella, do not hold me.

Thorpe told her it would be in vain to go after the Tilneys; they were turning the corner into Brock Street, when he had overtaken them, and were at home by this time.

"Then I will go after them," said Catherine;"wherever they are I will go after them. It does not signify talking. If I could not be persuaded into doing what I thought wrong, I never will be tricked into it."And with these words she broke away and hurried off.

Thorpe would have darted after her, but Morland withheld him.

"Let her go, let her go, if she will go. She is as obstinate as--"Thorpe never finished the simile, for it could hardly have been a proper one.

Away walked Catherine in great agitation, as fast as the crowd would permit her, fearful of being pursued, yet determined to persevere. As she walked, she reflected on what had passed. It was painful to her to disappoint and displease them, particularly to displease her brother;but she could not repent her resistance. Setting her own inclination apart, to have failed a second time in her engagement to Miss Tilney, to have retracted a promise voluntarily made only five minutes before, and on a false pretence too, must have been wrong. She had not been withstanding them on selfish principles alone, she had not consulted merely her own gratification; that might have been ensured in some degree by the excursion itself, by seeing Blaize Castle; no, she had attended to what was due to others, and to her own character in their opinion.

Her conviction of being right, however, was not enough to restore her composure; till she had spoken to Miss Tilney she could not be at ease; and quickening her pace when she got clear of the Crescent, she almost ran over the remaining ground till she gained the top of Milsom Street.

So rapid had been her movements that in spite of the Tilneys'

advantage in the outset, they were but just fuming into their lodgings as she came within view of them;and the servant still remaining at the open door, she used only the ceremony of saying that she must speak with Miss Tilney that moment, and hurrying by him proceeded upstairs. Then, opening the first door before her, which happened to be the right, she immediately found herself in the drawing-room with General Tilney, his son, and daughter. Her explanation, defective only in being--from her irritation of nerves and shortness of breath--no explanation at all, was instantly given.

"I am come in a great hurry--It was all a mistake--Inever promised to go--I told them from the first I could not go.--I ran away in a great hurry to explain it.--Idid not care what you thought of me.--I would not stay for the servant."The business, however, though not perfectly elucidated by this speech, soon ceased to be a puzzle.

Catherine found that John Thorpe had given the message;and Miss Tilney had no scruple in owning herself greatly surprised by it. But whether her brother had still exceeded her in resentment, Catherine, though she instinctively addressed herself as much to one as to the other in her vindication, had no means of knowing.

Whatever might have been felt before her arrival, her eager declarations immediately made every look and sentence as friendly as she could desire.

The affair thus happily settled, she was introduced by Miss Tilney to her father, and received by him with such ready, such solicitous politeness as recalled Thorpe's information to her mind, and made her think with pleasure that he might be sometimes depended on.