elible impression, which such
a disappointment must make on his mind. Time would undoubtedly abate
somewhat of his sufferings, but still it was a sort of thing which he
never could get entirely the better of; and as to his ever meeting with
any other woman who could--it was too impossible to be named but with
indignation. Fanny's friendship was all that he had to cling to.

CHAPTER XLVIII

Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery. I quit such odious subjects
as soon as I can, impatient to restore everybody, not greatly in fault
themselves, to tolerable comfort, and to have done with all the rest.

My Fanny, indeed, at this very time, I have the satisfaction of knowing,
must have been happy in spite of everything. She must have been a happy
creature in spite of all that she felt, or thought she felt, for the
distress of those around her. She had sources of delight that must force
their way. She was returned to Mansfield Park, she was useful, she was
beloved; she was safe from Mr. Crawford; and when Sir Thomas came back
she had every proof that could be given in his then melancholy state of
spirits, of his perfect approbation and increased regard; and happy as
all this must make her, she would still have been happy without any of
it, for Edmund was no longer the dupe of Miss Crawford.

It is true that Edmund was very far from happy himself. He was suffering
from disappointment and regret, grieving over what was, and wishing for
what could never be. She knew it was so, and was sorry; but it was with
a sorrow so founded on satisfaction, so tending to ease, and so much in
harmony with every dearest sensation, that there are few who might not
have been glad to exchange their greatest gaiety for it.

Sir Thomas, poor Sir Thomas, a parent, and conscious of errors in his
own conduct as a parent, was the longest to suffer. He felt that he
ought not to have allowed the marriage; that his daughter's sentiments
had been sufficiently known to him to render him culpable in authorising
it; that in so doing he had sacrificed the right to the expedient, and
been governed by motives of selfishness and worldly wisdom. These were
reflections that required some time to soften; but time will do almost
everything; and though little comfort arose on Mrs. Rushworth's side for
the misery she had occasioned, comfort was to be found greater than
he had supposed in his other children. Julia's match became a less
desperate business than he ha