Although Julia Bertram of Thornton Lacey might not make as brilliant a match as Miss Julia of Mansfield Park, and although the previous year had been an unhappy one for her, she had gained juster notions about the sort of man who was best calculated to make her happy, and such a man would be as different from Henry Crawford as could be imagined. An open temper, a quiet dedication to duty, a warm and sympathetic heart, were all she prized now and held out as her secret ideal. Out from the shadow of her older sister, who had always been considered her superior in beauty and accomplishment, Julia gave every promise of growing up to be an affectionate and thoughtful woman. Her temper was naturally the easiest of the two; her feelings, though quick, were more controllable, and education had not given her so very hurtful a degree of self-consequence. Her cheerful companionship supported Edmund’s spirits, and at her artless suggestion, he began a correspondence with his cousin Lieutenant Price, which led to a deep and sincere friendship between the two young men.
Lieutenant William Price continued his service under Captain Columbine aboard the frigate Crocodile, which returned to the African coast, to the great anxiety of his family and friends, who regarded his being stationed in a climate so deleterious to the European constitution as more likely to be fatal than direct warfare against the French, an apprehension that was well founded, as the rate of death among the sailors of the anti-slavery squadron was by far the highest in the fleet. Nevertheless, the ever-sanguine William saw in such a situation only the increased chances for promotion, and in rescuing Africans from the toils of the slavers, an activity he relished for its own sake, he anticipated the acquisition of handsome bounties.
William’s participation in apprehending the Clementine did him no disservice in the eyes of his uncle or his family, who all understood that he was doing his duty, and it provided a reassurance to Fanny that even the best-intentioned actions can have unexpected consequences, and that fear of the worst ought not to deter us from prudently acting for the best.
After the breakup of the establishment at Mansfield Park, Fanny was invited to reside with Mrs. Butters in Stoke Newington. Fanny came to love Mrs. Butters almost as a mother, and Mrs. Butters was likewise very attached to Fanny, and was happy to provide her with a home until the circumstances arose in which Fanny could enter a home of her own. Mrs. Butters was very careful of Fanny’s health, and would not permit her to over tax herself. They worked together in helping to establish a sort of academy for young seamstresses, and Fanny educated herself on every detail of the dressmakers’ trade.
Although Fanny was reconciled with Maria and Julia and wished them well, her heart, her inclinations, her warmth and interest were more for her own brothers and sisters. Children of the same family, the same blood, with the same first associations and habits, have some means of enjoyment in their power, which no subsequent connexions can supply; and it must be by a long and unnatural estrangement, if such precious remains of the earliest attachments are ever entirely outlived. Although William would always remain her favourite, she established correspondence with her brothers John and Richard, and as with Susan, was amazed to learn how the more fearless disposition and happier nerves of the younger Prices aided them as made their own way in the world. John worked as a junior clerk in the rough-and-tumble world of the police who patrolled the London docks. Though only seventeen, there was not much of human frailty he had not witnessed at first hand. Richard, at sixteen, had been at sea for four years, and was shouldering the responsibilities of a man while still a youth. Fanny gave all of her heart and pride to her brothers and sisters, acknowledging the advantages of early hardship and discipline, and the consciousness of being born to struggle and endure.
William Gibson was some months recovering his health and strength from the effects of the malarial fever contracted from the pestilential shores of Africa. He used his time as an invalid to arrange his notes and write his account of the brief but eventful last voyage of the Solebay, and the capture of the slave ship Clementine, as the guest of Mr. and Mrs. Smallridge, who offered him a small cottage on their property. After so many months sharing the cramped quarters on board ship, the absolute solitude and peace of the countryside revived his spirits and his enthusiasm for the great struggle for the eradication of slavery which still lay ahead.
Whatever the expectations of her friend Mrs. Butters, Fanny, while harbouring feelings of the greatest respect and regard for Mr. Gibson, did not believe that he was ready to enter upon married life, nor, in truth, was she. A few more years were wanting to replace her girlish timidity with the quiet self-confidence of an intelligent, well-judging woman, and to replace her habitual self-doubt with the conviction that she was worthy of attaching a man of serious merit, principles and character. Furthermore, she believed that he to whom she gave her hand, deserved to have her entire heart as well. She hoped that time and fortitude would do away with any tendency on her part to regard Edmund as more than a beloved cousin. While her girlish love for Edmund was by no means blameable, she was teaching herself to regard it as merely the natural consequence of having no other objects to love, other than he who had been her only childhood friend. She had been too apt, to
