Posted on Sunday, 9 September 2001
It was his night to shine. All the ladies would be wanting his attentions at Lady Stornaway's party. Even the lady herself would be looking to be paid attention to by the charming reverend.
"So, Henry," said his beautiful sister Mary Bertram, wife to his dearest friend The Reverend Edmund Bertram, as they traveled in the carriage to the party, "shall you miss Fanny tonight? Or shall the ladies here be too distracting for you to even think about her?"
"Why, Mary, why should you tease your brother like that," said her husband. "You know his mind shall be with Fanny all night."
"Of course it shall, Edmund," replied Henry with a smile that, though he did not understand it, made some ladies and mothers disgusted or uneasy. "No lady here tonight could possibly compete with your lovely cousin for my heart and soul; both belong to her, and both always shall belong to her. She is worth the wait."
The truth was that Henry Crawford still enjoyed making ladies fall in love with him, and still worked to keep all of his conquests from going away. Well, he had lost a few over the years, but that was to be expected; he could not keep track of all of them at once! A man whose heart was more into the spirit of the cloth would have given up all of the flirting and false gallantries that Henry Crawford still enjoyed to the fullest. But Henry Crawford was no such man; while he may have had the best delivery anyone could remember hearing, many knew that he did not pay enough attention to his duties as a clergymen. He should deliver sermons every week, if he could, instead of every six weeks with the exceptions of some holidays.
But his dwelling on the virtue, patience, beauty, compliance, and intelligence of Fanny Price at last told the ladies of London that the rumor that he took orders for a simple county ward was true! That made them very angry, and all the more determined to reclaim his attentions for themselves. Every lady who had ever been dying for him felt insulted that such a simple girl (who could not be as pretty as he said she was) could have drawn him in. What the ladies said about Fanny Price is best left unsaid. Had the fathers (and some of the mothers) of the ladies heard the language used, the ladies would have found their lives quickly becoming cramped and unpleasant.
Henry Crawford was aware that cruel things were being said about Fanny, but he knew not what the exact words were. He did, however, use his charms to place the offending ladies in line, which made the girls think once again about recapturing his attentions.
That the Mansfield family desired a match between Fanny and himself was strengthened by Mary having married Fanny's cousin Edmund. Henry had been surprised by the match when it happened, but he was quick to see how it would help his chances of succeeding all the sooner. What other men said about Edmund did not signify to Henry; Edmund was a good man and would treat Mary well. Henry's interest in the matter was how it influenced Fanny. It was only a matter of time before he forced Fanny to love him. Sadly to him, he had not been able to see her in a few months; she, her sister Susan, and her other cousins were all visiting a lady who was known for being strict with her charges. When people called her strict, they meant that if there was someone that her charges did not like, that person was not welcome to come anywhere near the charges, period. Her name was Mrs. Rachel Baker, a widow with grown children. Henry had not even heard of anyone seeing Fanny or her accompanying family for well over a week, but he assumed that they were simply staying out of sight for a bit.
The party was well underway when the Crawford barouche arrived at the Stornaway townhouse. Henry stepped out, in garments that still signified his status as a gentleman. Edmund could still do the same, yet both men had to wear dark colors since they were both reverends. Mary was in a stunning white gown, which ensured that her husband's attention would be with her the whole night.
They were greeted warmly by their hosts. Lord Stornaway's manners were at their best; it was suspected that he had been looking at Mrs. Edmund Bertram as a possible wife while she was still single. The Stornaways were one of the unhappiest couples in London, and neither seemed to care if the other was often looking at others. So Lord Stornaway was often looking very much at the ladies, and Lady Stornaway was often looking at Henry Crawford, even though he declared himself devoted to a country girl.
Henry, Mary and Edmund moved towards the main gathering in the room, and were soon talking with many people. Mary and Edmund were talking to the Frasers, while Henry was being pressed by every young lady who could get near him. His sermon on Sunday had roused the passions in many ladies, and he had such delight in continuing his games that he did not notice four young couples enter with two older ladies accompanying them.
It was nearly three hours later that Henry hooked back up with his sister and brother-in-law again. "Are you enjoying yourselves," he inquired.
"Ha!" cried Mary. "Enjoying is an understatement, Henry. I do love seeing all my old friends again, and showing my happiness as a married woman," she added, looking at Edmund, who smiled lovingly at her.
Edmund looked like he was about to say something, but his attention was caught by something in another part of the room. "What is this? That cannot be Maria I see."
Henry turned to look, and, indeed, there was Maria Bertram. She was on the arm of a brown-haired, wealthy looking gentleman, and her gown looked too fine to be one of hers. "I wonder what she is doing in so fine a gown as that," mused Henry.
"Wait," whispered Mary. Then Julia, on the arm of a red-headed, wealthy gentleman, appeared in a gown that was even finer than Maria's. "Something is not right here. Shall we go find out what is happening with them?" Her idea was instantly agreed upon, and they moved with determination towards that part of the room.
Getting there was difficult given how many ladies wished to converse with Henry, but the managed to reach within a few feet of Maria in several minutes. At last, Edmund called her name, and the lady turned her head and her smile faded upon seeing Henry, but widened upon seeing her brother and sister. "Good evening, Edmund, Mary," she greeted. A nod was all she gave Henry.
"Maria, what are you doing here," asked Edmund, "and who is this man you are with?"
Maria smiled, and the man smiled. "Allow me to introduce The Earl of Southerton, my husband."
"Your husband!" exclaimed all three, making all surrounding noise stop.
Maria did not mind that all of the attention was on her. She seemed to delight in it. "Yes, we were married at Gretna Green just last week." She motioned to Julia, who brought forward her man.
Julia smiled. "This is The Marquis of Alverstoke, my husband."
Edmund, Mary, and Henry had little time to absorb that shock when they heard Tom Bertram's voice. "Well, I see we are breaking the news to them now, are we not?"
They turned and saw him with Susan Price on his arm. At their looks of shock, he said, "Oh, allow me to introduce my lovely wife, Susan. Susan, I believe you know our brother and sister Henry and Mary."
"Why, yes I do. Though I dearly wish my sister Mary could have been here to enjoy this moment with us. She would have enjoyed it as much as we do."
Edmund at last found his voice. "Well, why could you not wait to have the weddings where all your family could see them?"
Tom's expression grew very serious. "Because we were not certain of the matches meeting with approval from our father, so we wished to make sure that we would have our soul mates no matter what our families thought. And speaking of which," he motioned to someone that the trio could not see, "allow me to introduce you to someone else."
At last, the couple made their way forward. Henry gasped. "Fanny!"
Fanny frowned. "That is Lady Matthew Alexander to you, Reverend Crawford."
"Lady Matthew Alexander!" cried Edmund and Mary.
"Yes," Fanny replied calmly. "My husband is Captain Lord Matthew Alexander, second son of the Duke of Norfolk, and has a grand fortune that Mr. Crawford could never hope to match if he worked all of his life. My love," she turned to her husband, "I am ready to return home. Shall we leave?"
"Certainly, my love." The other three couples moved to leave, and two older ladies joined them.
"Wait!" Henry rushed forward, but was blocked by the four men surrounding the former Miss Bertrams and Prices. "Why, Fanny, why? I took orders for you! I have given up so much for you! How could you do this to me!"
Fanny looked like she was ready to laugh. "Why? Because you are, despite what you think, a selfish, impatient, vain, proud, and arrogant man. Matthew is everything you never shall be, and he makes me happy. Something you have never thought about." Then she glanced at Edmund and his wife. ?And, recently, you too, Edmund and Mary,"
With that, Fanny and her company all left.
Henry stood stock still, barely aware of the ladies swarming for his attention now that the "detestable country girl" was out of the way. Edmund and Mary were just as shocked, and they knew who the man was.
Henry Crawford, sadly found himself forced to marry Margaret Fraser after that night. He was drunk, and when he woke he was found by Mary and Edmund with Margaret Fraser. They never had any children.
Edmund and Mary only had two, and their son inherited Everingham. They were tolerably happy, but their marriage was peppered with serious arguments.
The Mansfield and Portsmouth families were stunned at first, but delighted with the matches. The only person who was not was Mrs. Norris; she had a stroke and died.
As for the four young, happy couples, they all had many children, and lived happily ever after.