Courtesy and Contempt

Chapter 9-1

Chapter 9The little girl made her long journey to safety; and in Northampton she was received by Mrs. Norris, who so enjoyed the merit of welcoming her first and foremost, and in the importance of bringing her in to others and commending her to her kindness.

Esther Price was just ten years old at the time, and while her first appearance didn't have much to captivate, there was at least nothing to disgust her relatives. She was small for her age, without bright face color or other striking beauty; extremely shy and shy and shy of attention; but her face, though clumsy, was not vulgar, her voice was sweet, and when she spoke, her facial expression was pretty. Sir Thomas and Lady Schmidt received them very kindly; and Sir Thomas, who saw how much she needed encouragement, tried to be anything that was conciliatory: but he had to work against a most unfavorable seriousness of behavior; and Lady Schmidt, without making half as much effort or speaking a word where he spoke ten, immediately became the less terrible character of the two by the mere help of a good-natured smile.

The young people were all at home and endured their part in the introduction very well, with a lot of good humor and without embarrassment, at least on the part of the sons, who at seventeen and sixteen and tall for their age were all the greatness of the men in the eyes of their little cousin. The two girls were rather perplexed to be younger and had greater reverence for their father, who addressed them on this occasion with a rather unreasonable peculiarity. But they were too accustomed to company and praise to have anything like natural shyness; and their self-confidence grew due to their cousin's complete lack of it, and they were soon able to fully overlook her face and dress in slight indifference.

They were a remarkably fine family, the sons very handsome, the daughters decidedly pretty and all well grown up and according to their age, which is an equally remarkable difference between the cousins ???? in person, as education had given them the address; and no one would have thought the girls were as old as they really were. In fact, there were only two years between the youngest and Esther. Julia Schmidt was only twelve, Maria only one year older. Meanwhile, the little visitor was as unhappy as possible. She was afraid of everyone, ashamed and longed for the home she had left. She didn't know how to look up and could barely speak to be heard or without crying. Mrs. Norris had been telling her all the way from Northampton about her wonderful happiness, and the extraordinary level of gratitude and good behavior it was meant to evoke, and her awareness of misery was therefore reinforced by the idea that not being happy would be an evil thing for her. Even the fatigue of such a long journey soon no longer became an insignificant evil. In vain were the well-intentioned condescension of Sir Thomas and all the intrusive prophecies of Mrs. Norris that she would become a good girl; Lady Schmidt smiled in vain and forced her to sit on the sofa with herself and Pug, and in vain even the sight of a gooseberry tart was comforting; She could barely swallow two bites before tears interrupted her, and sleep seemed to be her most likely friend, she was made to end her worries in bed. and their sense of misery was therefore reinforced by the idea that it was an evil thing for them not to be happy. Even the fatigue of such a long journey soon no longer became an insignificant evil. In vain were the well-intentioned condescension of Sir Thomas and all the intrusive prophecies of Mrs. Norris that she would become a good girl; Lady Schmidt smiled in vain and forced her to sit on the sofa with herself and Pug, and in vain even the sight of a gooseberry tart was comforting; She could barely swallow two bites before tears interrupted her, and sleep seemed to be her most likely friend, she was made to end her worries in bed. and their sense of misery was therefore reinforced by the idea that it was an evil thing for them not to be happy. Even the fatigue of such a long journey soon no longer became an insignificant evil. In vain were the well-intentioned condescension of Sir Thomas and all the intrusive prophecies of Mrs. Norris that she would become a good girl; Lady Schmidt smiled in vain and forced her to sit on the sofa with herself and Pug, and in vain even the sight of a gooseberry tart was comforting; She could barely swallow two bites before tears interrupted her, and sleep seemed to be her most likely friend, she was made to end her worries in bed. Norris that she would be a good girl; Lady Schmidt smiled in vain and forced her to sit on the sofa with herself and Pug, and in vain even the sight of a gooseberry tart was comforting; She could barely swallow two bites before tears interrupted her, and sleep seemed to be her most likely friend, she was made to end her worries in bed. Norris that she would be a good girl; Lady Schmidt smiled in vain and forced her to sit on the sofa with herself and Pug, and in vain even the sight of a gooseberry tart was comforting; She could barely swallow two bites before tears interrupted her, and sleep seemed to be her most likely friend, she was made to end her worries in bed.

"This is not a very promising start," Mrs. Norris said when Esther left the room. "After everything I said to her when we walked by, I thought she had behaved better; I told her how much would depend on whether she did well at first. I wish it wasn't a little grumpy – her poor mother had a lot to do; but we must take such a child into account – and I do not know whether she is really disgusted that she is sorry to leave her home, because it was her home with all its faults, and she cannot yet comprehend how much she has changed for the better; but then there is moderation in all things."

However, it took longer than Mrs. Norris wanted to admit to reconcile Esther with the novelty of Mansfield Park and the separation from everyone she was used to. Their feelings were very acute and were not understood enough to take care of them adequately. No one wanted to be rude, but no one went out of their way to secure her comfort.

The holiday granted to the Miss Schmidts the next day to get free time to get to know and entertain their young cousin produced little unity. They could only hold her cheaply when they found out that she had only two sashes and had never learned French; and when they realized that she was not very impressed by the duet they could play so well, all they could do for her than give her a generous gift of some of her least appreciated toys and leave her to her own devices while dealing with everything could be the most popular holiday sport right now, making artificial flowers or wasting gold paper.

Esther, whether nearby or from her cousins, whether in the classroom, in the salon or in the bushes, was equally abandoned and found something to fear in every person and in every place. She was discouraged by Lady Schmidt's silence, intimidated by Sir Thomas' serious looks, and quite overwhelmed by Mrs. Norris' admonitions. Her older cousins ???? shamed them by thinking about their greatness, and shamed them by noticing their shyness: Miss Lee wondered about her ignorance, and the maids mocked her clothes; and when these worries were compounded by the idea of the brothers and sisters, among whom she had always played an important role as a playmate, educator and nurse, the dejection that lowered her little heart was severe.

The splendor of the house amazed, but could not comfort her. The rooms were too big for her to move comfortably in: whatever touched her, she expected to be hurt, and she crept around in constant fear of something; often retreats to their own chamber to cry; and the little girl who was talked about in the salon when she left it at night, as if it seemed so desirable to be aware of her special happiness, ended the worries every day by sobbing herself to sleep. A week had passed in this way, and her calm, passive nature betrayed none of this when one morning she was found sitting on the attic stairs crying by her cousin Edmund, the youngest of the sons.

"My dear little cousin," he said with all the gentleness of an excellent nature, "what can be wrong?" And when he sat down next to her, he went to great lengths to overcome her shame at being so surprised and persuade her to speak openly. Was she sick? or was someone angry with her? or had she quarreled with Maria and Juliet? or was she confused in her class about anything he could explain? In short, did she want anything he could possibly get her or do for her? For a long time, there was no answer to get but a "no, no – not at all – no, thank you"; but he still persisted; and no sooner had he begun to return to her own house than her increased sobbing explained to him where the complaint was. He tried to comfort her.

"You're sorry to leave Mom, my dear little Esther," he said, "which shows that you are a very good girl; but you have to keep in mind that you are with relatives and friends who love you all and want to make you happy. Let's go to the park, and you should tell me all about your brothers and sisters."

As he explored the subject, he found that as dear as all these brothers and sisters were in general, there was one among them who was more in their thoughts than the others. It was William she spoke of the most and wanted to see the most. William, the eldest, a year older than her, her constant companion and friend; her intercessor with her mother (whose darling he was) in every need. "William didn't like it when she left; he had told her that he really should miss her very much." "But William will write to you, dare I say." "Yes, he had promised it, but he had told her to write first." "And when do you do that?" She hung her head and replied hesitantly, "She didn't know; she had no paper."

"If all this is your difficulty, I will provide you with paper and all other material, and you can write your letter whenever you want. Would it make you happy to write William?"

"Yes, very much."

"Then let it happen now. Come with us to the breakfast room, we will find everything there and be sure to have the room to ourselves."

"But cousin, is it going to the post office?"

" Yes, depends on me, it should go with the other letters; and as your uncle puts it, it won't cost William anything."

"My uncle!" repeated Esther with a frightened look.

"Yes, if you have written the letter, I will take it to my father for franking."

Esther considered it a bold measure, but offered no further resistance; and they went together to the breakfast room, where Edmund prepared her newspaper and arranged her lines with all the goodwill her brother might have felt himself, and probably with a little more accuracy. He stayed with her the whole time while she wrote to help her with his pocket knife or orthography, depending on what was desired; and added to these attentions, which she felt very much, a kindness to her brother that delighted her above all else. He personally wrote his love to his cousin William and sent him half a guinea under the seal. Esther's feelings on this occasion were as she thought she could not express them; but her facial expression and a few simple words expressed all her gratitude and joy, and her cousin began to find an object of interest to her. He talked to her more and, after all she said, was convinced that she had a loving heart and a strong desire to do the right thing; and he could perceive that she was still entitled to attention through great sensitivity to her situation and great shyness. He had never knowingly inflicted pain on her, but now he felt she needed more positive kindness; and in this regard first tried to reduce her fear of everyone, and gave her a lot of good advice on how to play with Maria and Juliet and be as funny as possible. and he could perceive that she was still entitled to attention through great sensitivity to her situation and great shyness. He had never knowingly inflicted pain on her, but now he felt she needed more positive kindness; and in this regard first tried to reduce her fear of everyone, and gave her a lot of good advice on how to play with Maria and Juliet and be as funny as possible. and he could perceive that she was still entitled to attention through great sensitivity to her situation and great shyness. He had never knowingly inflicted pain on her, but now he felt she needed more positive kindness; and in this regard first tried to reduce her fear of everyone, and gave her a lot of good advice on how to play with Maria and Juliet and be as funny as possible.