Chapter 56The day at Sotherton, with all its imperfections, granted Miss Schmidt much more pleasant feelings than those derived from the letters of Antigua, which soon reached Mansfield. It was much more pleasant to think of Henry Dorset than her father; and to think again about their father in England within a certain period of time, as these letters obliged them to do, was a highly unwelcome exercise.
November was the black month for his return. Sir Thomas wrote about it with as much determination as experience and concern could allow. His deal was so close that he justified accepting his passage in the September package, and he was consequently happy with the hope of being back with his beloved family in early November.
Mary was more pitiful than Julia; for the Father brought her a ma
