Jane Austen's Estate of Affairs

Jane Austen's Estate of Affairs Chapter 6

Chapter Six.

Even as Christiana stared hopelessly down at the carriage she heard the rest of the house responding to its appearance. Mrs. Norton, fully aware of the attendance due to the children of her employer, loudly and agitatedly issued orders to all and sundry to prepare bedchambers, inform the cook, and make sure another ham was ordered. By comparison, the butler maintained the polished equilibrium for which he had been promoted to that post, and in short order had taken the prudent step of first dispatching two footmen to assist Miss Fanny and Master William down from the carriage, before dispatching a third to inform Master Edward that his children were arrived early.

Christiana herself remained fixed on the landing, undecided as to whether she should move forwards down the stairs or hurry back to her room. The temptation to do the latter was sadly strong; but she could not hide there forever, and might it not be better to confront her humiliation now, rather than spend hours in agonizing over who may know what, and what may have been said to whom?

“Miss Austen?” She started at the sound of Sir Richard’s voice, turning to find him regarding her from a higher step with slightly amused interest. “Do you intend to complete your progress downwards?”

Christiana’s eyes flashed in annoyance at being spoken to like a recalcitrant schoolgirl, but managed a terse “Of course, sir!” before turning away to precede him briskly down the stairs.

Nevertheless, as she neared the wide open front door, through which the sound of her cousins’ voices could already be discerned – Fanny’s soft and measured tones, with frequent robust interjections by the more excitable William – Christiana found herself slowing, and wishing she might stand aside to allow Sir Richard to go first out the door. As it happened, neither of them were to have that privilege, for with a cry of “My children!” the master of the house strode eagerly past them and burst out onto the graveled drive.

Christiana and Sir Richard emerged mere moments behind Mr. Edward Knight, to find Fanny already enveloped in a hug by her doting papa, while William – with supreme disregard for his parent’s appearance, and much to the consternation of the waiting grooms – lifted up the left hind leg of one of the grays to inspect its hoof.

“Just as I said – got a stone lodged in there!”

“William, really – must you behave like a brat to our father, as well as myself?” The despairing reprimand came from his sister… who, upon turning away from her papa and toward her errant sibling, caught sight for the first time of Christiana and Sir Richard standing there.

“Cousin? Sir Richard!”

Following Fanny’s surprised exclamation, the next minutes were taken up with cordial greetings and eager enquiries by Fanny as to what had brought both parties to Chawton.

Sir Richard revealed that he had been invited by Mr. Knight to advise on matters related to the Chawton grounds and surrounding farmland, which seemed to Christiana such a palpably thin pretext for a visit (despite his much vaunted expertise in such matters) that she suspected both he and Fanny must know it to be the merest flummery. For her part, Christiana explained truthfully that she had been invited by Aunt Cassandra, omitting only the reason for her urgent summoning. This led naturally to an explanation of Cassandra’s absence – the illness of their grandmama – which produced in Fanny all the concerned response one would expect from a loving grandchild.

To Christiana’s great relief, her cousin seemed nothing but pleased by her presence, with no evidence of the awkwardness or dislike she had feared if Fanny had known of her earlier misapprehension concerning Sir Richard.

‘Or perhaps she knows of it’ thought Christiana with sudden clarity ‘and is pleased to know that, of all men, I should dangle after him last?’