Austen Said:

"Why, to be sure,"

"yes, certainly—I cannot deny that Mrs. Weston, poor Mrs. Weston, does come and see us pretty often—but then—she is always obliged to go away again."

"But you should tell them of the letter, my dear,"

"He wrote a letter to poor Mrs. Weston, to congratulate her, and a very proper, handsome letter it was. She shewed it to me. I thought it very well done of him indeed. Whether it was his own idea you know, one cannot tell. He is but young, and his uncle, perhaps—"

"Three-and-twenty!—is he indeed?—Well, I could not have thought it— and he was but two years old when he lost his poor mother! Well, time does fly indeed!—and my memory is very bad. However, it was an exceeding good, pretty letter, and gave Mr. and Mrs. Weston a great deal of pleasure. I remember it was written from Weymouth, and dated Sept. 28th—and began, 'My dear Madam,' but I forget how it went on; and it was signed 'F. C. Weston Churchill.'—I remember that perfectly."

"My poor dear Isabella,"

"How long it is, how terribly long since you were here! And how tired you must be after your journey! You must go to bed early, my dear— and I recommend a little gruel to you before you go.—You and I will have a nice basin of gruel together. My dear Emma, suppose we all have a little gruel."

"It was an awkward business, my dear, your spending the autumn at South End instead of coming here. I never had much opinion of the sea air."

"Ah! my dear, but Perry had many doubts about the sea doing her any good; and as to myself, I have been long perfectly convinced, though perhaps I never told you so before, that the sea is very rarely of use to any body. I am sure it almost killed me once."

"Why, pretty well; but not quite well. Poor Perry is bilious, and he has not time to take care of himself —

he tells me

which is very sad —

I suppose there is not a man in such practice anywhere. But then there is not so clever a man any where."

"I hope he will be here to-morrow, for I have a question or two to ask him about myself of some consequence. And, my dear, whenever he comes, you had better let him look at little Bella's throat."

"It is not very likely, my dear, that bathing should have been of use to her—and if I had known you were wanting an embrocation, I would have spoken to —

"Why, pretty well, my dear, upon the whole. But poor Mrs. Bates had a bad cold about a month ago."

"That has been a good deal the case, my dear; but not to the degree you mention.

Perry says that

"Ah! my poor dear child, the truth is, that in London it is always a sickly season. Nobody is healthy in London, nobody can be. It is a dreadful thing to have you forced to live there! so far off!—and the air so bad!"

"Ah! my dear, it is not like Hartfield. You make the best of it—but after you have been a week at Hartfield, you are all of you different creatures; you do not look like the same. Now I cannot say, that I think you are any of you looking well at present."

"Middling, my dear; I cannot compliment you. I think Mr. John Knightley very far from looking well."

"Our little friend Harriet Smith, however, is just such another pretty kind of young person. You will like Harriet. Emma could not have a better companion than Harriet."

"Ah!"

"I shall always be very sorry that you went to the sea this autumn, instead of coming here."

"And, moreover, if you must go to the sea, it had better not have been to South End. South End is an unhealthy place.

Perry

"You should have gone to Cromer, my dear, if you went anywhere.—Perry was a week at Cromer once, and

he holds it

he says,

And, by what I understand, you might have had lodgings there quite away from the sea— a quarter of a mile off— very comfortable. You should have consulted Perry."

as Perry says,

This is just what Perry said.

"What is to be done, my dear Emma?—what is to be done?"

"He was afraid they should have a very bad drive. He was afraid poor Isabella would not like it. And there would be poor Emma in the carriage behind. He did not know what they had best do. They must keep as much together as they could;"

"Ah! Mr. Knightley, why do not you stay at home like poor Mr. Elton?"

"No, my dear,"

"that I am sure you are not. There is nobody half so attentive and civil as you are. If any thing, you are too attentive. The muffin last night —if it had been handed round once, I think it would have been enough."

"I hope every body had a pleasant evening,"

"I had. Once, I felt the fire rather too much; but then I moved back my chair a little, a very little, and it did not disturb me. Miss Bates was very chatty and good-humoured, as she always is, though she speaks rather too quick. However, she is very agreeable, and Mrs. Bates too, in a different way. I like old friends; and Miss Jane Fairfax is a very pretty sort of young lady, a very pretty and a very well-behaved young lady indeed. She must have found the evening agreeable, Mr. Knightley, because she had Emma."

"It is a great pity that their circumstances should be so confined! a great pity indeed! and I have often wished —but it is so little one can venture to do —small, trifling presents, of any thing uncommon —Now we have killed a porker, and Emma thinks of sending them a loin or a leg; it is very small and delicate— Hartfield pork is not like any other pork—but still it is pork—and, my dear Emma, unless one could be sure of their making it into steaks, nicely fried, as ours are fried, without the smallest grease, and not roast it, for no stomach can bear roast pork— I think we had better send the leg— do not you think so, my dear?"

"That's right, my dear, very right. I had not thought of it before, but that is the best way. They must not over-salt the leg; and then, if it is not over-salted, and if it is very thoroughly boiled, just as Serle boils ours, and eaten very moderately of, with a boiled turnip, and a little carrot or parsnip, I do not consider it unwholesome."

"We consider our Hartfield pork,"

"indeed it certainly is, so very superior to all other pork, that Emma and I cannot have a greater pleasure than —"

"He is very young to settle,"

"He had better not be in a hurry. He seemed to me very well off as he was. We were always glad to see him at Hartfield."

"You are acquainted with Miss Jane Fairfax, sir, are you?"

"then give me leave to assure you that you will find her a very agreeable young lady. She is staying here on a visit to her grandmama and aunt, very worthy people; I have known them all my life. They will be extremely glad to see you, I am sure; and one of my servants shall go with you to shew you the way."

"But your father is not going so far; he is only going to the Crown, quite on the other side of the street, and there are a great many houses; you might be very much at a loss, and it is a very dirty walk, unless you keep on the footpath; but my coachman can tell you where you had best cross the street."

"I am not fond of dinner-visiting,"

"I never was. No more is Emma. Late hours do not agree with us. I am sorry Mr. and Mrs. Cole should have done it. I think it would be much better if they would come in one afternoon next summer, and take their tea with us —take us in their afternoon walk; which they might do, as our hours are so reasonable, and yet get home without being out in the damp of the evening. The dews of a summer evening are what I would not expose any body to. However, as they are so very desirous to have dear Emma dine with them, and as you will both be there, and Mr. Knightley too, to take care of her, I cannot wish to prevent it, provided the weather be what it ought, neither damp, nor cold, nor windy."