Austen Said:

He could have no comfort but in Edmund. Every other child must be racking his heart. His displeasure against herself

would now be done away. She should be justified. Mr. Crawford would have fully acquitted her conduct in refusing him; but this, though most material to herself, would be poor consolation to Sir Thomas. Her uncle's displeasure was terrible to her; but what could her justification or her gratitude and attachment do for him? His stay must be on Edmund alone.

That Edmund must be for ever divided from Miss Crawford

and yet, till she knew that he felt the same, her own conviction was insufficient.

If he would now speak to her with the unreserve which had sometimes been too much for her before, it would be most consoling; but that

was not to be. She seldom saw him: never alone. He probably avoided being alone with her. What was to be inferred? That his judgment submitted to all his own peculiar and bitter share of this family affliction, but that it was too keenly felt to be a subject of the slightest communication. This must be his state. He yielded, but it was with agonies which did not admit of speech. Long, long would it be ere Miss Crawford's name passed his lips again, or she could hope for a renewal of such confidential intercourse as had been.