Austen Said:

it would be in vain to go after the Tilneys; they were turning the corner into Brock Street, when he had overtaken them, and were at home by this time.

“Then I will go after them,”

said Catherine;

“wherever they are I will go after them. It does not signify talking. If I could not be persuaded into doing what I thought wrong, I never will be tricked into it.”

And with these words she broke away and hurried off. Thorpe would have darted after her, but Morland withheld him.

“Let her go, let her go, if she will go. She is as obstinate as — ”

Thorpe never finished the simile, for it could hardly have been a proper one.

Away walked Catherine in great agitation, as fast as the crowd would permit her, fearful of being pursued, yet determined to persevere. As she walked, she reflected on what had passed. It was painful to her to disappoint and displease them, particularly to displease her brother; but she could not repent her resistance.

Setting her own inclination apart, to have failed a second time in her engagement to Miss Tilney, to have retracted a promise voluntarily made only five minutes before, and on a false pretence too, must have been wrong. She had not been withstanding them on selfish principles alone, she had not consulted merely her own gratification; that might have been ensured in some degree by the excursion itself, by seeing Blaize Castle; no, she had attended to what was due to others, and to her own character in their opinion.

Her conviction of being right, however, was not enough to restore her composure; till she had spoken to Miss Tilney she could not be at ease; and quickening her pace when she got clear of the Crescent, she almost ran over the remaining ground till she gained the top of Milsom Street. So rapid had been her movements that in spite of the Tilneys’ advantage in the outset, they were but just turning into their lodgings as she came within view of them; and the servant still remaining at the open door,

she

used only the ceremony of

saying that

she must speak with Miss Tilney that moment,

and hurrying by him proceeded upstairs. Then, opening the first door before her, which happened to be the right, she immediately found herself in the drawing-room with General Tilney, his son, and daughter. Her explanation, defective only in being — from her irritation of nerves and shortness of breath — no explanation at all, was instantly given.

“I am come in a great hurry — It was all a mistake — I never promised to go — I told them from the first I could not go. — I ran away in a great hurry to explain it. — I did not care what you thought of me. — I would not stay for the servant.”

The business, however, though not perfectly elucidated by this speech, soon ceased to be a puzzle.

Catherine found that

John Thorpe had given the message;

and

Miss Tilney had no scruple in

owning herself greatly surprised by it.

But whether her brother had still exceeded her in resentment, Catherine, though she instinctively addressed herself as much to one as to the other in her vindication, had no means of knowing. Whatever might have been felt before her arrival, her eager declarations immediately made every look and sentence as friendly as she could desire.

The affair thus happily settled, she was introduced by Miss Tilney to her father, and received by him with such ready, such solicitous politeness as recalled Thorpe’s information to her mind, and

made her think

with pleasure

that

he might be sometimes depended on.

To such anxious attention was the general’s civility carried, that not aware of her extraordinary swiftness in entering the house,

he was quite angry

with the servant whose neglect had reduced her to open the door of the apartment herself.

“What did William mean by it? He should make a point of inquiring into the matter.”

And if Catherine had not most warmly asserted his innocence, it seemed likely that William would lose the favour of his master forever, if not his place, by her rapidity.

After sitting with them a quarter of an hour, she rose to take leave, and was then most agreeably surprised by

General Tilney’s asking her

if she would do his daughter the honour of dining and spending the rest of the day with her.

Miss Tilney added her own wishes.

Catherine

was greatly obliged; but it was quite out of her power. Mr. and Mrs. Allen would expect her back every moment.

The general declared

he could say no more; the claims of Mr. and Mrs. Allen were not to be superseded; but on some other day he trusted, when longer notice could be given, they would not refuse to spare her to her friend.

“Oh, no; Catherine was sure they would not have the least objection, and she should have great pleasure in coming.”

The general

attended her himself to the street-door, saying everything gallant as they went downstairs,

admiring

the elasticity of her walk, which corresponded exactly with the spirit of her dancing,

and making her one of the most graceful bows she had ever beheld, when they parted.

Catherine, delighted by all that had passed, proceeded gaily to Pulteney Street,

walking,

as she concluded,