Hello again! I’m back with the next section of my work-in-progress, an epistolary novella with characters from Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, and Northanger Abbey! If you missed the first two parts (or need to refresh your memory on what’s going on), you can read the previous sections here.
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Miss Margaret Dashwood to Mrs. Marianne Brandon
Dear Marianne,
Mrs. Jennings’ diligent efforts to arrange a meeting between myself and her nephew were indeed rewarded last evening. I remember I told you that he was sure to be a coxcomb and that I would be as dull and insipid as possible, so that he would not foist his prattle upon me. My determination was a little shaken when I was introduced to him, as he was more handsome than I thought he would be (Mrs. Jennings had praised him so outrageously that I suspected all of it). However, I was able to hold to my resolve when it became apparent that Mrs. Jennings had indeed exaggerated his charms. One cannot imagine Captain Jennings doing anything as dashing as commanding a ship! He seemed to be quite half-witted, only speaking when spoken to and even then saying very few words. He paid not the slightest attention to me, which I was very glad of. One can only hope we will not be thrown together again.
I have missed hearing you play on the pianoforte since I have been in London. I have not heard anyone play until last night. There were three other guests besides ourselves: a widow called Mrs. Thorpe and two of her daughters. I thought they might become friends (the daughters, I mean), but they paid as little attention to me as Captain Jennings did!
One of the daughters plays the pianoforte—not as well as you do, but creditably enough. When Mrs. Jennings asked how I had enjoyed the evening, the only good thing I could think of to say was that the music had reminded me of my beloved sister. She then told me that there is a musical society lately formed in London, and their first concert is next week. Mrs. Jennings said she will bring me. I think it is hardly the sort of thing that would attract coxcombs and sea captains, so I can anticipate the treat without worrying about who I might be forced to converse with!
Captain Wentworth to Captain Jennings
Dear Jennings,
As a consolation for the harrowing evening you were required to spend at the Ferrars’, please come and dine with us tomorrow. We promise good food and no surprise damsels as fellow guests to trap you into matrimony. Although I do think it would be a very good thing if you were to settle down with a good-hearted, winsome lass, I will leave you to find your own wife—I have no turn for matchmaking.
Captain Jennings to Captain Wentworth
Dear Wentworth,
Thank you for your kind hospitality last evening. This is only a brief missive to inform you of something my sister told me just now. The Royal Philharmonic Society, in which she is very much interested, is holding their first concert next week. While still an invalid, she is well enough to sit and listen to music for an evening and is counting on my escort. I thought you and your good lady might like to attend, as well, as Mrs. Wentworth said last night that she enjoys listening to music.
Margaret Dashwood to Marianne Brandon
Dear Marianne,
It is very late, as we have just arrived home from the concert, but I could not sleep before I committed to paper all about the evening. After all my anticipation of an evening without fear of Captain Jennings appearing, he was there! I saw him across the room, but he was busy with a party of his own and Mrs. Jennings could not very well ask him to separate from them and sit with us, much to my relief. He was with a lady, whom Mrs. Jennings said is his sister—evidently an invalid who does not appear in society—and another man and woman that Mrs. Jennings did not know. We had to do no more than bow and curtsey to each other, and I was thus able to enjoy the music. There was a symphony by a new composer, a German by the name of Beethoven. You would have enjoyed it, I am sure, as much as I did.
I wished I could have heard the music without any interruptions, as you must know that Mrs. Jennings kept whispering to me throughout the concert who this person or that person was as she espied them among the assembled throng. The only useful thing about this was that she pointed out the son of Mrs. Thorpe, although as he was sitting with his mother and sisters whom I met last week, I would no doubt have guessed for myself.
At the end of the concert, Mrs. Thorpe and her children came to pay their respects to us, and I was introduced to Mr. John Thorpe. He was not the most handsome of men, but he paid particular attention to me and he asked if I ever go to balls. I told him I have not been to one yet, and Mrs. Jennings said we would be going to Mrs. Lordson’s dinner and there might well be dancing there. Mrs. Thorpe said they had been invited, too, and Mr. John Thorpe told me that when the invitation came he had decided not to attend, but knowing I was to be there had now made him change his mind.
I was flattered, Marianne. In spite of his ordinary looks, he was, at least, more conversable than Captain Jennings! I may say that I am now anticipating the gathering at Mrs. Lordson’s more than I was before.
Yours ever,
Margaret
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