14 Northanger Abbey - Read By Stephanie Poppins

Northanger Abbey is the coming-of-age story of a young woman named Catherine Morland.

Northanger Abbey" by Jane Austen follows Catherine Morland, a young woman with a passion for Gothic novels, as she navigates the social world of Bath and later Northanger Abbey. Her romantic imagination, fueled by her love for these novels, leads her to misinterpret the people and events around her, particularly at the Tilney family's estate.

In this episode, Catherine makes amends.

Transcript

Welcome to Sleep Stories with Steph,

Your go-to podcast that offers you a calm and relaxing transition into a great night's sleep.

It is time to relax and fully let go.

There is nothing you need to be doing now,

And nowhere you need to go.

Close your eyes and feel yourself sink into the support beneath you and let all the worries of the day drift away.

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Take a deep breath in through your nose and let it out with a long sigh.

There is nothing you need to be doing now,

And nowhere you need to go.

Happy listening.

Chapter 13 Continued You have not made your excuses to mistill me,

Cried Catherine.

I have upon my soul,

Said Mr Thorpe,

Left her this moment,

Told her you'd sent me to say that having just recollected a prior engagement of going to Clifton with us tomorrow,

You could not have the pleasure of walking with her till Tuesday.

She said very well,

Tuesday was just as convenient to her,

So there's an end to all our difficulties.

A pretty good thought of mine,

Eh?

Isabella's countenance was then once more all smiles and good humour,

And James looked happy too.

A most heavenly thought indeed.

Now,

My sweet Catherine,

All our distresses are over.

You are honourably acquitted and we shall have a most delightful party.

This will not do,

Said Catherine,

I cannot submit to this.

I must run after Miss Tilney directly and set her right.

Isabella,

However,

Caught hold of one hand,

Thorpe the other,

And remonstrances poured in from all three.

Even James was quite angry.

When everything was settled,

When Miss Tilney herself said Tuesday would suit her well,

It was quite ridiculous,

Quite absurd to make any further objection.

I do not care.

Mr.

Thorpe had no business to invent such a message.

If I'd thought it right to put it off,

I could have spoken to Miss Tilney myself,

Begged Catherine.

This is only doing it in a ruder way.

And how do I know Mr.

Thorpe has?

He may be mistaken again,

Perhaps.

He led me into one act of rudeness by the mistake on Friday.

Let me go,

Mr.

Thorpe.

Isabella,

Do not hold me.

Thorpe told Catherine it would be in vain to go after the Tilneys.

They were turning the corner into Brock Street when he had overtaken them,

And they 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 will never 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 if she will.

She's an obstinate as a.

.

.

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 for 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 pretense 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 Blay's 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.

So quickening her pace,

When she got clear of the crescent,

She almost ran over the remaining ground till she gained the top of Millscombe Street.

So rapid had been her movements,

That in spite of the Tilney's 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 she must speak with Miss Tilney that moment.

And hurrying by him,

Proceeded up the stairs.

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'm coming 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.

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 him with such ready,

Such solicitor's politeness,

As recalled Thorpe's information to her mind,

And made her think with pleasure that he might be sometimes depended upon.

To such anxious attention was the general civility carried,

That,

Not aware of her extraordinary swiftness in entering the house,

He was quite angry with a 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,

Catherine 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.

Allan would expect her back every moment.

The general declared he could say no more.

The claims of Mr.

And Mrs.

Allan 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 could 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 boughs she had ever beheld when they parted.

Catherine,

Delighted by all that had passed,

Proceeded gaily to Portney Street,

Walking,

As she concluded,

With great elasticity,

Although she had never thought of it before.

She reached home without seeing anything more of the offended party,

And now that she had been triumphant throughout,

Had carried her point and was secure of her walk,

She began,

As the flutter of her spirit subsided,

To doubt whether she had been perfectly right.

Her sacrifice was always noble,

And if she had given way to their entreaties,

She should have been spared the distressing idea of a friend displeased,

A brother angry,

And a scheme of such great happiness to both destroy it,

Perhaps through her means,

To ease her mind,

And ascertain by the opinion of an unprejudiced person what her own conduct had really been.

She took occasion to mention before Mr.

Allan the half-settled scheme of her brother and the Thorpes for the following day.

Mr.

Allan quoted it directly.

"'Well,

' said he,

"'and do you not think of going too?

' "'No,

I had just engaged myself to walk with Miss Tilney "'before they told me of it,

"'and therefore you know I could not go with him,

Could I?

' "'No,

Certainly not,

"'and I'm glad you do not think of it.

"'These schemes are not at all a thing,

"'young men and women driving about the country in open carriages.

"'Now and then it's very well,

"'but going to inns and public places together,

"'it's not right,

And I wonder Mrs.

Thorpes should allow it.

"'I am glad you do not think of going,

Catherine.

"'I'm sure Mrs.

Morland would not be pleased.

"'Mrs.

Allan,

Are you not in my way of thinking?

"'Do you not think these kind of projects objectionable?

' "'Yes,

Very much so indeed,

' said Mrs.

Allan.

"'Open carriages are nasty things.

"'A clean gown is not five minutes wearing them.

"'You are splash getting in and getting out,

"'and the wind takes your hair and your bonnet in every direction.

"'I hate an open carriage myself.

' "'I know you do,

But that is not the question.

"'Do you not think it has an odd appearance "'if young ladies are frequently driven about them by young men,

"'to whom they are not even related?

' "'Yes,

My dear,

A very odd appearance indeed.

"'I cannot bear to see it.

' "'Dear madam,

' cried Catherine,

"'then why did you not tell me so before?

"'I'm sure if I'd known it to be improper,

"'I would not have gone with Mr.

Thorpe at all.

"'But I always hoped you would tell me if you thought I was doing wrong.

' "'And so I should,

My dear.

You may depend upon it.

"'For as I told Mrs.

Morland at parting,

"'I would always do the best for you in my power.

"'But one cannot be over-particular.

"'Young people will be young people,

As your good mother says herself.

"'You know I wanted you,

When we first came,

"'not to buy that street muslin,

But you would.

"'Young people do not like to be always thwarted.

' "'But this was something of real consequence,

' said Catherine.

"'I do not think you would have found me hard to persuade.

' "'As far as is gone hitherto,

There's no harm done,

' said Mr.

Allan.

"'I would only advise you,

My dear,

Not to go out with Mr.

Thorpe any more.

' "'That is just what I was going to say,

' added his wife.

' Catherine,

Relieved for herself,

Felt uneasy for Isabella,

And after a moment's thought,

Asked Mr.

Allan whether it would not be proper and kind in her to write to Miss Thorpe,

And explain the indecorum of which she must be as insensible as herself.

For Catherine considered Isabella might otherwise be going to Clifton the next day in spite of what had passed.

Mr.

Allan,

However,

Discouraged her from doing any such thing.

"'You had better leave her alone,

My dear.

"'She is old enough to know what she's about,

"'and if not,

She has a mother to advise her.

"'Mrs.

Thorpe is too indulgent beyond a doubt.

"'But,

However,

You had better not interfere.

"'She and your brother choose to go,

And you will only be getting ill,

Will.

' Catherine submitted,

And though sorry to think that Isabella should be doing wrong,

She felt greatly relieved by Mr.

Allan's approbation of her own conduct,

And truly rejoiced to be preserved by his advice from the danger of falling into such an error herself.

Her escape from being one of the party to Clifton was now an escape indeed,

For what would the Tilneys have thought of her if she had broken her promise to them in order to do what was wrong in itself?

If she had been guilty of one breach of propriety only to enable her to be guilty of another?

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