14 Persuasion By Stephanie Poppins

The story concerns Anne Elliot, an Englishwoman of 27 years, whose family moves to lower their expenses and reduce their debt by renting their home to an admiral and his wife.
In this episode: The Musgroves return to Uppercross, restoring the house to its familial cheer. Henrietta and Captain Wentworth remain at Lyme to nurse Louisa, who is rapidly improving and is expected home soon. Anne dreads joining her sister and father in Bath, but learns from Elizabeth the intriguing news that Mr. Elliot is also at Bath. He has been seeking to renew relations between their families. Lady Russell and Anne are both curious and desire to see him.

Transcript

Hello.

Welcome to Sleep Stories with Steph,

Your go-to romantic podcast that guarantees you a calm and entertaining transition into a great night's sleep.

Come with me as we immerse ourselves in a romantic journey to a time long since forgotten.

But before we begin,

Let's take a moment to focus on where we are now.

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

That's it.

Now close your eyes and feel yourself sink deeper into the support beneath you.

It is time to relax and fully let go.

There is nothing you need to be doing now and nowhere you need to go.

Happy listening.

Persuasion by Jane Austen Volume 2,

Chapter 2 Though Charles and Mary had remained at Lyme much longer after Mr and Mrs Musgrove's death,

Anne conceived they could have been at all wanted,

They were yet the first of the family to be home again.

And as soon as possible after their return to Uppercross,

They drove over to the lodge.

They had left Louisa beginning to sit up,

But her head,

Though clear,

Was exceedingly weak and her nerves susceptible to the highest extreme of tension.

And though she might be pronounced to be altogether doing very well,

It was still impossible to say when she might be able to bear the removal home.

And her father and mother,

Who must return in time to receive their younger children for the Christmas holidays,

Had hardly a hope of being allowed to bring her with them.

They had all been in lodgings together.

Mrs Musgrove had got Mrs Harville's children away as much as she could.

Every possible supply from Uppercross had been furnished to lighten the inconvenience to the Harvilles,

While the Harvilles had been wanting them to come to dinner every day.

In short,

It seemed to have been only a struggle on each side,

As to which should be most disinterested and hospitable.

Mary had her evils,

But upon the whole,

As was evident by her staying so long,

She'd found more to enjoy than to suffer.

Charles' hatred had been at a line oftener than suited her,

And Mrs Musgrove had been more than willing to accept it.

Charles' hatred had been at a line oftener than suited her,

And when they dined with the Harvilles,

There'd been only a maidservant to wait.

And at first Mrs Harville had always given Mrs Musgrove precedence,

But then she had received so very handsome an apology from her on finding out whose daughter she was,

And there had been so much going on every day,

That there had been so many walks between their lodgings and the Harvilles,

And she had got books from the library and changed them so often,

That the balance had certainly been much in favour of Lyme.

She had been taken to Charmouth too,

And she had bathed,

And she had gone to church,

And there were a great many more people to look at in church at Lyme than at Uppercross,

And all this,

Joined to the sense of being so very useful,

Had made a very agreeable fortnight.

Anne enquired after Captain Benwick.

Mary's face was clouded directly.

Charles laughed.

Oh,

Captain Benwick is very well,

I believe,

But he's a very odd young man.

I do not know what he would be at.

We asked him to come home with us for a day or two.

Charles undertook to give him some shooting,

And he seemed quite delighted.

And for my part,

I thought it was all settled,

When behold,

On Tuesday night,

He made a very awkward sort of excuse.

He never shot,

He said,

And had been quite misunderstood.

And he'd promised this,

And he'd promised that,

And the end of it was,

I found,

He did not mean to come at all.

I suppose he was afraid of finding it dull,

But upon my word,

I should have thought we were lively enough at the cottage for such a heartbroken man as Captain Benwick.

Charles laughed and said,

Now,

Mary,

You know very well how it really was.

It was all your doing.

Turning to Anne,

He fancied if he went with us,

He should find you close by.

He fancied everybody to be living in Uppercross.

And when he discovered Lady Russell lived three miles off,

His heart failed him,

And he had not courage to come.

That's the fact,

Upon my honour,

And Mary knows it is.

But Mary did not give in to it very graciously,

Whether from not considering Captain Benwick,

Entitled by birth and situation to be in love with an Elliot,

Or from not wanting to believe Anne a greater attraction to Uppercross than herself,

Must be left to be guessed.

Anne's goodwill,

However,

Was not to be lessened by what she'd heard.

She boldly acknowledged herself flattered and continued her inquiries.

Oh,

He talks of you,

Cried Charles,

In such terms.

Mary interrupted,

I declare,

Charles,

I never heard him mention Anne twice all the time I was there.

I declare,

Anne,

He never talks of you at all.

No,

Admitted Charles,

I do not know that he ever does in a general way.

But,

However,

It's a very clear thing he admires you exceedingly.

His head is full of some books that he's reading upon your recommendation,

And he wants to talk to you about them.

He's found out something or another in one of them which he thinks,

Oh,

I cannot pretend to remember what he thinks,

But it was something very fine.

I overheard him telling Henrietta all about it,

And then Miss Elliot was spoken of in the highest terms.

Now,

Mary,

I declare it was so.

I heard it myself,

And you were in the other room.

Elegance,

Sweetness,

Beauty,

Oh,

There was no end of Miss Elliot's charms.

And I am sure,

Cried Mary warmly,

It was of very little to his credit if he did.

Miss Harville only died last June.

Such a heart is very little worth having,

Is it,

Lady Russell?

I'm sure you will agree with me.

I must see Captain Benwick before I decide,

Said Lady Russell,

Smiling.

That you are very likely to do so very soon,

I can tell,

Marl,

Said Charles.

Though he had not nerves for coming away with us and setting off again afterwards to pay a formal visit here,

He will make his way over to Kellynch one day by himself,

You may depend upon it.

I told him the distance and the road,

And I told him of the churches being so very well worth seeing.

For he has a taste for those sort of things.

I thought it would be a good excuse,

And he listened with all his understanding and soul.

And I'm sure from his manner that you will have him calling here soon,

So I give you notice,

Lady Russell.

Any acquaintance of Anne's will always be welcome to me,

Is Lady Russell's kind answer.

Oh,

As to being Anne's acquaintance,

Said Mary,

I think he is rather my acquaintance,

For I have been seeing him every day this last fortnight.

Well,

As your joined acquaintance,

Then,

I shall be very happy to see Captain Benwick.

You will not find anything very agreeable in him,

I assure you,

Ma'am.

He's one of the dullest young men I ever lived.

He's walked with me sometimes from one end of the sands to the other without saying a word.

He's not at all a well-bred young man,

I'm sure you will not like him.

Very differ,

Mary,

Said Anne.

I think Lady Russell would like him.

I think she would be so much pleased with his mind,

She would very soon see no deficiency in his manner.

So do I,

Anne,

Said Charles.

I'm sure Lady Russell would like him.

He's just Lady Russell's sort.

Give him a book and he will read all day long.

Yes,

That he will,

Exclaimed Mary tauntingly.

He will sit pawing over his book and not know when a person speaks to him or when one drops one's scissors or anything that happens.

Do you think Lady Russell would like that?

Lady Russell could not help laughing.

Upon my word,

Said she,

I should not have supposed my opinion of anyone could have admitted of such difference of conjecture,

Steady and matter-of-fact as I may call myself.

I have really curiosity to see the person who can give such occasion to such directly opposite notions.

I wish he may be induced to call here.

And when he does,

Mary,

You may depend upon hearing my opinion,

But I'm determined not to judge him beforehand.

You will not like him.

I will answer for it.

Lady Russell began talking of something else.

Mary spoke with animation of their meeting with or rather missing Mr.

Elliot so extraordinarily.

He is a man,

Said Lady Russell,

Whom I have no wish to see.

He's declining to be on cordial terms with the head of this family has left a very strong impression in his disfavor with me.

This decision checked Mary's eagerness and stopped her short in the midst of the Elliot countenance.

With regard to Captain Wentworth,

The man has a did no inquiries.

There was voluntary communication sufficient.

His spirits have been greatly recovering lately,

As might be expected.

As Louisa improved,

He had improved,

And he was now quite a different creature from what he'd been the first week.

He had not seen Louisa and was so extremely fearful of any ill consequence to her from an interview that he did not press for it at all.

And on the contrary,

Seemed to have a plan of going away for a week or 10 days till her head was stronger.

He talked of going down to Plymouth for a week and wanted to persuade Captain Benwick to go with him.

But as Charles maintained to the last,

Captain Benwick seemed much more disposed to ride over to Kellynch.

There can be no doubt that Lady Russell and Anne were both occasionally thinking of Captain Benwick from this time.

Lady Russell could not hear the doorbell without feeling it might be his herald,

Nor could Anne return from any stroll of solitary indulgence in her father's grounds,

Or any visit of charity in the village,

Without wondering whether she might see him or hear of him.

Captain Benwick came not,

However.

He was either less disposed for it than Charles had imagined,

Or he was too shy.

And after giving him a week's indulgence,

Lady Russell determined him to be of unworthy to the interest which he had been beginning to excite.

The Musgroves came back to receive their happy boys and girls from school,

Bringing with them Mrs Harville's little children to improve the noise of Uppercross and lessen that of Lyme.

Henrietta remained with Louisa,

But all the rest of the family were again in their usual quarters.

Neither Henrietta nor Louisa,

Nor Charles Hayter,

Nor Captain Wentworth,

Were there,

And the room presented as strong a contrast as could be wished to the last state she had seen it in.

Louisa was now recovering apace.

Her mother could even think of her being able to join their party at home before her brother and sisters went to school again.

The Harvilles,

Meanwhile,

Promised to come with her and stay at Uppercross whenever she returned.

Captain Wentworth,

However,

Was gone for the present to see his brother in Shropshire.

I hope I shall remember in future,

Said Lady Russell,

As soon as they were re-seated in the carriage,

Not to call at Uppercross in the Christmas holidays.

Everybody has their taste in noise as well as other matters,

And sounds are quite innoxious or most distressing by their sort rather than their quantity.

When Lady Russell not long afterwards was entering Bath on a wet afternoon and driving through the long course of streets from the old bridge to Camden Place,

Amidst the dash of other carriages,

The heavy rumble of carts and drays,

The bawling of newspapermen,

Muffinmen and milkmen,

And the ceaseless clink of patterns,

She made no complaint.

No,

These were noises which belonged to the winter pleasures,

And like Mrs Musgrove,

She was feeling,

Though not saying,

That after being long in the country,

Nothing could be so good for her as a little quiet cheerfulness.

Anne,

However,

Did not share these feelings.

She persisted in a very determined,

Though very silent disinclination for Bath,

Calling the first dim view of the extensive buildings smoking in rain,

Without any wish of seeing them better.

Feeling their progress through the streets to be,

However disagreeable,

Yet too rapid,

For who would be glad to see her when she arrived?

She looked back with fond regret to the bustles of Uppercross and the seclusion of Kellynch.

All in all,

She felt she would rather see Mr Elliot again than not,

Which was more than she could say for many other persons in Bath.

She was put down in Camden Place,

And Lady Russell then drove to her own lodgings in Rivers Street.

Reviews

Hello, Stephanie, 😉 enjoying each segment of Persuasion, thankyou so much. 😊 🐈‍⬛🐆🪷

Curious chapter. How fickle characters appear, in waiting to meet someone and then disappointed strongly when a meeting doesn't happen soon enough. And all without a word spoken from either side. 😘😁