Welcome to sleep stories with Steph your go-to podcast.
That offers you a calm and relaxing transition to sleep.
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 know where you need to go.
Close your eyes.
And feel yourself sink into the support beneath you.
And let all the worries of the day go.
Drift away.
This is your time.
And your space.
Take a deep breath in through your nose.
And let it out with a long sigh.
That's it!
There is nothing you need to be doing now.
And know where you need to go.
Happy listening.
Volume 2.
Chapter 2.
Jane Fairfax was an orphan,
The only child of Mrs Bates' youngest daughter.
The marriage of Lieutenant Fairfax of the Regiment of Infantry and Miss Jane Bates had had its day of fame and pleasure,
Hope and interest.
But nothing now remained of it,
Save the melancholy remembrance of him dying in action abroad.
Of his widow sinking under consumption and grief soon afterwards,
And this girl.
By birth she belonged to Highbury and when at three years old on losing her mother she became the property,
The charge,
The consolation,
The foundling of her grandmother and aunt.
There had seemed every probability of her being permanently fixed there.
Of her being taught only what very limited means could command,
And growing up with no advantages of connection or improvement,
To being grafted on what nature had given her in a pleasing person,
Good understanding,
And warm-hearted well-meaning relations.
But the compassionate feelings of a friend of her father gave a change to her destiny.
This was Colonel Campbell,
Who had very highly regarded Fairfax as an excellent officer and a most deserving young man.
And further had been indebted to him for such attentions during a severe camp fever as he believed had saved his life.
These were claims which he did not learn to overlook,
Though some years passed away from the death of poor Fairfax before his own return to England put anything in his power.
When he did return,
He sought out the child and took notice of her.
He was a married man with only one living child,
A girl of about Jane's age.
And Jane became their guest,
Paying them long visits and growing a favourite with all.
And before she was nine years old,
His daughter's great fondness for her and his own wish of being a real friend,
United to produce an offer from Colonel Campbell of undertaking the whole charge of her education.
It was accepted,
And from that period,
Jane had belonged to Colonel Campbell's family and had lived with them entirely,
Only visiting her grandmother from time to time.
The plan was that she should be brought up for educating others.
The very few hundred pounds which she inherited from her father making independence impossible.
To provide for her otherwise was out of Colonel Campbell's power,
For though his income by pay and appointments was handsome,
His fortune was moderate and must be all his daughter's.
But given her an education,
He hoped to be supplying the means of respect systems hereafter.
Such was Jane Fax's history.
She had fallen into good hands,
Known nothing but kindness from the Campbells,
And been given an excellent education.
Living constantly with right-minded and well-informed people,
Her heart and understanding had received every advantage of discipline and culture.
And Colonel Campbell's residence being in London,
Every lighter talent had been done full justice to by the attendant of first-rate masters.
Her disposition and abilities were equally worthy of all that friendship could do,
And at 18 or 19 she was,
As far as such an early age can be qualified for the care of children,
Fully competent to the office of instruction herself.
But she was too much beloved to be parted with.
Neither father nor mother could promote and the daughter could not endure it.
The evil day was put off.
It was easy to decide she was still too young,
And Jane remained with them,
Sharing as another daughter in all the rational pleasures of an elegant society,
And a judicious mixture of home and amusement,
Which,
Only the drawback of the future,
The sobering suggestions of her own good understanding,
Existed to remind her all this might soon be over.
The affection of the whole family,
The warm attachment of Miss Campbell in particular,
To each party from the circumstance of Jane's decided superiority both in beauty and acquirements.
That nature had given it in feature could not be unseen by the young woman,
Nor could her higher powers of mind be unfelt by the parents.
They continued together with unbated regard,
However,
Till the marriage of Miss Campbell.
By that chance,
That luck which so often defies anticipation in matrimonial affairs,
Giving attraction to what is moderate rather than to what is superior,
Engaged the affections of Mr.
Dixon,
A young man,
Rich and agreeable,
Almost as soon as they were acquainted,
And was eligibly and happily settled,
While Jane Fairfax had yet her bread to earn.
This event had very lately taken place.
Too lately for anything to be yet attempted by her less fortunate friend towards entering on her path of duty.
Though she had now reached the age which her own judgement had fixed on before beginning.
She had long resolved that one and twenty should be the period.
The good sense of Colonel and Mrs.
Campbell could not oppose such a resolution,
Though their feelings did.
As long as they lived,
No exertions would be necessary.
Their home might be hers forever.
And for their own comfort,
They would have retained her wholly.
But this would be selfishness.
What must be at last had better be soon.
Perhaps they began to feel it might have been kinder and wiser to have resisted the temptation of any delay,
And spared her from a taste of such enjoyments of ease and leisure,
Must now be relinquished.
Still,
However,
Reflection was glad to catch at any reasonable excuse for not hurrying on the wretched moment.
She had never been quite well since the time of their daughter's marriage.
Until she should have completely recovered her usual strength,
It must forbid her engaging in duties which,
So far from being compatible with a weakened frame and varying spirits,
Seemed,
Under the most favourable circumstances,
To require something more than human perfection of body and mind to be discharged with tolerable comfort.
With regard to her not accompanying them to Ireland,
Her account to her aunt contained nothing but truth,
Though there might be some truth not told.
It was her own choice to give the time of their absence to Highbury.
To spend perhaps her last months of perfect liberty with those kind relations to whom she was very dear.
And the Campbells,
Whatever might be their motive,
Whether single or double or treble,
Gave the arrangement of their ready sanction and said they depended more on a few months spent in her native air for the recovery of her health than on anything else.
Certain it was that she was to come,
And that Highbury,
Instead of welcoming that perfect novelty which had been so long promised it,
Mr Frank Churchill,
Must put up for the present with Jane Fairfax,
Who could bring only the freshness of a two year's absence.
Emma was sorry.
To have to pay civilities to a person she did not like through three long months.
To be always doing more than she wished and less than she ought.
Why she did not like Jane Fairfax might be a difficult question to answer.
Mr Knightley had told her once it was because she saw in her the really accomplished young woman which she wanted to be thought of herself.
And though the accusation had been eagerly refuted at the time,
There were moments of self-examination in which her conscience could not quite acquit her.
It was a dislike so little just,
Every imputed fault was so magnified by fancy,
That she never saw Jane Fairfax the first time after any considerable absence without feeling that she had injured her.
And now,
When the due visit was paid on her arrival after a two years interval,
She was particularly struck with the very appearance and manners which for those two years she had been depreciating.
Jane Fairfax was very elegant.
Remarkably elegant.
And she had herself the highest value for elegance.
Her height was pretty,
Just as much as almost everybody would think tall,
And nobody could think her very tall.
Her figure was particularly graceful,
Her size a most becoming medium,
Between fat and thin,
Though a slight appearance of ill health seemed to point out the likeliness evil of the two.
Emma could not but feel all this.
Then her face,
Her features.
There was more beauty in them altogether than she'd remembered.
It was not regular,
But it was very pleasing.
Jane's eyes,
A deep grey,
With dark eyelashes and eyebrows,
Had never been denied their praise,
But her skin.
.
.
Which he had been used to cavil at as wanting colour,
Had a clearness and delicacy which really needed no further bloom.
In short.
Emma sat during the first visit looking at Jane Fairfax with two-fold complacency.
She was determined she would dislike her no longer.
When she took in her history,
Indeed her situation as well as her beauty,
When she considered what all this elegance was destined to,
What she was going to sink from,
How she was going to live,
It seemed impossible to feel anything but compassion and respect.
There was the highly probable circumstance of an attachment to Mr.
Dixon.
In that case,
Nothing could be more pitiable or more honourable than the sacrifices she had resolved on.
Emma was very willing now to acquit her of having seduced Mr.
Dixon's affections from his wife,
Or of anything mischievous which her imagination had suggested at first.
If it were love,
It might be simple,
Single,
Successless love on her side alone.
She might have been unconsciously sucking in a sad poison while a sharer of his conversation with her friend.
And from the best,
The purest of motives might now be denying herself this visit to Ireland and resolving to divide herself effectually from him and his connections by soon beginning her career of laborious duty.
Upon the whole,
Emma left her with such softened,
Charitable feelings as made her look around in Walking Home and lament that Highbury afforded no young man worthy of giving her independence.
Nobody she could wish to scheme about for her.
These were charming feelings,
But not lasting.
Jane had spent an evening at heart filled with her grandmother and aunt,
And everything was relapsing much into its usual state.
Form of provocations appeared.
The art was as tiresome as ever,
More tiresome because anxiety for her health was now added to admiration of her powers.
And they had to listen to the description of exactly how little bread and butter she ate for breakfast and how small a slice of mutton for dinner,
As well as to see exhibitions of new caps and new work bags for her mother and herself.
Jane's offences rose again.
They had music,
Emma was obliged to play,
And the thanks and praise which necessarily followed appeared to her an affectation of candour,
An air of greatness,
Meaning only to show off in higher style her own very superior performance.
Jane was,
Besides,
Which was the worst of all,
So cold and cautious.
There was no getting at her real opinion.
Wrapped up in a cloak of politeness,
She seemed determined to hazard nothing.
She was disgustingly,
Suspiciously reserved.
If anything could be done where all was most,
She was more reserved on the subject of Weymouth and the Dixons than anything else.
She seemed bent on giving no real insight into Mr.
Dixon's character,
Or her own value for his company,
Or opinion of the suitableness of the match.
Did no service to her.
Her caution was thrown away.
Emma saw its artifice and returned to her first surmises.
There probably was something more to conceal than Jane's own preference.
Mr.
Dixon perhaps had been very near changing one friend for the other,
Or been fixed only to Miss Campbell.
For the sake of the future £12,
000,
The lag reserve prevailed on other topics.
She and Mr Frank Churchill had been at Weymouth at the same time.
It was known they were little acquainted,
But not a syllable of real information could Emma procure as to what he truly was.
Was he handsome?
She believed he was reckoned a very fine young man.
Was he agreeable?
He was generally thought so.
Did he appear a sensible young man,
A man of information?
At a watering place or in a common London acquaintance,
It was difficult to decide upon such points.
Manners were all that could be safely judged of under a much longer knowledge than they had yet had of Mr Churchill.
She believed everybody found his manners pleasing.
Emma could not forgive her.
