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Opening section:
THE family of Dashwood had long been settled in Sussex.
Their estate was large, and their residence was at Norland Park,
in the centre of their property, where, for many generations,
they had lived in so respectable a manner as to engage the
general good opinion of their surrounding acquaintance. The
late owner of this estate was a single man, who lived to a very
advanced age, and who for many years of his life, had a constant
companion and housekeeper in his sister. But her death, which
happened ten years before his own, produced a great alteration
in his home; for to supply her loss, he invited and received into
his house the family of his nephew Mr. Henry Dashwood, the
legal inheritor of the Norland estate, and the person to whom
he intended to bequeath it. In the society of his nephew and
niece, and their children, the old Gentleman's days were
comfortably spent. His attachment to them all increased. The
constant attention of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Dashwood to his
wishes, which proceeded not merely from interest, but from
goodness of heart, gave him every degree of solid comfort
which his age could receive; and the cheerfulness of the
children added a relish to his existence. (41).
When he gave his promise to his father, he meditated within
himself to increase the fortunes of his sisters by the present of a
thousand pounds a-piece. He then really thought himself equal
to it. The prospect of four thousand a-year, in addition to his
present income, besides the remaining half of his own mother's
fortune, warmed his heart, and made him feel capable of generosity.—
"Yes, he would give them three thousand pounds: it
would be liberal and handsome! It would be enough to make
them completely easy. Three thousand pounds! he could spare
so considerable a sum with little inconvenience." — He
thought of it all day long, and for many days successively, and
he did not repent. (43)
So acutely did Mrs. Dashwood feel this ungracious behaviour,
and so earnestly did she despise her daughter-in-law for it,
that, on the arrival of the latter, she would have quitted the
house for ever, had not the entreaty of her eldest girl induced
her first to reflect on the propriety of going, and her own tender
love for all her three children determined her afterwards to
stay, and for their sakes avoid a breach with their brother. (44)
"He did not stipulate for any particular sum, my dear Fanny;
he only requested me, in general terms, to assist them, and
make their situation more comfortable than it was in his power
to do. Perhaps it would have been as well if he had left it wholly
to myself. He could hardly suppose I should neglect them.
But as he required the promise, I could not do less than give it:
at least I thought so at the time. The promise, therefore, was
given, and must be performed. Something must be done for
them whenever they leave Norland and settle in a new home."
"Well, then, let something be done for them; but that something
need not be three thousand pounds. Consider," she
added, "that when the money is once parted with, it never can
return. Your sisters will marry, and it will be gone for ever. If,
indeed, it could be restored to our poor little boy—" (47).
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