Sense And Sensibility And Sea Monsters Part 15

In her uneasy state, it took a moment for Elinor to realise that Mrs. Jennings was desirous that she pry out of Miss Steele more details regarding Lucy's engagement to Edward. It was lucky, however, for Mrs. Jennings's curiosity and Elinor's too, that she would tell anything without without being asked; for nothing would otherwise have been learnt. Elinor rose and walked unsteadily across the room, gingerly touching her bandaged throat. being asked; for nothing would otherwise have been learnt. Elinor rose and walked unsteadily across the room, gingerly touching her bandaged throat.

"I am so glad to meet you; and that you managed to tear that hideous thing from your neck, and that Mrs. Jennings and I were able to drag you back into the Sub-Station before you died," said Miss Steele, taking her familiarly by the arm, "for I wanted to see you of all things in the world." And then lowering her voice, "I suppose Mrs. Jennings has heard all about it. Is she angry?"

"Not at all, I believe, with you."

"That is a good thing. And Lady Middleton, is she she angry?" angry?"

"I cannot suppose it possible that she should be."

"I am monstrous glad of it. Good gracious! I have had such a time of it! I never saw Lucy in such a rage in my life. Oh, dear-are you quite well? I would leave it alone, dear."

The last remark was in response to Elinor's wince of pain; she had ventured to lift off one of her bandages, and found in doing so that the pain of her neck was as sharp as when the sea scorpion had originally connected itself to her.

"Well, but Miss Dashwood," Miss Steele continued triumphantly, "people may say what they choose about Mr. Ferrars declaring he would not have Lucy, for it is no such thing I can tell you; and it is quite a shame for such ill-natured reports to be spread abroad. Whatever Lucy might think about it herself, you know, it was no business of other people to set it down for certain."

"I never heard anything of the kind hinted at before, I a.s.sure you," said Elinor.

"Oh, did not you? But it was was said, I know, and by more than one! At the man versus giant catfish event on Thursday evening, in Hydra-Z, Miss G.o.dby told Miss Sparks, that n.o.body in their senses could expect Mr. Ferrars to give up a woman like Miss Morton, with thirty thousand pounds to her fortune, and heir to the Sub-Station Alpha Family besides, for Lucy Steele that had nothing at all." said, I know, and by more than one! At the man versus giant catfish event on Thursday evening, in Hydra-Z, Miss G.o.dby told Miss Sparks, that n.o.body in their senses could expect Mr. Ferrars to give up a woman like Miss Morton, with thirty thousand pounds to her fortune, and heir to the Sub-Station Alpha Family besides, for Lucy Steele that had nothing at all."

"I believe in my heart Lucy gave it up all for lost; for we came away from your brother's docking Wednesday, and we saw nothing of Mr. Ferrars not all Thursday, Friday, and Sat.u.r.day, and did not know what was become of him. Once Lucy thought to write to him, but then her spirits rose against that. However this morning he came and it all came out, how he had been sent for Wednesday to Harley Piscina, and been talked to by his mother and all of them, and how he had declared before them all that he loved n.o.body but Lucy, and n.o.body but Lucy would he have.

"As soon as he had went away from his mother's house, and Ascended the Station entirely and taken off in his own personal submarine, he stayed at an inn all Thursday and Friday just to get the better of it. And after thinking it all over and over again, he said that it would be quite unkind to keep her on to the engagement. If he was to become a poor lighthouse keeper, how were they to live upon that? Edward could not bear to think of her doing no better, and so he begged, if she had the least mind for it, to put an end to the matter directly, and leave him s.h.i.+ft for himself. I heard him say all this as plain as could possibly be. And it was entirely for her her sake, and upon sake, and upon her her account, that he said a word about being off, and not upon his own. I will take my oath he never dropped a syllable of being tired of her, or of wis.h.i.+ng to marry Miss Morton, or anything like it. But Lucy would not give ear to such kind of talking. She told him directly (with a great deal about sweet and love, you know, and all that- one can't repeat such kind of things), she had not the least mind in the world to be off, for she could live with him upon a trifle, and how little so ever he might have, she should be very glad to have it all. So then he was monstrous happy, and talked on some time about what they should do, and they agreed he should become a lighthouse keeper directly, and they must wait to be married till he got some good, desolate monster-wracked beach in need of able lighthouse keeping. And just then I could not hear any more, for my cousin called from below to tell me Mrs. Richardson was come 'pon her tortoise, and would take one of us to the Gardens; so I was forced to go into the room and interrupt them, to ask Lucy if she would like to go." account, that he said a word about being off, and not upon his own. I will take my oath he never dropped a syllable of being tired of her, or of wis.h.i.+ng to marry Miss Morton, or anything like it. But Lucy would not give ear to such kind of talking. She told him directly (with a great deal about sweet and love, you know, and all that- one can't repeat such kind of things), she had not the least mind in the world to be off, for she could live with him upon a trifle, and how little so ever he might have, she should be very glad to have it all. So then he was monstrous happy, and talked on some time about what they should do, and they agreed he should become a lighthouse keeper directly, and they must wait to be married till he got some good, desolate monster-wracked beach in need of able lighthouse keeping. And just then I could not hear any more, for my cousin called from below to tell me Mrs. Richardson was come 'pon her tortoise, and would take one of us to the Gardens; so I was forced to go into the room and interrupt them, to ask Lucy if she would like to go."

"I do not understand what you mean by interrupting them," said Elinor. "You were all in the same room together, were not you?"

"No, indeed, not us. La! Miss Dashwood, do you think people make love when anybody else is by? You must know better than that! No, no, they were shut up in the drawing-room together, and all I heard was by holding the funnel end of a seash.e.l.l up to the door and listening in the pointy end."

"How!" cried Elinor. "Have you been repeating to me what you only learnt yourself by listening at the door? I am sorry I did not know it before; for I certainly would not have suffered you to give me particulars of a conversation which you ought not to have known yourself. How could you behave so unfairly by your sister?"

"Oh, there is nothing in that that. I only stood at the door, and heard what I could. And I am sure Lucy would have done just the same by me; for a year or two back, when Martha Sharpe and I had so many secrets together, Lucy never made any bones of hiding in a closet, or behind a chimney-board, or once even in the hollowed-out corpse of a walrus on purpose to hear what we said."

Elinor tried to talk of something else; but Miss Steele could not be kept beyond a couple of minutes from what was uppermost in her mind.

"What an ill-natured woman his mother is, ain't she? And your brother and sister were not very kind! However, I shan't say anything against them to you you; and to be sure they did send us home in their own gondola, which was more than I looked for."

Elinor finished now unwinding the bandages, and, as Anne continued to speak she looked long at herself in the mirror-a deep gouge now marked her across the neck, exactly where her flesh had been torn free by the lobster-like claw of the scorpion. She gently drew a finger along the wound.

"Oh! Here come the Richardsons. I had a vast deal more to say to you, but I must not stay away from them not any longer." Elinor gladly a.s.sented to Anne's departure. She was left in possession of knowledge which might feed her powers of reflection for some time, though she had learnt very little more than what had been already foreseen and fore-planned in her own mind. Edward's marriage with Lucy was as firmly determined on, and the time of its taking place remained as absolutely uncertain, as she had concluded it would be.

As they made their way home by gondola, Mrs. Jennings was so eager for information, it seemed as though she had forgotten that Elinor's head had nearly been torn from her body by a demonically animated sea scorpion. As Elinor wished to spread as little as possible intelligence that had in the first place been so unfairly obtained, she confined herself to the brief repet.i.tion of such simple particulars, as she felt a.s.sured that Lucy would choose to have known. The continuance of their engagement, and the means that were able to be taken for promoting its end, was all her communication; and this produced from Mrs. Jennings the following natural remark.

"Wait for his having a good lighthouse! Aye, we all know how that that will end. They will wait a twelvemonth, and finding no good comes of it, will set down as keeper of some sad mud-pond at fifty pounds a year. Then they will have a child every year! And Lord help 'em! How poor they will be! Dancing for fried-cakes and living beneath overturned canoes! I must see what I can give them towards furnis.h.i.+ng their house." will end. They will wait a twelvemonth, and finding no good comes of it, will set down as keeper of some sad mud-pond at fifty pounds a year. Then they will have a child every year! And Lord help 'em! How poor they will be! Dancing for fried-cakes and living beneath overturned canoes! I must see what I can give them towards furnis.h.i.+ng their house."

The next morning's post-kayak brought Elinor a letter by the two-penny post from Lucy herself. It was as follows: I hope my dear Miss Dashwood will excuse the liberty I take of writing to her; I know your friends.h.i.+p for me will make you pleased to hear such a good account of myself and my dear Edward. Though we have suffered dreadfully, we are both quite well now, and as happy as we must always be in one another's love. We have had great trials, and great persecutions, of the heart and, in my Edward's case, of the feet also, but gratefully acknowledge many friends, yourself not the least among them. I am sure you will be glad to hear, as likewise dear Mrs. Jennings, I spent two happy hours with him yesterday afternoon, he would not hear of our parting, though earnestly did I urge him to it for prudence sake. Our prospects are not very bright, to be sure, but we must wait and hope for the best. Should it ever be in your power to recommend him to anybody that has an open lighthouse in need of keeping, I am very sure you will not forget us. I am almost out of squid ink; begging to be most gratefully and respectfully remembered to Mrs. Jennings, and to Sir John and Lady Middleton, and the dear children, when you chance to see them, and love to Miss Marianne, I am, etc., etc.

As soon as Elinor had finished the letter, she performed what she concluded to be its writer's real design, by placing it in the hands of Mrs. Jennings, who read it aloud with many comments of satisfaction and praise.

"Very well indeed! How prettily she writes! Aye, that was quite proper to let him be off if he would. That was just like Lucy. Poor soul! I wish I could could get him an open lighthouse, with all my heart. She calls me get him an open lighthouse, with all my heart. She calls me dear dear Mrs. Jennings, you see. She is a good-hearted girl as ever lived. That sentence is very prettily turned. O! Elinor! There is blood dripping from your neck. Here-hold this sponge to the wound-I am sorry I keep forgetting." Mrs. Jennings, you see. She is a good-hearted girl as ever lived. That sentence is very prettily turned. O! Elinor! There is blood dripping from your neck. Here-hold this sponge to the wound-I am sorry I keep forgetting."

CHAPTER 39

THE MISS DASHWOODS HAD NOW BEEN living in Sub-Station Beta for more than two months, and Marianne's impatience to be gone increased every day. She sighed for the air, the liberty, the noxious but comforting sea-wind of Pestilent Isle; and fancied that if any place could give her ease, rickety old Barton Cottage must do it. living in Sub-Station Beta for more than two months, and Marianne's impatience to be gone increased every day. She sighed for the air, the liberty, the noxious but comforting sea-wind of Pestilent Isle; and fancied that if any place could give her ease, rickety old Barton Cottage must do it.

Elinor was hardly less anxious for their removal, but she was conscious of the difficulties of so long a journey, which Marianne could not be brought to acknowledge. She began to turn her thoughts towards its accomplishment, and had already mentioned their wishes to their kind hostess, who resisted them with all the eloquence of her good-will, when a plan was suggested, which, though detaining them from home yet a few weeks longer, appeared to Elinor altogether much more eligible than any other. The Palmers were to remove to their houseboat, The Cleveland The Cleveland about the end of March, for the Easter holidays; and Mrs. Jennings, with both her friends, received a very warm invitation from Charlotte to go with them. about the end of March, for the Easter holidays; and Mrs. Jennings, with both her friends, received a very warm invitation from Charlotte to go with them.

When Elinor told Marianne what she had done, however, her first reply was not very auspicious.

"The Cleveland!" she cried, with great agitation. "No, I cannot be moored upon The Cleveland The Cleveland."

"You forget," said Elinor gently, "that it is not in the neighbourhood of . . ."

"But it is moored off Somersets.h.i.+re. I cannot go into Somersets.h.i.+re! No, Elinor, you cannot expect me to go there."

Elinor would not argue upon the propriety of overcoming such feelings; she only endeavoured to counteract them by working on others; represented it, therefore, as a measure which would fix the time of her returning to that dear mother, whom she so much wished to see. As they spoke, they noticed various of the household servants rus.h.i.+ng by in great haste-Elinor endeavoured to stop one to inquire as to its cause, but was rebuffed; whatever the cause of their hurry, it could not brook surcease, even for a moment's conversation.

Elinor returned to her entreaties. From The Cleveland The Cleveland, which was within a few miles of Bristol, the distance to the Devons.h.i.+re coast was not far; and as there could be no occasion of their staying above a week aboard The Cleveland The Cleveland, they might now be at home in little more than three weeks' time. As Marianne's affection for her mother was sincere, it must triumph with little difficulty, over the imaginary evils she had started.

Mrs. Jennings was so far from being weary of her guests that she pressed them very earnestly to return with her again from The Cleveland The Cleveland. Elinor was grateful for the attention, but it could not alter her design; everything relative to their return was arranged as far as it could be; and Marianne found some relief in drawing up a statement of the hours that were yet to divide her from their beloved shanty high atop the wind-swept cliffs of Pestilent Isle.

The issue was settled, and now Elinor was allowed luxury to discover the cause of agitation among the servants, who were still rus.h.i.+ng hither and thither, and one of whom was donning his Ex-Domic Float-Suit and being outfitted with a pair of s.h.i.+ny gutting knives. By way of answer to Elinor's enquiries, the newly costumed servant merely gestured with his knives to the back wall of the Dome-gla.s.s, where a half dozen swordfish were tapping steadily, and with military precision, against the gla.s.s. As Elinor watched, a seventh joined their school, and then an eighth. Looking closer, Elinor saw the true root of the servants' distress and quick action: A clearly discernible and rapidly spreading network of tiny cracks in the Dome-gla.s.s, with its epicenter where the swordfish continued at their unending labour.

Tap, tap, tap . . . tap tap tap . . . taptaptap . . .

She gave the servant an encouraging smile, and watched as he disappeared down the small hallway that led to the emergency exit chamber. By then, Colonel Brandon had arrived, and Mrs. Jennings had apprised him of the Dashwoods' plan for Ascending the Sub-Station and returning home, via a visit to the Palmers.

"Ah! Colonel Brandon, I do not know what you and I shall do without the Miss Dashwoods," was her plaintive address to him, "for they are quite resolved upon going home from the Palmers-and how forlorn we shall be, when I come back! Lord! We shall sit and gape at one another as dull as two cats; one old, slightly crazy cat, and one cat with a ma.s.s of writhing slimy tentacles in place of whiskers!"

Perhaps Mrs. Jennings was hoping, by this vigorous sketch of their future ennui, to provoke Colonel Brandon to make that offer which might give himself an escape from it-and if so, she had soon afterwards good reason to think her object gained; for, on Elinor's moving to the aquarium gla.s.s to watch the knife-bearing servant's efforts to dispatch the ever-multiplying number of swordfish, he followed her to it with a look of particular meaning, and conversed with her there for several minutes. But his subject was not, as Mrs. Jennings hoped, romantic affection; all over the Sub-Station, Colonel Brandon confided to Elinor, outer-ring residents were reporting similar pecking swordfish ma.s.sing outside the Dome, and all were sending out their own servants to do battle with them.

Preferring not to contemplate the possible outcome of such an unwelcome event, they conversed on other topics for several minutes. And though Mrs. Jennings was too honourable to listen, and had even changed her seat, on purpose that she might not not hear, to one close by the pianoforte on which Marianne was playing a tender, melancholy, high-octave arrangement of "Yo, Ho, Ho, and a Bottle of Rum," she could not keep herself from seeing that Elinor changed colour, attended with agitation, and was too intent on what he said. Still further in confirmation of her hopes, in the interval of Marianne's turning from "Rum" to "A Pirate's Life for Me," some words of the colonel's inevitably reached her ear, in which he seemed to be apologizing for the badness of his house. This set the matter beyond a doubt. She wondered, indeed, at his thinking it necessary to do so; but supposed it to be the proper etiquette. What Elinor said in reply she could not distinguish, but judged from the motion of her lips, that she did not think hear, to one close by the pianoforte on which Marianne was playing a tender, melancholy, high-octave arrangement of "Yo, Ho, Ho, and a Bottle of Rum," she could not keep herself from seeing that Elinor changed colour, attended with agitation, and was too intent on what he said. Still further in confirmation of her hopes, in the interval of Marianne's turning from "Rum" to "A Pirate's Life for Me," some words of the colonel's inevitably reached her ear, in which he seemed to be apologizing for the badness of his house. This set the matter beyond a doubt. She wondered, indeed, at his thinking it necessary to do so; but supposed it to be the proper etiquette. What Elinor said in reply she could not distinguish, but judged from the motion of her lips, that she did not think that that any material objection-and Mrs. Jennings commended her in her heart for being so honest. They then talked on for a few minutes longer without her catching a syllable, when another lucky stop in Marianne's performance brought her these words in the colonel's calm voice: "I am afraid it cannot take place very soon." any material objection-and Mrs. Jennings commended her in her heart for being so honest. They then talked on for a few minutes longer without her catching a syllable, when another lucky stop in Marianne's performance brought her these words in the colonel's calm voice: "I am afraid it cannot take place very soon."

Astonished and shocked at such a speech, Mrs. Jennings was almost ready to cry out, "Lord! what should hinder it?" So engrossed was she with these snippets of conversation, she did not notice that the servant outside the gla.s.s had been run through on the rapier-like horn of a swordfish; two of his fellows grasped him beneath each of his armpits and hauled him hastily upwards; the other fish, thankfully, did not offer chase; they continued instead with their steady, determined rapping upon the Dome.

On Elinor and Colonel Brandon breaking up their conference soon afterwards, and moving different ways, Mrs. Jennings very plainly heard her say, with a voice showing strong feeling, "I shall always think myself very much obliged to you."

Mrs. Jennings was delighted with her grat.i.tude, and only wondered that after hearing such a sentence, the colonel should be able to take leave of them, as he immediately did, with the utmost sang-froid, tentacles tipping politely by way of farewell, without making her any reply! She had not thought her old friend could have made so indifferent a suitor.

What had really pa.s.sed between them was to this effect: "I have heard," said he, with great compa.s.sion, "of the injustice your friend Mr. Ferrars has suffered from his family. If I understand the matter right, he has been entirely cast off by them for persevering in his engagement with a very deserving young woman. Have I been rightly informed? Is it so?"

Elinor told him that it was.

"The cruelty, the impolitic cruelty," he replied, with great feeling, "of dividing, or attempting to divide, two young people long attached to each other, is terrible. I have seen Mr. Ferrars two or three times in Harley Piscinca, and am much pleased with him. I understand that he intends a career as a lighthouse keeper. Will you be so good as to tell him that the lighthouse at Delaford is his; as I am informed by this day's post that it is now vacant, the old keeper having been dragged off by the Pirate Dreadbeard for some trivial slight; anyway, the post is his, if he think it worth his acceptance. I only wish it were more valuable. It is a lake, merely, and a small one, with only one or two tiny monsters within it, and a couple of villages surrounding that live in mild terror of same; the late inc.u.mbent, I believe, did not make more than two hundred pounds per annum, and though it is certainly capable of improvement, I fear, not to such an amount as to afford him a very comfortable income. The lighthouse itself can hardly be deserving of the name; it is really just a tumbledown cottage, with a couple of torches kept burning in the tallest branches of a nearby sycamore tree. Such as it is, however, my pleasure in presenting it will be very great. Pray a.s.sure him of it."

Elinor's astonishment at this commission could hardly have been greater, had the colonel been really making her an offer of his hand. The preferment, which only two days before she had considered as hopeless, would enable him to marry-and she she, of all people in the world, was fixed on to bestow it! Her emotion was such as Mrs. Jennings had attributed to a very different cause; but whatever minor feelings less pure, less pleasing, might have a share in that emotion, her esteem for the general benevolence, and her grat.i.tude for the particular friends.h.i.+p, which together prompted Colonel Brandon to this act, were strongly felt, and warmly expressed. She thanked him for it with all her heart, spoke of Edward's principles and disposition with that praise which she knew them to deserve; and promised to undertake the commission with pleasure. She could undertake therefore to inform him of it, in the course of the day. After this had been settled, Colonel Brandon began to talk of his own advantage in securing so respectable and agreeable a neighbour, and that that it was that he mentioned with regret, that the house was small and indifferent. it was that he mentioned with regret, that the house was small and indifferent.

"I cannot imagine any inconvenience to them," said Elinor, "for it will be in proportion to their family and income."

By which the colonel was surprised to find that she she was considering Mr. Ferrars's marriage as the certain consequence of the presentation; for he did not suppose it possible that the lighthouse at Delaford could supply such an income, as anybody in his style of life would venture to settle on-and he said so. was considering Mr. Ferrars's marriage as the certain consequence of the presentation; for he did not suppose it possible that the lighthouse at Delaford could supply such an income, as anybody in his style of life would venture to settle on-and he said so.

"A simple lake-side lighthouse can do no more than make Mr. Ferrars comfortable as a bachelor; it cannot enable him to marry. I am sorry to say that my patronage ends with this; and my interest is hardly more extensive. If, however, by an unforeseen chance it should be in my power to serve him further, I am ready to be useful to him. What I am now doing indeed, seems nothing at all, since it can advance him so little towards what must be his princ.i.p.al object of happiness. His marriage must still be a distant good-at least, I am afraid it cannot take place very soon."

Such was the sentence which, when misunderstood, so justly offended the delicate feelings of Mrs. Jennings.

As they all departed the room, the swordfish continued to ma.s.s; now a dozen, now two dozen, now three dozen beady-eyed beasts, some as small as cats, some big as horses, all with their cruel sharp bills clattering away against the gla.s.s. All over the Dome it was the same, and by nightfall there were a thousand pairs of deadly golden fish-eyes glowing eerily in the darkness, just outside the protective gla.s.s sh.e.l.l of the Sub-Station. An army of malevolent fish, mostly tapping, but some simply staring- staring, staring coldly in from without.

CHAPTER 40

"WELL, MISS DASHWOOD," said Mrs. Jennings, sagaciously smiling, at the next morning's breakfast of gelatinated oatmeal loaf and fatback powder, "I do not ask what the colonel has been saying to you; upon my honour, I tried tried to keep out of hearing. But his set of distended maxillae were leaping and fluttering most anxiously under his nose, and though his gurgly breathing was if anything more p.r.o.nounced than usual, I could not help catching enough to understand his business. I a.s.sure you I never was better pleased in my life, and I wish you joy with all my heart." to keep out of hearing. But his set of distended maxillae were leaping and fluttering most anxiously under his nose, and though his gurgly breathing was if anything more p.r.o.nounced than usual, I could not help catching enough to understand his business. I a.s.sure you I never was better pleased in my life, and I wish you joy with all my heart."

"Thank you, ma'am," said Elinor. "It is a matter of great joy to me; and I feel the goodness of Colonel Brandon most sensibly. There are not many men who would act as he has done. Few people who have so compa.s.sionate a heart! I never was more astonished in my life that this opportunity should occur."

"Opportunity!" repeated Mrs. Jennings. "When a man has once made up his mind to such a thing, somehow or other he will soon find an opportunity. Well, my dear, I wish you joy of it again and again; and if ever there was a happy couple in the world, I think I shall soon know where to look for them."

"You mean to go to Delaford after them I suppose," said Elinor, with a faint smile.

"Aye, my dear, that I do, indeed! And as to the house being a bad one, I do not know what the colonel would be at, for it is as good a one as ever I saw."

"He spoke of its being out of repair."

"Well, and whose fault is that? Why don't he repair it? Who should do it but himself?"

As Elinor puzzled over Mrs. Jennings remarks, they were interrupted by a great, shuddering crash as the whole docking station absorbed an enormous blow. Their conversation ceased, and from her place at the pianoforte Marianne looked up, startled and wide-eyed.

As one, they turned their eyes to the gla.s.s, and comprehended what looked for all the world like a swordfish grown to gargantuan proportions. A moment's inspection revealed that this was not a swordfish at all, but a narwhal-a whale of some 3,500 pounds, with tiny eyes gleaming from its giant head, and a long, wicked and twisted horn upon its brow; a sea-beast, in other words, bearing the same relation to the swordfish as a snarling lion does to a Ches.h.i.+re cat. And indeed, a small school of swordfish darted about the tail and torso of the narwhal in delighted little circles, as if proclaiming it their champion.

"Dear G.o.d," cried Elinor. "They've brought reinforcements."

The narwhal now commenced ramming the blunted tip of its six-foot spiraled horn against the gla.s.s, again and again, not with the persistent tick-tock tick-tock tapping of the swordfish, but with a giant, reverberating smash; and then a long pause as it drew back, and then a second smash. tapping of the swordfish, but with a giant, reverberating smash; and then a long pause as it drew back, and then a second smash.

"I think it is time to summon Sir John, and see what he may think of this," said Mrs. Jennings.

Before the older woman rushed off in pursuit of that errand, Elinor reminded her not to mention the subject of their prior conversation to anyone. "Oh, very well," said Mrs. Jennings, rather disappointed; and then, as she double- and then triple-checked that her Float-Suit was properly a.s.sembled and attached, "Then you would not have me tell it to Lucy?"

"No, ma'am, not even Lucy if you please. One day's delay will not be very material; and till I have written to Mr. Ferrars, I think it ought not to be mentioned to anybody else. I shall do that that directly. It is of importance that no time should be lost with him, for he will, of course, have much to do relative to his new position." directly. It is of importance that no time should be lost with him, for he will, of course, have much to do relative to his new position."

This speech puzzled Mrs. Jennings exceedingly. She could not comprehend why Elinor might need to write to Mr. Ferrars in such a hurry. She was preparing to enquire further of its meaning when the loudest crash yet rattled the whole of the Dome, like it was a snow globe in the hands of a careless child. The narwhal had now turned its body lengthwise and was bringing its whole huge flank lolloping into the wall of the Station, again and again, faster and faster. From the pianoforte, her fingers frozen above the keys, Marianne swore the swordfish were cheering.

"Good-bye, my dear," said Mrs. Jennings hurriedly to Elinor. "I have not heard of any news to please me so well since Charlotte was brought to bed. I only hope our joy in it is not undone by . . . by-" Again, a great and terrifying smash against the gla.s.s; again, the whole of the Dome trembled in its moorings. "By whatever is happening."

Elinor sat considering how to begin-how she should express herself in her note to Edward? How could she summon the delicacy to compose such a missive, when her very home, her very world was under a.s.sault from a marine army, under the command of a gigantesque narwhal? She sat deliberating over her paper, with the pen in her hand, till interrupted by the entrance of Edward himself. Her astonishment and confusion were very great on his so sudden appearance. She had not seen him before since his engagement became public, and therefore, not since his knowing her to be acquainted with it. The consciousness of what she now had to tell him made her feel particularly uncomfortable. He too was much distressed; but now he had much more immediate concerns. He glanced swiftly at the Dome-gla.s.s and said gravely, "Ah. They are here. So they are here here, as well!"

"And why do you suppose they are so determined to lay this siege against Mrs. Jennings's docking?' inquired Elinor innocently, glad to have a subject of conversation other than his engagement, and the new information regarding the lighthouse at Delaford that she was bound to impart.

"Do you think they are only here?" said Edward. "This strange phenomenon has made itself known in every quarter of the Station. At Berkeley's, a great dugong slams its broad forehead upon the Dome; at Rumpole Piscina, it is a school of ba.s.s, a thousand strong, that form a mighty armada and slam against the gla.s.s in a thick barrage, time and time again. The engineers say we have nothing to worry about, that every panel is tested and re-tested a thousand times over before installation, and that the Dome is secure."

"And so we have nothing to fear," said Elinor, preparing to turn to the subject of which she needed to unburden herself.

"Indeed," replied Edward. "And yet . . ."

Outside the gla.s.s, a servant swam within a dozen yards of the narwhal, and leveled a Furci-Landy gun-a high-powered air-rifle designed to shoot a sh.e.l.l through the foreboding density of water at 4,000 leagues beneath-at the broad flank of the beast. He fired, missed, and turned to reload.

"Mrs. Jennings told me," said Edward, in this brief pause in the action, "that you wished to speak with me. I certainly should not have intruded on you in such a manner; though at the same time, I should have been extremely sorry to Ascend from the Station without seeing you and your sister; especially as it will most likely be some time-it is not probable that I should soon have the pleasure of meeting you again."

"You would not have gone, however," said Elinor, recovering herself, and determined to get over what she so much dreaded as soon as possible, "without receiving our good wishes, even if we had not been able to give them in person." Again the servant fired his Furci-Landy gun, and this time found his mark; the narwhal, however, reacted no more to the pellet than would a vast iron-hulled wars.h.i.+p to a bit of gravel tossed against its broadside.

Elinor shook her head slightly and continued. "Mrs. Jennings was quite right in what she said. I have something of consequence to inform you of, which I was on the point of communicating by paper. Colonel Brandon, who was here only ten minutes ago, has desired me to say, that he has great pleasure in offering you the lighthouse at Delaford, now just vacant, and only wishes it were more valuable. Allow me to congratulate you on having so respectable and well-judging a friend."

"Colonel Brandon!"

"Yes," continued Elinor, gathering more resolution, as some of the worst was over, "Colonel Brandon means it as a testimony of his concern for what has lately pa.s.sed-for the cruel situation in which the unjustifiable conduct of your family has placed you-a concern which I am sure Marianne, myself, and all your friends, must share; and likewise as a proof of his high esteem for your general character, and his particular approbation of your behaviour on the present occasion."

Another walloping crash came against the Dome; the servant fired his gun a third time, wildly, and again the sh.e.l.l glanced harmlessly off the vast flank of the narwhal.

"Colonel Brandon give me me a living! Can it be possible?" a living! Can it be possible?"

Elinor smiled in spite of herself. "It seems the unkindness of your own relations has made you astonished to find friends.h.i.+p anywhere."

"No," replied be, with sudden consciousness, "not to find it in you you; for I cannot be ignorant that to you, to your goodness, I owe it all."

"You are very much mistaken. I do a.s.sure you that you owe it entirely, at least almost entirely, to your own merit, and Colonel Brandon's discernment of it. I have had no hand in it. I did not even know, till I understood his design, that the old lighthouse keeper had been dragged off by Pirate Dreadbeard, nor had it ever occurred to me that he might have had such a living in his gift."

For a short time Edward sat deep in thought, after Elinor had ceased to speak. At last, and as if it were rather an effort, he said, "Colonel Brandon seems a man of great worth and respectability. I have always heard him spoken of as such, and your brother I know esteems him highly. He is undoubtedly a sensible man, and in his manners perfectly the gentleman."

Further expression of grat.i.tude was impossible, as their attention was drawn anew by the continued pitched battle outside the gla.s.s. After carelessly absorbing two or three more bits of buckshot from the Furci-Landy gun, the narwhal swiveled his ma.s.sive head and eyed the servant up and down, as if deciding whether he was worth its trouble. Evidently it decided in the affirmative, as it then thrust forward its gigantic head and speared the man, waving his arms helplessly, like a s.h.i.+sh kebab, upon its horn.

This easy victory served to inspire the narwhal and its cohort of swordfish attendants to ever more vigorous efforts; they all turned their attention back to the Dome-gla.s.s and resumed banging and tapping and pounding upon it at a furious pace. What had begun as a light spider web of cracks had now blossomed into a network of ominous furrows, growing deeper and longer by the instant. Edward rose rapidly and made for the door.

Elinor did not offer to detain him; and they parted, with a rapid a.s.surance on her her side of her unceasing good wishes for his happiness in every change of situation that might befall him; on side of her unceasing good wishes for his happiness in every change of situation that might befall him; on his his with rather an attempt to return the same good will, than the power of expressing it; and on with rather an attempt to return the same good will, than the power of expressing it; and on both both their parts that the world in which they were safely cosseted against the ravaging sea would prove as durable as the engineers claimed it to be. their parts that the world in which they were safely cosseted against the ravaging sea would prove as durable as the engineers claimed it to be.

"When I see him again," said Elinor to herself, as the door shut him out, "I shall see him the husband of Lucy." She paused in her reflections, and then added, with glance to the Dome-gla.s.s, "If I see him again." I see him again."

Mrs. Jennings ran back into the docking, panting heavily, her boots dripping wet from having disembarked too hurriedly from her gondola.