"I am going into the village to see my horses"

"It is a beautiful country," he replied; "but these bottoms must be dirty in winter."

"How can you think of dirt, with such objects before you?"

"Because," replied he, smiling, "among the rest of the objects before me, I see a very dirty lane."

(Chapter 16)

I am now about half way through Sense and Sensibility (Well into Volume II), and I have to say that reading Austen becomes easier the farther into one of her novels that you go. In the past, as much as I have always loved her works, I found that good things came in small packages, and that I could only really read one or two chapters a day. For example, I was able to read 2 or 3 chapters of Pride and Prejudice a night, but my head would swim if I tried to do more. It might have something to do with the fact that 200 years have passed since Sense and Sensibility was published, and our vocabulary and writing style is very different. I am growing increasingly thankful that audio books are at my disposal. As another aside, I should point out that I cannot simply read a paragraph or two at a time. When I want to sit down a read a chapter or two, I try to make sure that I have at least 15 minutes.

At the end of Volume II of Sense and Sensibility, the character of Miss Lucy Steele is introduced. Without spilling huge plot secrets, (Is that possible? Well, if you do not know the story of S&S and you still want to, STOP READING NOW!!), I can say that I feel very sorry for Edward's unfortuante entanglement. But his consistancy and devotion to such a frivolous women is virtuous. In fact, this novel, more than others, (except perhaps Emma) is full of men who remain devoted to women, despite their deficiencies. I remarked on this in my last post. At the same time, I am amazed by the fortitude of Elinor, who remains civil and kind to Lucy, despite her own personal loss, and the sadness that this loss brings. I have noticed though that Marianne and Elinor both show a little bit of a personal vendetta during this area of the novel. Marianne's is to put Elinor and Edward together, and she craftily does this by leaving Elinor and Edward together in the breakfast room, and leaving with a lame excuse. "He joined her and Marianne in the breakfast-room the next morning before the others were down; and Marianne, who was always eager to promote their happiness as far as she could, soon left them to themselves. But before she was half way upstairs she heard the parlour door open, and, turning round, was astonished to see Edward himself come out. "I am going into the village to see my horses," said he, "as you are not yet ready for breakfast; I shall be back again presently."(Chapter 18) Edward must have remembered his previous commitment to Lucy, and knowing that he cannot spend any time with Elinor without falling more madly in love, chooses the perfect moment to walk in to town. Literally.

As for as Elinor, when she discovers the link between Lucy and Edward, she carefully plans a time when she can talk to Lucy again with out arousing suspicion. "Much as she had suffered from her first conversation with Lucy on the subject, she soon felt an earnest wish of renewing it; and this for more reasons than one. She wanted to hear many particulars of their engagement repeated again, she wanted more clearly to understand what Lucy really felt for Edward, whether there were any sincerity in her declaration of tender regard for him, and she particularly wanted to convince Lucy, by her readiness to enter on the matter again, and her calmness in conversing on it, that she was no otherwise interested in it than as a friend." (Volume II, Chapter 1) She wants to verify the veracity of the situation, and she does so very well. In fact, she plays her part so well that Lucy feels guilty for burdening her with it in the first place. I guess that it is Providence that she learned of Lucy and Edward's understanding whilst still in the country, for news travels fast in the city. Providence must play a part in this story, for I believe that Elinor's fortitude, and her discretion, reward her later on. I mean, she gets the guy, right? Nice men eventually choose nice girls.

As another side note, I think that I have a found a sentence that might be one of the longest in Austen. It is a paragraph in length. This phrase is seriously the only thing in the paragraph. That being said, it is a very well constructed run-on sentence! I think that I should google this to see what Austen's longest sentence was. When I find this, I will let you know. "After an hour or two spent in what her mother called comfortable chat, or in other words, in every variety of inquiry concerning all their acquaintance on Mrs. Jennings's side, and in laughter without cause on Mrs. Palmer's, it was proposed by the latter that they should all accompany her to some shops where she had business that morning, to which Mrs. Jennings and Elinor readily consented, as having likewise some purchases to make themselves; and Marianne, though declining it at first was induced to go likewise."(Volume II, Chapter 4)