Chapter 1: Which takes place during Chapter 3 of Northanger Abbey
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Henry Tilney had come to Bath to stay only one night and two days. This was by no means paying a proper respect to the place, but this was not his present object. His object was to procure lodgings for himself, his father, his sister, and possibly his brother, should he be able to join them. He had, today, secured these lodgings and now had the evening to himself. As he was not at all inclined to spend it alone at the inn, he went to the Lower Rooms. After walking about there for a moment, renewing some slight acquaintances, he made up his mind to dance a set. He was not particularly fond of cards and very fond of dancing, so this decision was easily made. The execution of it required some thought, however, for he was not then particularly acquainted with any lady in the room. So Henry Tilney, being a young man of cheerful spirits and quick mind, applied to the master of ceremonies to introduce him to any young lady in want of a partner.
This was a sorry circumstance indeed. A hero must never apply to a third for the introduction to a lady. Their introduction must be made by fate and fate alone, that is the proper order of things. The master of ceremonies obliged immediately, however, and introduced Henry to a Miss Morland. She was very young, quite pretty and excessively pleased to make his acquaintance and be asked to dance. Here once again Henry was not quite the hero, for he was neither shocked nor brought to brooding silence by this, and instead led her to the set with very pleasant and easy conversation.
In Henry's defence, it must be said that his circumstances were such that he might be forgiven for feeling himself quite equal to the task of pleasing a young lady such as Miss Morland, for whom this was not just her first visit to bath, but her first visit away from home altogether. A much less agreeable man might have impressed so new a visitor to the social scene and Henry Tilney,rather tall, at least as clever and blessed with lively spirits, a charming countenance and an appearance that was, if not quite handsome, at least very near it, flattered himself he was very agreeable. Miss Morland certainly seemed to think so and in her turn gratified Henry sincerely by her unaffected and open manners. She danced like one who had not been used to dance much in company, but had great pleasure in doing so and Henry truly enjoyed himself.
When the dance was over and they sat down for tea he took it upon himself to supply her with lively conversation. He talked to her of the dance, the crowd, the ornaments in the room, all the commonplace subjects. Miss Morland attended to him as if she had never heard any of the spoken again and Henry, provoked into playfulness by such earnest attention, suddenly addressed her with:
"I have hitherto been very remiss, madam, in the proper attentions of a partner here; I have not yet asked you how long you have been in Bath; whether you were ever here before; whether you have been at the Upper Rooms, the theatre, and the concert; and how you like the place altogether. I have been very negligent — but are you now at leisure to satisfy me in these particulars? If you are I will begin directly."
"You need not give yourself that trouble, sir," said she, with a look of surprise.
"No trouble, I assure you, madam." Then forming his features into a set smile, and affectedly softening his voice, he added, with a simpering air: "Have you been long in Bath, madam?"
"About a week, sir," replied Miss Morland and he was pleased to see she was poorly repressing an amused smile.
"Really!" with affected astonishment.
"Why should you be surprised, sir?" she asked, her own surprise much more genuine.
"Why, indeed!" said he, in his natural tone and with twinkling eyes. "But some emotion must appear to be raised by your reply, and surprise is more easily assumed, and not less reasonable than any other. Now let us go on. Were you never here before, madam?"
"Never, sir."
"Indeed! Have you yet honoured the Upper Rooms?"
"Yes, sir, I was there last Monday."
"Have you been to the theatre?"
"Yes, sir, I was at the play on Tuesday."
"To the concert?"
"Yes, sir, on Wednesday."
"And," he closed with affected solemnity. "Are you altogether pleased with Bath?"
"Yes, I like it very well," said she, smiling.
"Now I must give one smirk, and then we may be rational again."
Miss Morland turned away her head. Henry was sure she was not distressed or offended, but instead struggling not to laugh. When she met his eye once more she looked positively puzzled and this he delighted in.
"I see what you think of me," he said gravely. "I shall make but a poor figure in your journal tomorrow."
"My journal!" exclaimed she, as if he had discovered a great secret.
"Yes," he said archly. "I know exactly what you will say: Friday, went to the Lower Rooms; wore my sprigged muslin robe with blue trimmings — plain black shoes — appeared to much advantage; but was strangely harassed by a queer, half-witted man, who would make me dance with him, and distressed me by his nonsense."
"Indeed I shall say no such thing," said she, smiling.
"Shall I tell you what you ought to say?" he asked, sinking his voice.
"If you please."
"I danced with a very agreeable young man, introduced by Mr. King; had a great deal of conversation with him — seems a most extraordinary genius — hope I may know more of him. That, madam, is what I wish you to say."
"But, perhaps, I keep no journal."
"Perhaps you are not sitting in this room, and I am not sitting by you. These are points in which a doubt is equally possible. Not keep a journal! How are your absent cousins to understand the tenour of your life in Bath without one? How are the civilities and compliments of every day to be related as they ought to be, unless noted down every evening in a journal? How are your various dresses to be remembered, and the particular state of your complexion, and curl of your hair to be described in all their diversities, without having constant recourse to a journal? My dear madam, I am not so ignorant of young ladies' ways as you wish to believe me; it is this delightful habit of journaling which largely contributes to form the easy style of writing for which ladies are so generally celebrated. Everybody allows that the talent of writing agreeable letters is peculiarly female. Nature may have done something, but I am sure it must be essentially assisted by the practice of keeping a journal."
"I have sometimes thought," said Miss Morland, doubtingly. Whether ladies do write so much better letters than gentlemen! That is — I should not think the superiority was always on our side."
"As far as I have had opportunity of judging, it appears to me that the usual style of letter-writing among women is faultless, except in three particulars."
"And what are they?"
"A general deficiency of subject, a total inattention to stops, and a very frequent ignorance of grammar."
"Upon my word!" his partner exclaimed. "I need not have been afraid of disclaiming the compliment. You do not think too highly of us in that way."
Henry smiled and, fearing that she had taken this last speech to be sincere, he said:
"I should no more lay it down as a general rule that women write better letters than men, than that they sing better duets, or draw better landscapes. In every power, of which taste is the foundation, excellence is pretty fairly divided between the sexes."
They were interrupted by Miss Morland's companion, Mrs. Allen, a woman in her forties whose dress was fine and whose character nondescript.
"My dear Catherine," said she, "do take this pin out of my sleeve; I am afraid it has torn a hole already; I shall be quite sorry if it has, for this is a favourite gown, though it cost but nine shillings a yard."
"That is exactly what I should have guessed it, madam," said Mr. Tilney, looking at the muslin.
"Do you understand muslins, sir?" Mrs. Allen enquired, quite astonished.
"Particularly well," Henry spoke with confidence. "I always buy my own cravats, and am allowed to be an excellent judge; and my sister has often trusted me in the choice of a gown. I bought one for her the other day, and it was pronounced to be a prodigious bargain by every lady who saw it. I gave but five shillings a yard for it, and a true Indian muslin."
Mrs. Allen was quite struck by his genius. "Men commonly take so little notice of those things," said she. "I can never get Mr. Allen to know one of my gowns from another. You must be a great comfort to your sister, sir."
"I hope I am, madam."
"And pray, sir, what do you think of Miss Morland's gown?"
"It is very pretty, madam," said he, gravely examining it. "But I do not think it will wash well; I am afraid it will fray."
"How can you," said Catherine, laughing, "be so — " She held her tongue, but gave him a most wondering look.
Henry laughed silently at her.
"I am quite of your opinion, sir," said Mrs. Allen, quite unaware of what was passing between the young people. "And so I told Miss Morland when she bought it."
"But then you know, madam, muslin always turns to some account or other; Miss Morland will get enough out of it for a handkerchief, or a cap, or a cloak. Muslin can never be said to be wasted. I have heard my sister say so forty times, when she has been extravagant in buying more than she wanted, or careless in cutting it to pieces."
"Bath is a charming place, sir; there are so many good shops here. We are sadly off in the country; not but what we have very good shops in Salisbury, but it is so far to go — eight miles is a long way; Mr. Allen says it is nine, measured nine; but I am sure it cannot be more than eight; and it is such a fag — I come back tired to death. Now, here one can step out of doors and get a thing in five minutes."
Henry listened with affected interest as Mrs. Allen continued to talk of muslins and the comparative difficulty to procure them, till the dancing recommended. Meanwhile Miss Morland sat by them with a thoughtful expression on her face. When they rose and he offered her his hand, she took it with a very slight shake of the head. Henry repressed a smile and said, as they walked back to the ballroom:
"What are you thinking of so earnestly? Not of your partner, I hope, for, by that shake of the head, your meditations are not satisfactory."
She coloured, and said: "I was not thinking of anything."
"That is artful and deep, to be sure; but I had rather be told at once that you will not tell me."
"Well then, I will not."
"Thank you," he said cheerfully. "For now we shall soon be acquainted, as I am authorized to tease you on this subject whenever we meet, and nothing in the world advances intimacy so much."
Miss Morland almost ventured to laugh at this and they went down the second dance in mutual satisfaction. When the assembly closed they parted with a very charming adieu on his side and a very warm one on hers. Henry returned to his hotel in great spirits. It had been a very agreeable evening, certainly a good omen for the weeks to come he was to spend in Bath.