3 Persuasion - Abridged By Stephanie Poppins

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Persuasion by Jane Austen Chapter 3 I must take leave to observe,

Sir Walter,

Said Mr Shepherd one morning at Kellynch Hall as he laid down the newspaper,

That the present juncture is much in our favour.

This peace will be turning all our rich Navy officers ashore.

They will be all wanting a home.

Could not be a better time,

Sir Walter,

For having a choice of tenants,

Very responsible tenants.

Many a noble fortune has been made during the war.

If a rich Admiral were to come in our way,

Sir Walter,

He would be a very lucky man,

Shepherd,

Replied Sir Walter.

That's all I have to remark.

A prize indeed would Kellynch Hall be to him,

Rather the greatest prize of all.

Let him have taken ever so many before,

Eh,

Shepherd?

Mr Shepherd laughed as he knew he must at this weight,

And then added,

I presume to observe,

Sir Walter,

That in the way of business,

Gentlemen of the Navy are well to deal with.

I have had little knowledge of their methods of doing business,

And I'm free to confess they have very liberal notions,

And are as likely to make desirable tenants as any set of people should one meet with.

Therefore,

Sir Walter,

What I would take leave to suggest is,

That if,

In consequence of any rumours getting aboard of your intention,

Which must be contemplated as a possible thing,

Because we know how difficult it is,

To keep the actions and designs of one part of the world from the notice and curiosity of the other.

Consequence has its tax.

I,

John Shepherd,

Might conceal any family matters that I chose,

For nobody would think it worth their while to observe me.

But Sir Walter Elliot has eyes upon him which it may be very difficult to elude,

And therefore,

Thus much I venture upon,

That it will not greatly surprise me if,

With all our caution,

Some rumour of the truth should get abroad,

In the supposition of which,

As I was going to observe,

Since applications will unquestionably follow,

I should think any from our wealthy naval commanders particularly worth attending to,

And beg leave to add,

That two hours will bring me over at any time,

To save you the trouble of replying.

" Sir Walter only nodded,

But soon afterwards rising and pacing the room,

He observed sarcastically.

There are few among the gentlemen of the Navy,

I imagine,

Who would not be surprised to find themselves in a house of this description.

"'They would look around them,

No doubt,

And bless their good fortune,

' said Mrs Clay,

For Mrs Clay was present.

Her father had driven her over,

Nothing being of so much use to Mrs Clay's health as a drive to Kellynch.

But I quite agree with my father in thinking a sailor might be a very desirable talent.

I have known a good deal of the profession,

And besides their liberality,

They're so neat and careful in all their ways.

These valuable pictures of yours,

Sir Walter,

If you chose to leave them,

Would be perfectly safe.

Everything in and about the house would be taken such excellent care of.

The gardens and shrubberies would be kept in almost as high order as they are now.

You need not be afraid,

Miss Elliot,

Of your own sweet flower gardens being neglected.

" As to all that,

Rejoined Sir Walter coolly,

"'Supposing I were induced to let my house,

I have by no means made up my mind as to the privilege to be annexed to it.

I am not particularly disposed to favour a tenant.

The park would be open to him,

Of course,

And few Navy officers,

Or men of any other description,

Can have had such a range.

But what restrictions I might impose on the use of the pleasure grounds is another thing.

I am not fond of the idea of my shrubberies being always approachable,

And I should recommend Miss Elliot to be on her guard with respect to her flower garden.

I am very little disposed to grant a tenant of Kellynch Hall any extraordinary favour,

I assure you,

Be he sailor or soldier.

" After a short pause,

Mr Shepherd presumed to say,

"'In all these cases there are established usages which made everything plain and easy between landlord and tenant.

Your interest,

Sir Walter,

Is in pretty safe hands.

Depend upon me for taking care no tenant has more than just his rights.

I venture to hint that Sir Walter Elliot cannot be half so jealous of his own as John Shepherd will be for him.

" Here,

Anne spoke,

"'The Navy,

I think,

Who have done so much for us,

Have at least an equal claim with any other set of men.

For all the comforts and all the privileges which any home can give,

Sailors work hard enough for their comforts we must allow.

' "'Very true,

Very true.

What Miss Anne says is very true,

' was Mr Shepherd's rejoinder,

And all certainly was his daughter's.

But Sir Walter's remark was soon afterwards,

"'The profession has its utility,

But I should be very sorry to see any friend of mine belonging to it.

' "'Indeed,

' was the reply,

And with a look of surprise.

"'Yes,

It is in two points offensive to me,

' continued,

"'I have two very strong grounds of objection to it.

First,

As being the means of bringing persons of obscure birth into undue distinction,

And raising men to honours which their fathers and grandfathers never dreamt of.

And secondly,

As it cuts up a man's youth and vigour most horribly,

A sailor grows old sooner than any other man.

I have observed it all my life.

A man is in great danger in the Navy of being insulted by the rise of one whose father,

His father,

Might have disdained to speak to,

And of becoming prematurely an object of disgust himself than in any other line.

"'One day,

Last spring in town,

I was in company with two men,

Striking instances of what I am talking about.

Lord St Ives,

Whose father we all know to have been a country curate,

Without bread to eat.

I was to give place to Lord St Ives and a certain Admiral Baldwin,

The most deplorable looking person as you can imagine.

His face was the colour of mahogany,

Rough and rugged to the last degree,

Lines and wrinkles,

Grey hairs,

And nothing but a dab of powder at the top.

"'In the name of heaven,

Who is that old fellow?

' said I to a friend of mine.

"'Old fellow,

' cried Sir Basil,

"'it is Admiral Baldwin.

' "'What do you take his age to be?

' "'Sixty,

' said I,

Or perhaps sixty-two.

' "'Forty,

' replied Sir Basil,

"'forty and no more.

Just picture to yourself my amazement.

I never saw quite so wretched an example of what a seafaring life can do,

But to a degree I know it's the same with them all.

They're all knocked about and exposed to every climate and every weather till they're not fit to be seen.

It's a pity they're not knocked on the head at once before they reach Admiral Baldwin's age.

' "'Nay,

Sir Walter,

' cried Mrs Clay,

"'this is being severe indeed.

Have a little mercy on the poor men.

We're not all born to be handsome.

The sea is no beautifier,

Certainly.

Sailors do not grow old,

Be times.

I have observed it.

They soon lose the look of youth.

But then it's not the same with many other professions,

Perhaps most others.

' It seemed as if Mr Shepherd,

In his anxiety to bespeak Sir Walter's goodwill towards a naval officer as tenant,

Had been gifted with foresight,

For the very first application for the house was from an Admiral Croft,

With whom he shortly afterwards fell into company in attending the sessions at Taunton.

Admiral Croft was a native of Somersetshire who,

Having acquired a very handsome fortune,

Was wishing to settle in his own country,

And had come down to Taunton in order to look at some advertised places in that immediate neighbourhood.

And understanding Mr Shepherd's connection with the owner,

He had introduced himself to him in order to make particular enquiries.

And who is Admiral Croft?

Was Sir Walter's cold,

Suspicious enquiry.

Mr Shepherd answered for his being of a gentleman's family,

And mentioned a place.

And Anne,

After the little pause which followed,

Added,

He's a Rear Admiral of the White.

He was in the Trafalgar Action and has been in the East Indies since.

He was stationed there,

I believe,

Several years.

Then I take it for granted,

Observed Sir Walter,

That his face is about as orange as the cuffs and capes of my livery.

Mr Shepherd hastened to assure him that Admiral Croft was a very hale,

Hearty,

Well-looking man,

A little weather-beaten to be sure,

But not much,

And quite the gentleman in all his notions and behaviour.

Not likely to make the smallest difficulty about terms.

Only wanted a comfortable home,

And to get into it as soon as possible.

Knew he must pay for his convenience.

Knew what rent a ready-furnished house of that consequence might fetch.

Should not have been surprised if Sir Walter had asked more.

Had enquired about the manor,

Would be glad of the deputation,

Certainly,

But made no great point of it.

Said he sometimes took out a gun,

But never killed.

Quite the gentleman.

Mr Shepherd was eloquent on the subject,

Pointing out all the circumstances of the Admiral's family which made him peculiarly desirable as a tenant.

He was a married man,

And without children.

The very state to be wished for.

A house was never taken good care of,

Mr Shepherd observed,

Without a lady.

He did not know where the furniture might not be in danger of suffering as much when there was no lady,

As when there were many children.

A lady without a family was the very best preserver of furniture in the world.

He had seen Mrs Croft,

Too.

She was at Taunton with the Admiral,

And had been present almost all the time they were talking the matter over.

And a very well-spoken,

Genteel,

Shrewd lady she seemed to be,

Continued he,

Asked more questions about the house and terms and taxes than the Admiral himself,

And seemed more conversant with business.

And moreover,

Sir Walter,

I found she was not quite unconnected in this country any more than her husband.

She is sister to a gentleman who did live amongst us once.

She told me so herself.

Sister to the gentleman who lived a few years back at Monkford.

I have no conception who you can mean,

Shepherd,

Said Mrs Clay.

I remember no gentleman resident at Monkford since the time of old Governor Trent.

You mean Mr Wentworth,

I suppose,

Said Anne.

Mr Shepherd was all gratitude.

Wentworth was the very name.

He was the very man.

He had the Curacy of Monkford,

You know,

Sir Walter,

Some time back,

For two or three years.

You remember him,

I'm sure.

Wentworth?

Oh,

I,

Mr Wentworth,

The Curate of Monkford.

You misled me by the term gentleman.

I thought you were speaking of some man of property.

Mr Wentworth was nobody,

I remember.

Quite unconnected,

Nothing to do with the Stratford family.

One wonders how the names of many of our nobility become so common.

Sir Walter was not very wise,

But still he had enough experience of the world to feel that a more unobjectionable tenant,

All essentials than Admiral Croft bid fair to be,

Could hardly offer.

So far went his understanding,

And his vanity supplied a little additional soothing in the Admiral's situation in life,

Which was just high enough,

But not too high.

I have let my house to Admiral Croft would sound extremely well.

Much better than to any mere mister.

An admiral speaks his own consequence,

And at the same time can never make a baronet look small.

Nothing could be done without a reference to Elizabeth,

Of course,

But her inclination was growing so strong for a removal,

That she was happy to have it fixed and expedited by a tenant at hand,

And not a word to suspend decision was uttered by her.

And so Mr Shepherd was completely empowered to act,

And no sooner had such an end been reached,

Than Anne,

Who had been a most attentive listener to the whole,

Left the room to seek the comfort of cool air for her flushed cheeks,

And as she walked along her favourite grove said,

With a gentle sigh,

A few months more,

And he perhaps may be walking here.