Austen, Jane (1775-1817)

Northanger Abbey

London

John Murray

1818

"It was no wonder that the General should shrink from the sight of such objects as that room must contain; a room in all probability never entered by him since the dreadful scene had passed, which released his suffering wife, and left him to the stings of conscience."

The gallery was terminated by folding doors, which Miss Tilney, advancing, had thrown open, and passed through, and seemed on the point of doing the same by the first door to the left, in another long reach of gallery, when the General, coming forwards, called her hastily, and, as Catherine thought, rather angrily back, demanding whither she were going?---And what was there more to be seen?---Had not Miss Morland already seen all that could be worth her notice?---And did she not suppose her friend might be glad of some refreshment after so much exercise? Miss Tilney drew back directly, and the heavy doors were closed upon the mortified Catherine, who, having seen, in a momentary glance beyond them, a narrower passage, more numerous openings, and symptoms of a winding stair-case, believed herself at last within the reach of something worth her notice; and felt, as she unwillingly paced back the gallery, that she would rather be allowed to examine that end of the house, than see all the finery of all the rest.--- The General's evident desire of preventing such an examination was an additional stimulant. Something was certainly to be concealed; her fancy, though it had trespassed lately once or twice, could not mislead her here; and what that something was, a short sentence of Miss Tilney's, as they followed the General at some distance down stairs, seemed to point out.---"I was going to take you into what was my mother's room---the room in which she died---" were all her words; but few as they were, they conveyed pages of intelligence to Catherine. It was no wonder that the General should shrink from the sight of such objects as that room must contain; a room in all probability never entered by him since the dreadful scene had passed, which released his suffering wife, and left him to the stings of conscience.
(II, pp. 153-5; p. 127-8 in Norton ed.)

Uncategorized::Sting

Reading

See Northanger Abbey: and Persuasion. But the Author of "Pride and Prejudice," "Mansfield-Park," &c. With a Biographical Notice of the Author. 4 vols. (London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1818).

Reading Northanger Abbey, ed. Susan Fraiman (New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2004).

09/02/2014