Lady Susan E-Book und Hörbuch

Jane Austen.

• E-Book-Herausgeber: Hesperus Press Ltd.
  Hörbuch-Herausgeber: Goyalit
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Serie: Hesperus Classics
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Seitenzahl: 126

Beschreibung

Inspired by Les Liaisons Dangereuses and written in a similar epistolary form, Lady Susan was one of Austen's earliest finished works. In it she reveals all the caustic wit and brilliant social satire of her later novels. The victim of a vicious scandal, impoverished Lady Susan is obliged to take up residence with her brother-in-law and his family. Refusing to resign herself to the role of placid house guest, she engineers to baffle her hosts, seducing her sister-in-law's brother in the process by means of her impeccable gentility and some well-judged flirtation. Yet before her victory is complete, she must first contend with the untimely reappearance of a former lover.

Leseprobe

Lady Susan

Jane Austen

CONTENTS

Title PageLady Susan I Lady Susan Vernon to Mr VernonII Lady Susan Vernon to Mrs JohnsonIII Mrs Vernon to Lady De CourcyIV Mr De Courcy to Mrs VernonV Lady Susan Vernon to Mrs JohnsonVI Mrs Vernon to Mr De CourcyVII Lady Susan Vernon to Mrs JohnsonVIII Mrs Vernon to Lady De CourcyIX Mrs Johnson to Lady S. VernonX Lady Susan Vernon to Mrs JohnsonXI Mrs Vernon to Lady De CourcyXII Sir Reginald De Courcy to his sonXIII Lady De Courcy to Mrs VernonXIV Mr De Courcy to Sir ReginaldXV Mrs Vernon to Lady De Courcy XVI Lady Susan to Mrs JohnsonXVII Mrs Vernon to Lady De CourcyXVIII From the same to the sameXIX Lady Susan to Mrs JohnsonXX Mrs Vernon to Lady De CourcyXXI Miss Vernon to Mr De CourcyXXII Lady Susan to Mrs JohnsonXXIII Mrs Vernon to Lady De CourcyXXIV From the same to the sameXXV Lady Susan to Mrs JohnsonXXVI Mrs Johnson to Lady SusanXXVII Mrs Vernon to Lady De CourcyXXVIII Mrs Johnson to Lady SusanXXIX Lady Susan Vernon to Mrs JohnsonXXX Lady Susan Vernon to Mr De CourcyXXXI Lady Susan to Mrs JohnsonXXXII Mrs Johnson to Lady SusanXXXIII Lady Susan to Mrs JohnsonXXXIV Mr De Courcy to Lady SusanXXXV Lady Susan to Mr De CourcyXXXVI Mr De Courcy to Lady SusanXXXVII Lady Susan to Mr De CourcyXXXVIII Mrs Johnson to Lady Susan VernonXXXIX Lady Susan to Mrs JohnsonXL Lady De Courcy to Mrs VernonXLI Mrs Vernon to Lady De Courcy CONCLUSIONBiographical noteHESPERUS PRESS SELECTED TITLES FROM HESPERUS PRESSCopyright

Lady Susan

I

Lady Susan Vernon to Mr Vernon

Langford, Dec.

My dear brother,

I can no longer refuse myself the pleasure of profiting by your kind invitation when we last parted of spending some weeks with you at Churchhill, and, therefore, if quite convenient to you and Mrs Vernon to receive me at present, I shall hope within a few days to be introduced to a sister whom I have so long desired to be acquainted with. My kind friends here are most affectionately urgent with me to prolong my stay, but their hospitable and cheerful dispositions lead them too much into society for my present situation and state of mind; and I impatiently look forward to the hour when I shall be admitted into your delightful retirement.

I long to be made known to your dear little children, in whose hearts I shall be very eager to secure an interest. I shall soon have need for all my fortitude, as I am on the point of separation from my own daughter. The long illness of her dear father prevented my paying her that attention which duty and affection equally dictated, and I have too much reason to fear that the governess to whose care I consigned her was unequal to the charge. I have therefore resolved on placing her at one of the best private schools in town, where I shall have an opportunity of leaving her myself in my way to you. I am determined, you see, not to be denied admittance at Churchhill. It would indeed give me most painful sensations to know that it were not in your power to receive me.

Your most obliged and affectionate sister,

S. Vernon

II

Lady Susan Vernon to Mrs Johnson

Langford

You were mistaken, my dear Alicia, in supposing me fixed at this place for the rest of the winter; it grieves me to say how greatly you were mistaken, for I have seldom spent three months more agreeably than those which have just flown away. At present, nothing goes smoothly; the females of the family are united against me. You foretold how it would be when I first came to Langford, and Mainwaring is so uncommonly pleasing that I was not without apprehensions for myself. I remember saying to myself, as I drove to the house, ‘I like this man, pray Heaven no harm come of it!’ But I was determined to be discreet, to bear in mind my being only four months a widow, and to be as quiet as possible: and I have been so, my dear creature; I have admitted no one’s attentions but Mainwaring’s. I have avoided all general flirtation whatever; I have distinguished no creature besides, of all the numbers resorting hither, except Sir James Martin, on whom I bestowed a little notice, in order to detach him from Miss Mainwaring; but, if the world could know my motive there they would honour me. I have been called an unkind mother, but it was the sacred impulse of maternal affection, it was the advantage of my daughter that led me on; and if that daughter were not the greatest simpleton on earth, I might have been rewarded for my exertions as I ought.

Sir James did make proposals to me for Frederica; but Frederica, who was born to be the torment of my life, chose to set herself so violently against the match that I thought it better to lay aside the scheme for the present. I have more than once repented that I did not marry him myself; and were he but one degree less contemptibly weak I certainly should, but I must own myself rather romantic in that respect, and that riches only will not satisfy me. The event of all this is very provoking: Sir James is gone, Maria highly incensed, and Mrs Mainwaring insupportably jealous; so jealous, in short, and so enraged against me, that, in the fury of her temper, I should not be surprised at her appealing to her guardian, if she had the liberty of addressing him, but there your husband stands my friend; and the kindest, most amiable action of his life was his throwing her off for ever on her marriage. Keep up his resentment, therefore, I charge you. We are now in a sad state; no house was ever more altered; the whole party are at war, and Mainwaring scarcely dares speak to me. It is time for me to be gone; I have therefore determined on leaving them, and shall spend, I hope, a comfortable day with you in town within this week. If I am as little in favour with Mr Johnson as ever, you must come to me at 10 Wigmore Street; but I hope this may not be the case, for as Mr Johnson, with all his faults, is a man to whom that great word ‘respectable’ is always given, and I am known to be so intimate with his wife, his slighting me has an awkward look.

I take London in my way to that insupportable spot, a country village; for I am really going to Churchhill. Forgive me, my dear friend, it is my last resource. Were there another place in England open to me I would prefer it. Charles Vernon is my aversion; and I am afraid of his wife. At Churchhill, however, I must remain till I have something better in view. My young lady accompanies me to town, where I shall deposit her under the care of Miss Summers, in Wigmore Street, till she becomes a little more reasonable. She will make good connections there, as the girls are all of the best families. The price is immense, and much beyond what I can ever attempt to pay.

Adieu, I will send you a line as soon as I arrive in town.

Yours ever,

S. Vernon

III

Mrs Vernon to Lady De Courcy

Churchhill

My dear mother,

I am very sorry to tell you that it will not be in our power to keep our promise of spending our Christmas with you; and we are prevented that happiness by a circumstance that is not likely to make us any amends. Lady Susan, in a letter to her brother-in-law, has declared her intention of visiting us almost immediately; and as such a visit is in all probability merely an affair of convenience, it is impossible to conjecture its length. I was by no means prepared for such an event, nor can I now account for her ladyship’s conduct; Langford appeared so exactly the place for her in every respect, as well from the elegant and expensive style of living there, as from her particular attachment to Mr Mainwaring, that I was very far from expecting so speedy a distinction, though I always imagined from her increasing friendship for us since her husband’s death that we should, at some future period, be obliged to receive her. Mr Vernon, I think, was a great deal too kind to her when he was in Staffordshire; her behaviour to him, independent of her general character, has been so inexcusably artful and ungenerous since our marriage was first in agitation that no one less amiable and mild than himself could have overlooked it all; and though, as his brother’s widow, and in narrow circumstances, it was proper to render her pecuniary assistance, I cannot help thinking his pressing invitation to her to visit us at Churchhill perfectly unnecessary. Disposed, however, as he always is to think the best of everyone, her display of grief, and professions of regret, and general resolutions of prudence, were sufficient to soften his heart and make him really confide in her sincerity; but, as for myself, I am still unconvinced, and plausibly as her ladyship has now written, I cannot make up my mind till I better understand her real meaning in coming to us. You may guess, therefore, my dear madam, with what feelings I look forward to her arrival. She will have occasion for all those attractive powers for which she is celebrated to gain any share of my regard; and I shall certainly endeavour to guard myself against their influence, if not accompanied by something more substantial. She expresses a most eager desire of being acquainted with me, and makes very gracious mention of my children, but I am not quite weak enough to suppose a woman who has behaved with inattention, if not with unkindness, to her own child, should be attached to any of mine. Miss Vernon is to be placed at a school in London before her mother comes to us, which I am glad of, for her sake and my own. It must be to her advantage to be separated from her mother, and a girl of sixteen who has received so wretched an education, could not be a very desirable companion here. Reginald has long wished, I know, to see the captivating Lady Susan, and we shall depend on his joining our party soon. I am glad to hear that my father continues so well; and am, with best love, etc.,

Catherine Vernon

IV

Mr De Courcy to Mrs Vernon

Parklands

My dear sister,

I congratulate you and Mr Vernon on being about to receive into your family the most accomplished coquette in England. As a very distinguished flirt I have always been taught to consider her, but it has lately fallen in my way to hear some particulars of her conduct at Langford which prove that she does not confine herself to that sort of honest flirtation which satisfies most people, but aspires to the more delicious gratification of making a whole family miserable. By her behaviour to Mr Mainwaring she gave jealousy and wretchedness to his wife, and by her attentions to a young man previously attached to Mr Mainwaring’s sister deprived an amiable girl of her lover.

I learnt all this from Mr Smith, now in this neighbourhood (I have dined with him, at Hurst and Wilford), who is just come from Langford where he was a fortnight with her ladyship, and who is therefore well qualified to make the communication.

What a woman she must be! I long to see her, and shall certainly accept your kind invitation, that I may form some idea of those bewitching powers which can do so much – engaging at the same time, and in the same house, the affections of two men, who were neither of them at liberty to bestow them – and all this without the charm of youth! I am glad to find Miss Vernon does not accompany her mother to Churchhill, as she has not even manners to recommend her; and, according to Mr Smith’s account, is equally dull and proud. Where pride and stupidity unite there can be no dissimulation worthy notice, and Miss Vernon shall be consigned to unrelenting contempt; but by all that I can gather Lady Susan possesses a degree of captivating deceit which it must be pleasing to witness and detect. I shall be with you very soon, and am ever,

your affectionate brother,

R. De Courcy

V

Lady Susan Vernon to Mrs Johnson

Churchhill

I received your note, my dear Alicia, just before I left town, and rejoice to be assured that Mr Johnson suspected nothing of your engagement the evening before. It is undoubtedly better to deceive him entirely, and since he will be stubborn he must be tricked. I arrived here in safety, and have no reason to complain of my reception from Mr Vernon; but I confess myself not equally satisfied with the behaviour of his lady. She is perfectly well bred, indeed, and has the air of a woman of fashion, but her manners are not such as can persuade me of her being prepossessed in my favour. I wanted her to be delighted at seeing me. I was as amiable as possible on the occasion, but all in vain. She does not like me. To be sure when we consider that I did take some pains to prevent my brother-in-law’s marrying her, this want of cordiality is not very surprising, and yet it shows an illiberal and vindictive spirit to resent a project which influenced me six years ago, and which never succeeded at last.

I am sometimes half disposed to repent that I did not let Charles buy Vernon Castle, when we were obliged to sell it; but it was a trying circumstance, especially as the sale took place exactly at the time of his marriage; and everybody ought to respect the delicacy of those feelings which could not endure that my husband’s dignity should be lessened by his younger brother’s having possession of the family estate. Could matters have been so arranged as to prevent the necessity of our leaving the castle, could we have lived with Charles and kept him single, I should have been very far from