Mr Shepherd, a civil, cautious lawyer, who, whatever
might be his hold or his views on Sir Walter, would
rather have the disagreeable prompted by anybody else,
excused himself from offering the slightest hint,
and only begged leave to recommend an implicit reference
to the excellent judgement of Lady Russell, from whose
known good sense he fully expected to have just such
resolute measures advised as he meant to see finally
adopted.
Lady Russell was most anxiously zealous on the subject,
and gave it much serious consideration. She
was a woman rather of sound than of quick abilities,
whose difficulties in coming to any decision in this
instance were great, from the opposition of two leading
principles. She was of strict integrity herself,
with a delicate sense of honour; but she was as desirous
of saving Sir Walter’s feelings, as solicitous
for the credit of the family, as aristocratic in her
ideas of what was due to them, as anybody of sense
and honesty could well be. She was a benevolent,
charitable, good woman, and capable of strong attachments,
most correct in her conduct, strict in her notions
of decorum, and with manners that were held a standard
of good-breeding. She had a cultivated mind,
and was, generally speaking, rational and consistent;
but she had prejudices on the side of ancestry; she
had a value for rank and consequence, which blinded
her a little to the faults of those who possessed
them. Herself the widow of only a knight, she
gave the dignity of a baronet all its due; and Sir
Walter, independent of his claims as an old acquaintance,
an attentive neighbour, an obliging landlord, the husband
of her very dear friend, the father of Anne and her
sisters, was, as being Sir Walter, in her apprehension,
entitled to a great deal of compassion and consideration
under his present difficulties.
They must retrench; that did not admit of a doubt.
But she was very anxious to have it done with the
least possible pain to him and Elizabeth. She
drew up plans of economy, she made exact calculations,
and she did what nobody else thought of doing:
she consulted Anne, who never seemed considered by
the others as having any interest in the question.
She consulted, and in a degree was influenced by her
in marking out the scheme of retrenchment which was
at last submitted to Sir Walter. Every emendation
of Anne’s had been on the side of honesty against
importance. She wanted more vigorous measures,
a more complete reformation, a quicker release from
debt, a much higher tone of indifference for everything
but justice and equity.
