While Fanny was trying to keep herself alive, their visitor, who had at first approached her with as animated a countenance as ever, was wisely and kindly keeping his eyes away, and giving her time to recover. Indeed, he devoted himself entirely to her mother, addressing her, and attending to her with the utmost politeness and propriety, at the same time with a degree of friendliness, of interest at least, which was making his manner perfect.

Mrs. Price’s manners were also at their best. Warmed by the sight of such a friend to her son, and wishing to appear to advantage before him, she was overflowing with gratitude—artless, maternal gratitude—which could not be unpleasing. Mr. Price was out, which she regretted very much.

Fanny was just recovered enough to feel that she could not regret it. For, as mentioned before, short of having that telltale peeling skin and the movements of a walking stiff, her father was decidedly unpresentable. Furthermore, to her many other sources of uneasiness was now added the severe one of shame for the home in which Mr. Crawford found her. She might scold herself for the weakness, but there was no scolding it away. She was ashamed, and she would have been yet more ashamed of her father than of all the rest.

They talked of William, a subject on which Mrs. Price could never tire. Here, Mr. Crawford was as warm in his commendation as even her heart could wish. Mrs. Price felt that she had never seen so agreeable a man in her life. She was only astonished to find that, so great and so agreeable as he was, he should be come down to Portsmouth neither on a visit to the port-admiral, nor the commissioner, nor yet with the intention of going over to the island, nor of seeing the dockyard.

Nothing of all that she had been used to think of as the proof of importance, or the employment of wealth, had brought him to Portsmouth. He had reached it late the night before, was come for a day or two, was staying at the Crown, had accidentally met with a navy officer or two of his acquaintance since his arrival, but had no object of that kind in coming.

By the time he had given all this information, it was not unreasonable to suppose that Fanny might be looked at and spoken to. At that point, she was tolerably able to bear his eye.