Page:Austen - Mansfield Park, vol. I, 1814.djvu/361

 on by degrees. You have a look of his sometimes."

"Have I?—I will do my best with the greatest readiness—but I must read the part, for I can say very little of it."

"None of it, I suppose. You are to have the book of course. Now for it. We must have two chairs at hand for you to bring forward to the front of the stage. There—very good schoolroom chairs, not made for a theatre, I dare say; much more fitted for little girls to sit and kick their feet against when they are learning a lesson. What would your governess and your uncle say to see them used for such a purpose? Could Sir Thomas look in upon us just now, he would bless himself, for we are rehearsing all over the house. Yates is storming away in the dining room. I heard him as I came up stairs, and the theatre is engaged of course by those indefatigable rehearsers, Agatha and Frederic. If they are not perfect, I shall be surprised. By the bye, I looked in upon