Page:Austen - Mansfield Park, vol. II, 1814.djvu/135

 doubt of his obtaining leave of absence immediately, for he was still only a midshipman; and as his parents, from living on the spot, must already have seen him and be seeing him perhaps daily, his direct holidays might with justice be instantly given to the sister, who had been his best correspondent through a period of seven years, and the uncle who had done most for his support and advancement; and accordingly the reply to her reply, fixing a very early day for his arrival, came as soon as possible, and scarcely ten days had passed since Fanny had been in the agitation of her first dinner visit, when she found herself in an agitation of a higher nature—watching in the hall, in the lobby, on the stairs for the first sound of the carriage which was to bring her a brother.

It came happily while she was thus waiting, and there being neither ceremony nor fearfulness to delay the moment of meeting, she was with him as Rh