Page:Austen Sanditon and other miscellanea.djvu/60



Party were very soon moving after Dinner. Mr. Parker could not be satisfied without an early visit to the Library, and the Library Subscription book, and Charlotte was glad to see as much, and as quickly as possible, where all was new. They were out in the very quietest part of a Watering-place Day, when the important Business of Dinner or of sitting after Dinner was going on in almost every inhabited Lodging; here and there a solitary Elderly Man might be seen, who was forced to move early and walk for health; but in general, it was a thorough pause of Company, it was Emptiness and Tranquillity on the Terrace, the Cliffs, and the Sands. The Shops were deserted, the Straw Hats and pendant Lace seemed left to their fate both within the House and without, and Mrs. Whitby at the Library was sitting in her inner room, reading one of her own Novels, for want of Employment. The List of Subscribers was but commonplace. The Lady Denham, Miss Brereton, Mr. and Mrs. Parker, Sir Edward Denham and Miss Denham, whose names might be said to lead off the Season, were followed by nothing better than—Mrs. Mathews, Miss Mathews, Miss E. Mathews, Miss H. Mathews; Dr. and Mrs. Brown; Mr. Richard Pratt; Lieut. Smith, R.N.; Capt. Little, Limehouse; Mrs. Jane Fisher, Miss Fisher; Miss Scroggs; Rev. Mr. Hanking; Mr. Beard, Solicitor, Gray's Inn; Mrs. Davis, and Miss Merryweather. Mr. Parker could not but feel that the List was not only without