Page:Jane Austen (Sarah Fanny Malden 1889).djvu/192

 between his family and the Morlands, not only retracts all he had before said in their favour, but casts imputations upon them and represents them as not only poor but far from respectable. The General is a man of ungovernable temper, and his rage at the mistake he has been led into is past all control. He returns instantly to Northanger Abbey, and actually forces Catherine out of the house alone, at a few hours' notice, under the obviously flimsy pretext of an engagement for himself and his daughter. He gives no explanation, even to Eleanor, of his motives; her grief and shame at the whole transaction are great, but she is powerless, and Henry is away. Catherine leaves Northanger Abbey under the full conviction that she shall never see it or any of its inmates again, and her wretchedness may be imagined. She is not, however, left long uncomforted, for Henry, on learning what has happened, follows her as soon as possible, and makes her an offer of his heart and hand, which are, of course, accepted. His conduct is in direct defiance of his father's last directions; but he is independent as regards income; confident of obtaining the General's consent when his rage has cooled down and he is able to understand the real position of the Morlands, which is far from despicable. These explanations take place in about a year's time; and the story winds up with the happy marriages of both Henry and Eleanor Tilney; Catherine being, as may be supposed, at the seventh heaven of felicity.

I think that Catherine Morland, though in many respects attractive, is the most uninteresting of Jane Austen's heroines, and betrays the writer's youth. Emma Woodhouse, Fanny Price, and Elizabeth Bennet are all women we should like to have known, while for