In the country, therefore, the Miss Bertrams continued
to exercise their memories, practise their duets, and grow
tall and womanly: and their father saw them becoming
in person, manner, and accomplishments, everything that
could satisfy his anxiety. His eldest son was careless
and extravagant, and had already given him much uneasiness;
but his other children promised him nothing but good.
His daughters, he felt, while they retained the name
of Bertram, must be giving it new grace, and in quitting it,
he trusted, would extend its respectable alliances;
and the character of Edmund, his strong good sense
and uprightness of mind, bid most fairly for utility,
honour, and happiness to himself and all his connexions.
He was to be a clergyman.
Amid the cares and the complacency which his own
children suggested, Sir Thomas did not forget to do what
he could for the children of Mrs. Price: he assisted
her liberally in the education and disposal of her sons
as they became old enough for a determinate pursuit;
and Fanny, though almost totally separated from her family,
was sensible of the truest satisfaction in hearing of any
kindness towards them, or of anything at all promising
in their situation or conduct.
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