Edmund Bertram's Diary Read Online Free PDF Page B

hunters? I tel you plainly, Tom, I am dreading it.’
    He was cheered by thoughts of my responsibilities, and by the idea that I would not be enjoying myself at home.
    We went down to dinner, and had a sorry evening. Mama was out of spirits, too, and lamenting the fact that Papa wil soon be far away, whilst Aunt Norris was elated by the thought of everything she would have to do. I glanced at Tom, and he laughed to think of Aunt Norris organizing us al with no one to check her officiousness, for I am sure my father is the only one who has the slightest influence over her.
    ‘You may rely on me, Sir Thomas,’ she said. ‘Young ladies of eighteen and nineteen years of age need a great deal of care, but it wil not be lacking, I assure you. I wil see to it that they do you credit whilst you are away.’
    My father thanked her, and told Maria, Julia and Fanny to mind their mother and their aunt whilst he is away.
    My sisters seemed relieved at the news of his departure.
    ‘Papa is always so grave,’ said Maria, as she walked over to the pianoforte with Julia. ‘I feel quite cast down whilst he is by.’
    Julia agreed, saying there was something stately in his manner that put her high spirits to flight. Fanny said nothing, and yet even she seemed to feel his coming absence as a relief. As for me, I wil be glad when he is safely home again.

SEPTEMBER
    Wednesday 3 September
    And so my father has gone, and I am in charge of his affairs. I rose early, conscious of how much there was to do, and after spending the morning with the steward, so that I could refresh my mind as to my duties for the coming month, this afternoon I began on them in earnest. Dinner-time came quickly and I hesitated before taking my father’s place. It seemed strange to sit in his chair and carve the meat, providing a focus at the head of the table. And afterwards, when the ladies withdrew, I was conscious of how alone I was, for without Tom and my father to talk to I sat in state by myself. I quickly repaired to the drawing-room where the others were gathered.
    ‘Wel , Edmund, and so we are alone, and must get used to being alone, for who knows when we may see Sir Thomas again?’ said my aunt with a sigh.
    ‘He has gone for a year, not for ever,’ I said.
    ‘I only hope it may be so,’ she said, relishing the new situation and determined to make a drama of it. ‘But who knows what may happen to a man, once he leaves his own fireside? There are vil ains everywhere. At this very minute, Sir Thomas may be in the power of pirates.’
    ‘Sir Thomas wil not have been caught by pirates, wil he?’ asked Mama, stirring.
    ‘I hardly think so,’ I told her.
    ‘Who can say?’ countered Aunt Norris. ‘The sea is a very unsafe place. And if he has not been captured by pirates, then what other dangers might he not be facing? There are typhoons and tidal waves . . . I shal not be surprised if Sir Thomas is shipwrecked, only to return to us after fifteen years with long white hair and a beard.’
    Mama was alarmed.
    ‘Do not say so! I have never been able to abide a beard,’ she said.
    ‘Depend upon it, he wil have fine weather and make the crossing in a month,’ I told her.
    ‘If he is not set upon by an enemy vessel,’ said my aunt, ‘for then he wil be thrown into the sea, as like as not, and eaten by a whale.’
    Fanny heroical y distracted my aunt’s attention, al owing us to pass the rest of the evening without any further visions fit for one of Mrs. Radcliffe’s novels.

DECEMBER
    Wednesday 31 December
    The last day of the year, and nothing terrible has happened. Papa has not been shipwrecked, nor has he drowned in a storm, nor been eaten by a whale. And I have managed to maintain the estate and family without them suffering any calamities either, for which I am truly thankful. I was able to write to Papa today and tel him that the estate is flourishing; that Maria and Julia are fast becoming the bel es of the neighborhood; and that Fanny’s