Mansfield Park IV

Sir Thomas becomes uneasy about Maria, thinking that she is clearly not in love with Rushworth, and he offers to help her to break her engagement if she wants to. But Maria realises that Henry is not offering to marry her, so she does not want to give up her chance of marrying Rushworth. Henry is concerned that he was foolish to get into a flirtation with Maria. He does not want to get entangled with her, and makes it clear that he's not going to propose. So Maria marries Rushworth. She and he go off on a wedding trip, with Julia as well. Fanny is still not very happy as she is half pushed into a friendship with Mary, as they are the only 2 girls left in the Manfield estate now. She tries to like Mary but she does not approve of her. Henry, bored, since his two latest flirts are gone, decides to try his luck with Fanny. However she cannot overcome her disapproval. Henry continues to pester Fanny, trying to get her to say that the play was fun, and she gets annoyed with him. He is intrigued by her prudish ways, and notes that she is prettier than she used to be. He decides to propose to her. Mary is quite pleased to see her brother wanting to marry, even though Fanny is poor and has no important connexions except for Sir Thomas. But Fanny remembers how Henry flirted with Maria and Julia and does not like him well enough to consider marriage. Sir Thomas is annoyed that his impoverished niece is being offered such a handsome proposal, to a rich man...and that she is turning it down. He decides to send Fanny away for a bit, hoping she will change her mind. She has not been home to her family for 8 years, and he hopes that seeing what life is like in a small house in Portsmouth will sober her and make her reconsider. Fanny has longed to see her relatives, since for years the only one she has seen is William who is in the Navy and occasionally visits Mansfield Park. She loves him, but can hardly remember the others.