The Courtship of Mrs Elton:
Part VI

The rain blew away; the sun shone; and as the month of March opened to bring daffodils and crocuses to all the gardens of Bath, the happiest couple, because the latest engaged, strolled through Laura Place to Pulteney Street, the lady leaning upon the gentleman's arm. Between the Abbey Churchyard and Milsom Street they planned their household, and on the way to the Pump Room to drink the waters and listen to the music, they talked of the society of the village of Highbury to which Miss Hawkins was shortly to be transplanted. Every thing, in fact, was arranged with the greatest speed and felicity, except one. Mr. Elton had a parish, a house, good furniture, and an income that, with the addition of Miss Hawkins' ten thousand pounds, could never be contemptible; but he did not possess his own carriage.

"I fear, my dear Augusta, that every body does their carriage-building in preparation for the Spring. I have written to Malone's, and gone to see Sloane and Wilkens, but their hands are full. I do not know what we can do. I wish I had set up a carriage before, indeed; but for a single man, hired hacks sufficed. Yet I cannot bring my bride to Highbury without a carriage."

"To be sure not. But is there no carriage maker - can we not procure the pitifulest old wagon in the world? - I do not ask for a *very* handsome carriage. I do not have pretensions to aspire to a barouche-landau, for of course I know that we will not have the income of my brother Mr. Suckling. For *them*, two carriages are quite a necessary thing."

"No, a barouche-landau, I think, would certainly be out of place in a little country town. Our parishioners would think we were putting on airs."

"Only think! well! how provoking. But I suppose I shall have to accustom myself to having an audience observing every thing that we do, and being the cynosure of all eyes. Our choice of carriage, will probably be a subject that will make a great stir in Highbury."

"Exactly so, my dear Augusta. We cannot be too careful. Now, curricles are smart; but they do not suit a married couple as well as a landau, I think, or a landaulet would do quite as well."

"Oh, I would not have a curricle for the world. They may do very well for fast young gentlemen, and puppies - Mr. Bird has a curricle I believe - but not for Mr. and Mrs. Elton of Highbury. I am sure you are right, and we should not try to make too smart an appearance; our new neighbors are apt to feel inferior, and I would not have that for a fortune. They are country people, and not used to the elegancies of town, I believe you have told me."

"That is very much the case, my dear. Why, the Woodhouses, and the Bates, and even elegant ladies such as Mrs. Weston and Mrs. Cole, never stir from Highbury. It is different with the gentlemen. Knightley, and Weston, and Cole, sometimes have business that take them to Town. But they do not mix with the fashionable world. Ah! they will stare to find a lady of fashion, like you, among them, my dear Augusta."

"I shall have to teach them how to do every thing, I suppose. I have heard that in these little country places, people dine at four o'clock, and there are no fine parties at all. I am glad you have such a fine cook, and I shall soon have her in the way of making rout-cakes such as we had at the Browns."

"Ah! Augusta, you will civilize Highbury. But the carriage, my dear - the carriage. I confess it seems a desperate business. I begin to fear that we may not be able to set up our carriage, and be married, until *May*, at this rate; and that will be exceedingly inconvenient for my parish, and also for me, as I would wish to be married as soon as can be. You understand, Augusta, and forgive me for being so ardent?"

"Certainly I understand, my dear Mr. E, and your being ardent can only flatter me, you know. When you are my lord and master, I assure you, I shall make a proper return. And I have no fear but that you shall be able to purchase a carriage before many days have passed. Why, any thing can be bought with money; and I am sure, that if we look only a little farther, we shall meet with success. I shall write to Mr. Suckling for advice. Is there not a carriage maker a little out of town, on the London road? Have you applied to him?"

With such encouragement from his lady-to-be, Mr. Elton was not slow in visiting all the carriage-makers in the neighborhood, and vigorously stating his wishes, until he did meet with success; and for only fifty pounds more than he had hoped to give, he secured his purchase, a shining new landau with a purple silk lining.

So Augusta and Philip were joined in marriage, so early as the first of March. In despite of much conjecture on the point, their wedding was celebrated many weeks before Mr. Bird and Miss Milman were able to agree upon settlements in their own match. A flurry of parties and dinners were given for the Eltons in Bath, in honour of their nuptials, and at every one of these their placid satisfaction was so much in evidence, as to form a contrast with the quarrels between Mr. Bird and his friends, and Miss Milman and hers, each of whom felt the other party was being cheaply dealt with. The truth was, that there was not enough money to go around; if one fortune is all that a couple needs between them, Mr. Bird and Miss Milman were unfortunate in not having any.

Such was not the lot of the happy Eltons, however, and they duly left Bath in their shining new carriage, inaugurating it with a short visit to Maple Grove, in order that Mr. Elton might meet the Sucklings. And so, their courtship having proceeded with incredible swiftness, and their wedding bells rung with expedience, March was not half over, before the newly wedded pair swept into Highbury, and Augusta was settled in the vicarage, with every possible comfort and source of happiness at hand.

Augusta was pleased, on the whole, with every thing she saw; the house was good, if small, and new-furnished in the best of modern taste. The servants, she instantly had under command; and every thing was soon running with pattern smoothness, as a vicarage ought to do. Mrs. Elton had nothing to wish for, but to take a place in the village society that would be worthy of her position, her income, her husband, and her elegance. Accordingly, on her first Sunday in Highbury, she put on her bridal raiment to make a most elegant and proper appearance in Church, where the wondering townspeople would catch their first glimpse of the vicar's wife, a bride in a pew.