The Life of Charlotte Brontë — Volume 1Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn
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The Life of Charlotte Brontë — Volume 1
Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn
Brontë, Charlotte, 1816-1855; Novelists, English -- 19th century -- Biography
Miss Branwell urged her views upon Mr. Bronte as soon as the immediate
danger to the old servant's life was over. He refused at first to listen
to the careful advice; it was repugnant to his liberal nature. But Miss
Branwell persevered; urged economical motives; pressed on his love for
his daughters. He gave way. Tabby was to be removed to her sister's,
and there nursed and cared for, Mr. Bronte coming in with his aid when
her own resources fell short. This decision was communicated to the
girls. There were symptoms of a quiet, but sturdy rebellion, that winter
afternoon, in the small precincts of Haworth parsonage. They made one
unanimous and stiff remonstrance. Tabby had tended them in their
childhood; they, and none other, should tend her in her infirmity and
age. At tea-time, they were sad and silent, and the meal went away
untouched by any of the three. So it was at breakfast; they did not
waste many words on the subject, but each word they did utter was
weighty. They "struck" eating till the resolution was rescinded, and
Tabby was allowed to remain a helpless invalid entirely dependent upon
them. Herein was the strong feeling of Duty being paramount to pleasure,
which lay at the foundation of Charlotte's character, made most apparent;
for we have seen how she yearned for her friend's company; but it was to
be obtained only by shrinking from what she esteemed right, and that she
never did, whatever might be the sacrifice.
She had another weight on her mind this Christmas. I have said that the
air of Dewsbury Moor did not agree with her, though she herself was
hardly aware how much her life there was affecting her health. But Anne
had begun to suffer just before the holidays, and Charlotte watched over
her younger sisters with the jealous vigilance of some wild creature,
that changes her very nature if danger threatens her young. Anne had a
slight cough, a pain at her side, a difficulty of breathing. Miss W---
considered it as little more than a common cold; but Charlotte felt every
indication of incipient consumption as a stab at her heart, remembering
Maria and Elizabeth, whose places once knew them, and should know them no
more.
Stung by anxiety for this little sister, she upbraided Miss W--- for her
fancied indifference to Anne's state of health. Miss W--- felt these
reproaches keenly, and wrote to Mr. Bronte about them. He immediately
replied most kindly, expressing his fear that Charlotte's apprehensions
and anxieties respecting her sister had led her to give utterance to over-
excited expressions of alarm. Through Miss W---'s kind consideration,
Anne was a year longer at school than her friends intended. At the close
of the half-year Miss W--- sought for the opportunity of an explanation
of each other's words, and the issue proved that "the falling out of
faithful friends, renewing is of love." And so ended the first, last,
and only difference Charlotte ever had with good, kind Miss W ---.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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