The family of Dashwood had long been settled in
Sussex. Their estate
was large, and their residence was at Norland Park, in the centre of their
property, where, for many generations, they had lived in so respectable a
manner as to engage the general good opinion of their surrounding neighbours.
The late owner of this estate was a single man, who lived to a very advanced
age, and who for many years of his life, had a constant companion and
housekeeper in his sister. But her death, which happened ten years before his
own, produced a great alteration in his home; for to supply her loss, he
invited and received into his house the family of his nephew Mr. Henry
Dashwood, the legal inheritor of the Norland estate, and the person to whom he
intended to leave it. In the society of his nephew and niece, and their
children, the old Gentleman's days were comfortably spent. His attachment to
them all increased. The constant attention of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Dashwood to
his wishes, which proceeded not merely from interest, but from goodness of
heart, gave him every degree of solid comfort which his age could receive; and
the cheerfulness of the children added enjoyment to his existence.
By a former marriage, Mr. Henry Dashwood had one
son: by his present lady, three daughters. The son, a firm respectable young
man, was sufficiently provided for by the fortune of his mother, which had been
large, and half of which devolved on him on his coming of age. By his own
marriage, likewise, which happened soon afterwards, he added to his wealth. To
him therefore the succession to the Norland estate was not so really important
as to his sisters; for their fortune, independent of what might arise to them
from their father's inheriting that property, could be but small. Their mother
had nothing, and their father only seven thousand pounds in his own disposal;
for the remaining half of his first wife's fortune was also secured to her
child, and he had only a life-interest in it.
The old gentleman died: his will was read, and like
almost every other will, gave as much disappointment as pleasure. He was
neither so unjust, nor so ungrateful, as to leave his estate from his
nephew;—but he left it to him on such terms as destroyed half the value of the inheritance.
Mr. Dashwood had wished for it more for the sake of his wife and daughters than
for himself or his son;—but to his son, and his son's son, a child of four
years old, it was secured, in such a way, as to leave to himself no power of
providing for those who were most dear to him, and who most needed a provision
by any charge on the estate, or by any sale of its valuable woods. The whole
was tied up for the benefit of this child, who, in occasional visits with his
father and mother at Norland, had so far gained on the affections of his uncle,
by such attractions as are by no means unusual in children of two or three
years old; an imperfect articulation, an earnest desire of having his own way,
many intelligent tricks, and a great deal of noise, as to outweigh all the
value of all the attention which, for years, he had received from his niece and
her daughters. He meant not to be unkind, however, and, as a mark of his
affection for the three girls, he left them a thousand pounds a-piece.
Mr. Dashwood's disappointment was, at first,
severe; but his temper was cheerful and sanguine; and he might reasonably hope
to live many years, and by living economically, lay by a considerable sum from
the produce of an estate already large, and capable of almost immediate
improvement. But the fortune, which had been so late in coming, was his only
one twelvemonth. He survived his uncle no longer; and ten thousand pounds,
including the late legacies, was all that remained for his widow and daughters.
His son was sent for as soon as his danger was
known, and to him Mr. Dashwood recommended, with all the strength and urgency
which illness could command, the interest of his mother-in-law and sisters. (Inglés más fácil con
sinónimos y vocabulario comprensivo)
Vocabulario reemplazado
Acquaintance bequeath
steady amply
moiety cunning
Vocabulario destacado
Estate: un “estate” es la total de las
posesiones de una persona en cierto período de tiempo
Palabras relacionadas: lands, property, area,
grounds, domain, manor, holdings, demesne
Inglés en tu oficina. Spanish for tourists.
Teléfonos 0387-4249159/155723965. 4400 Salta. Argentina.
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