Anne Bronte - Agnes Grey

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Agnes Grey
by
Anne Brontë
A P
ENN
S
TATE
E
LECTRONIC
C
LASSICS
S
ERIES
P
UBLICATION
Agnes Grey
by Anne Brontë
is a publication of the Penn-
sylvania State University. This Portable Document file is
furnished free and without any charge of any kind. Any
person using this document file, for any purpose, and in
any way does so at his or her own risk. Neither the Penn-
sylvania State University nor Jim Manis, Faculty Editor,
nor anyone associated with the Pennsylvania State Uni-
versity assumes any responsibility for the material con-
tained within the document or for the file as an elec-
tronic transmission, in any way.
Agnes Grey
by Anne Brontë
,
the Pennsylvania State
University,
Electronic Classics Series
, Jim Manis, Faculty
Editor, Hazleton, PA 18202-1291 is a Portable Docu-
ment File produced as part of an ongoing student publi-
cation project to bring classical works of literature, in
English, to free and easy access of those wishing to make
use of them.
Cover Design: Jim Manis; image: drawing in pencil by
Charlotte Brontë, 1845, courtesy Wikimedia Commons
Copyright © 2007 The Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University is an equal opportunity university.
Anne Brontë
AGNES GREY
by
Anne Brontë
CHAPTER I
THE PARSONAGE
A
LL
TRUE
HISTORIES
contain instruction; though, in some, the trea-
sure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity,
that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble
of cracking the nut. Whether this be the case with my history or
not, I am hardly competent to judge. I sometimes think it might
prove useful to some, and entertaining to others; but the world may
judge for itself. Shielded by my own obscurity, and by the lapse of
years, and a few fictitious names, I do not fear to venture; and will
candidly lay before the public what I would not disclose to the most
intimate friend.
My father was a clergyman of the north of England, who was
deservedly respected by all who knew him; and, in his younger days,
lived pretty comfortably on the joint income of a small incumbency
and a snug little property of his own. My mother, who married him
against the wishes of her friends, was a squire’s daughter, and a woman
3
Agnes Grey
of spirit. In vain it was represented to her, that if she became the
poor parson’s wife, she must relinquish her carriage and her lady’s-
maid, and all the luxuries and elegancies of affluence; which to her
were little less than the necessaries of life. A carriage and a lady’s-
maid were great conveniences; but, thank heaven, she had feet to
carry her, and hands to minister to her own necessities. An elegant
house and spacious grounds were not to be despised; but she would
rather live in a cottage with Richard Grey than in a palace with any
other man in the world.
Finding arguments of no avail, her father, at length, told the lov-
ers they might marry if they pleased; but, in so doing, his daughter
would forfeit every fraction of her fortune. He expected this would
cool the ardour of both; but he was mistaken. My father knew too
well my mother’s superior worth not to be sensible that she was a
valuable fortune in herself: and if she would but consent to embel-
lish his humble hearth he should be happy to take her on any terms;
while she, on her part, would rather labour with her own hands
than be divided from the man she loved, whose happiness it would
be her joy to make, and who was already one with her in heart and
soul. So her fortune went to swell the purse of a wiser sister, who
had married a rich nabob; and she, to the wonder and compassion-
ate regret of all who knew her, went to bury herself in the homely
village parsonage among the hills of—. And yet, in spite of all this,
and in spite of my mother’s high spirit and my father’s whims, I
believe you might search all England through, and fail to find a
happier couple.
Of six children, my sister Mary and myself were the only two that
survived the perils of infancy and early childhood. I, being the younger
by five or six years, was always regarded as
the
child, and the pet of the
family: father, mother, and sister, all combined to spoil me—not by
foolish indulgence, to render me fractious and ungovernable, but by
ceaseless kindness, to make me too helpless and dependent—too un-
fit for buffeting with the cares and turmoils of life.
4
Anne Brontë
Mary and I were brought up in the strictest seclusion. My mother,
being at once highly accomplished, well informed, and fond of
employment, took the whole charge of our education on herself,
with the exception of Latin—which my father undertook to teach
us—so that we never even went to school; and, as there was no
society in the neighbourhood, our only intercourse with the world
consisted in a stately tea-party, now and then, with the principal
farmers and tradespeople of the vicinity (just to avoid being stigma-
tized as too proud to consort with our neighbours), and an annual
visit to our paternal grandfather’s; where himself, our kind
grandmamma, a maiden aunt, and two or three elderly ladies and
gentlemen, were the only persons we ever saw. Sometimes our mother
would amuse us with stories and anecdotes of her younger days,
which, while they entertained us amazingly, frequently awoke—in
me
, at least—a secret wish to see a little more of the world.
I thought she must have been very happy: but she never seemed to
regret past times. My father, however, whose temper was neither tran-
quil nor cheerful by nature, often unduly vexed himself with think-
ing of the sacrifices his dear wife had made for him; and troubled his
head with revolving endless schemes for the augmentation of his little
fortune, for her sake and ours. In vain my mother assured him she
was quite satisfied; and if he would but lay by a little for the children,
we should all have plenty, both for time present and to come: but
saving was not my father’s forte. He would not run in debt (at least,
my mother took good care he should not), but while he had money
he must spend it: he liked to see his house comfortable, and his wife
and daughters well clothed, and well attended; and besides, he was
charitably disposed, and liked to give to the poor, according to his
means: or, as some might think, beyond them.
At length, however, a kind friend suggested to him a means of
doubling his private property at one stroke; and further increasing
it, hereafter, to an untold amount. This friend was a merchant, a
man of enterprising spirit and undoubted talent, who was some-
5
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