Produced by Jonathan Ingram Tapio Riikonenand PG Distributed ProofreadersTALES AND NOVELS VOL VMANOEUVRING ALMERIA AND VIVIAN TALES OF FASHIONABLE LIFEBYMARIA EDGEWORTHIN TEN VOLUMES WITH ENGRAVINGS ON STEEL1857MANOEUVRINGCHAPTER I    And gave her words where oily Flattry lays    The pleasing colours of the art of praisePARNELLNOTE FROM MRS BEAUMONT TO MISS WALSINGHAMI am more grieved than I can express my dearest Miss Walsingham by acruel _contretemps_ which must prevent my indulging myself in thelongpromised and longexpected pleasure of being at your _fête defamille_ on Tuesday to celebrate your dear fathers birthday I trusthowever to your conciliating goodness my kind young friend torepresent my distress properly to Mr Walsingham Make him sensible Iconjure you that my _heart_ is with you all and assure him that thisis no common apology Indeed I never employ such artifices with myfriends to them and to you in particular my dear I always speak withperfect frankness and candour Amelia with whom _entre nous_ you aremore a favourite than ever is so much vexed and mortified by thisdisappointment that I see I shall not be restored to favour till I canfix a day for going to you yet when that may be circumstances which Ishould not feel myself quite justified in mentioning will not permit meto decideKindest regards and affectionate remembrances to all your dearcircleAny news of the young captain Any hopes of his return fromseaEver with perfect truth my dearest Miss Walsinghams sincere friendEUGENIA BEAUMONTPSPrivateread to yourselfTo be candid with you my dear young friend my secret reason fordenying myself the pleasure of Tuesdays fête is that I have justheard that there is a shocking chickenpox in the village near you andI confess it is one of my weaknesses to dread even the bare rumour ofsuch a thing on account of my Amelia but I should not wish to havethis mentioned in your house because you must be sensible your fatherwould think it an idle womanish fear and you know how anxious I am forhis esteemBurn this I beseech youUpon second thoughts I believe it will be best to tell the truth andthe whole truth to your father if you should see that nothing elsewill doIn short I write in haste and must trust now as everentirely to your discretionWell my dear said Mr Walsingham to his daughter as the young ladysat at the breakfast table looking over this note how long do youmean to sit the picture of The Delicate Embarrassment To relieve youas far as in me lies let me assure you that I shall not ask to seethis note of Mrs Beaumonts which as usual seems to contain somemighty mysteryNo great mystery onlyOnlysome minikin mystery said Mr Walsingham Yes _Elle estpolitique pour des choux et des raves_This charming widow Beaumontis _manoeuvrer_1 We cant well make an English word of it Thespecies thank Heaven is not so numerous yet in England as to requirea generic name The description however has been touched by one ofour poets    Julias a manager shes born for rule    And knows her wiser husband is a fool    For her own breakfast shell project a scheme    Nor take her tea without a stratagemEven from the time when Mrs Beaumont was a girl of sixteen I rememberher manoeuvring to gain a husband and then manoeuvring to manage himwhich she did with triumphant addressWhat sort of a man was Colonel BeaumontAn excellent man an openhearted soldier of the strictest honour andintegrityThen is it not much in Mrs Beaumonts favour that she enjoyed theconfidence of such a man and that he left her guardian to his son anddaughterIf he had lived with her long enough to become acquainted with her realcharacter what you say my dear would be unanswerable But ColonelBeaumont died a few years after his marriage and during those few yearshe was chiefly with his regimentYou will however allow said Miss Walsingham that since his deathMrs Beaumont has justified his confidenceHas she not been a goodguardian and an affectionate motherWhyas a guardian I think she has allowed her son too much libertyand too much money I have heard that young Beaumont has lost aconsiderable sum at Newmarket I grant you that Mrs Beaumont is anaffectionate mother and I am convinced that she is extremely anxious toadvance the worldly interests of her children still I cannot my dearagree with you that she is a good mother In the whole course of theeducation of her son and daughter she has pursued a system of artificeWhatever she wanted them to learn or to do or to leave undone somestratagem sentimental or scenic was employed somebody was to hint tosome other body to act upon Amelia to make her do so and soNothingthat is nothing like truth ever came directly from themother there were always whisperings and mysteries and Dont say thatbefore Amelia and I would not have this told to Edward because itmight make him like something that she did not wish that he should likeand that she had _her reasons_ for not letting him know that she did notwish him to like There was always some truth to be concealed for somemighty good purpose and things and persons were to be represented infalse lights to produce on some particular occasion some partialeffect All this succeeded admirably in detail and for the managementof helpless ignorant credulous childhood But mark the consequencesof this system children grow up and cannot always see hear andunderstand just as their mothers please They will go into the worldthey will mix with others their eyes will be opened they will seethrough the whole system of artifice by which their childhood was socleverly managed and then confidence in the parent must be destroyedfor everMiss Walsingham acknowledged the truth of what her father said but sheobserved that this was a common error in education which had thesanction of high authority in its favour even the eloquent Rousseauand the elegant and ingenious Madame de Genlis And it is