Edmund Pleads Henry's Case — Mansfield Park

Edmund had meant to leave it to Fanny whether Crawford is mentioned between them. After a day or two of mutual reserve, his father persuades him to try. He walks out with Fanny and says he has heard of it from everybody. She is relieved to find that he does not blame her. He tells her that her conduct has been faultless.

Fanny says that she and Mr Crawford are so totally unlike. She reminds him how Mr Crawford behaved to Mr Rushworth and to Maria at the time of the play. Edmund answers that no one should be judged by how they appeared in that period of general folly, and that he was the most wrong of all. He calls her a creature who thinks herself unequal to everything. He tells her Mary will come to see her before she goes. Fanny is tired and oppressed. He leads her into the house with the kind authority of a guardian.