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He gave Jane a word . She looked at it and pushed it away quickly , and Mr Knightley saw that it was “ blunder ” , and that Jane’s face had turned red . Then Frank made another word and gave it to Emma , who laughed at once , because it was “ Dixon ” . Frank asked her to pass it to Jane . Jane looked at it with real anger , and then she stood up and said that she must go home . When the others had left , Mr Knightley stayed behind . “ Emma , what was the joke about that word ? Why did Miss Fairfax look so upset ? ” “ Oh , it was only a little joke between Frank and me . It means nothing at all . ” “ I think there is some kind of understanding between Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax , ” he said seriously . “ I have been watching them , and I am almost sure of it . ” Emma laughed at him . “ Between them ? Oh , no ! There is nothing of the kind , I promise you . I know it for certain , though I cannot tell you how I know . You may believe me . ” Mr Knightley looked at her for a long moment . Then he took his hat and went home without another word . XIII . Strawberries at Donwell In June Mr Knightley invited his friends to Donwell Abbey to pick the strawberries in his gardens . It was a hot , bright day , and the old house stood low and quiet among its trees and meadows . Emma walked about the grounds and looked at it with real pride . It was just what a gentleman’s house ought to be , she thought , and she was glad that it belonged to her family . From the end of a long walk under the trees she could see the river . Beyond it lay the farm at Abbey - Mill , with its fields and orchards and the smoke rising from the chimney . It was a sweet view , sweet to the eye and the mind , and it made her think of Robert Martin . For the first time she wondered whether she had been wrong to look down on it . Mrs Elton arrived in a large bonnet with a basket on her arm , and she talked without stopping . “ I shall lead the way . I adore strawberries , the best fruit in England , everybody’s favourite . It is delightful to gather them for oneself , the only way of really enjoying them . Morning is the best time , and one is never tired . But it is so hot ! The sun is really too much . I must go and sit in the shade . ” “ I have been thinking , Knightley , ” she went on , “ that we ought to have a party out of doors . We shall all go on donkeys , Jane and I and my caro sposo . I shall wear a large bonnet and carry a little basket . There is to be no form or show , you know . We shall have a sort of gypsy party , and eat on the grass under the trees . ” “ Not quite , ” said Mr Knightley calmly . “ My idea of the simple and the natural is to have the table spread in the dining room . The nature and the simplicity of gentlemen and ladies , with their servants and their furniture , is best seen indoors . ”
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