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“ I have heard a good deal about his visits to his father , or rather about how he did not make them , ” said Mr Knightley . “ For years he has been promising to come , and for years he has stayed away . If he had really wanted to come , he would have come long ago . A man can always do his duty if he chooses . ” “ You do not know how it is with Mrs Churchill . She is very hard to please , and he depends on her for everything . He must obey her . ” “ He is twenty - three , and he is quite old enough to know his duty . He could have gone to her and said quite simply , ‘ I must go and see my father . ’ If he had said it firmly , as a man should , she would have let him go . ” “ You have taken a dislike to him , ” said Emma , “ and you have never even met him . ” “ I do not dislike him , ” said Mr Knightley . “ I do not think of him at all . ” But he looked so cross when he said it that Emma could only wonder at him . IX . The Piano The Coles were a family of Highbury who had become rich in trade . They had built a large new dining room , and they were going to give a dinner party . At first Emma meant to refuse their invitation . She thought that they had no right to ask the best families of the place , and she wanted to teach them a lesson . But when everyone else she knew was invited , she did not like being left out , and she accepted after all . At dinner the room was full of news . A piano had arrived at Miss Bates’s house that morning for Jane Fairfax . It was a beautiful new instrument from a good London shop , but no one knew who had sent it , because there was no letter and no name . “ It must be from Colonel Campbell , ” said Mrs Cole . “ Who else could it be ? ” Emma , however , had another idea , and she turned to Frank Churchill and spoke in a low voice . “ Colonel Campbell ? I do not think so . Why should he send it secretly ? What do you say to Mr Dixon ? ” Frank looked at her with bright eyes . “ Mr Dixon ! Yes , indeed , that must be it . It is a gift of love , very likely , and Miss Fairfax knows it . ” Emma told him all her ideas about Jane and Mr Dixon and the day at Weymouth when Mr Dixon had saved her from the sea . Frank agreed with everything she said . He laughed and told her that she must be right , and Emma was very pleased with her own cleverness . After dinner Mrs Weston drew Emma aside , because she too had an idea about the piano . “ Have you noticed how kind Mr Knightley is to Jane ? He sent his own carriage tonight to bring her and Miss Bates here , though he did not need it himself . I am beginning to think that he gave her the piano , and that he may be in love with her . ”
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