Jane Austen said of Henry:
“Would he have deserved more there can be no doubt that more would have been
obtained . . . Would he have persevered, and uprightly, Fanny must have been
his reward.”
During Henry's two-month courtship of Fanny, she had no idea that
his interest in her was genuine. She assumed that Henry was amusing himself by
flirting with her, as he had with Maria and Julia Bertram. When Fanny finally
learned that Henry truly wanted to marry her, he had only a few days to change
her mind about him, but a few days was not nearly enough, given that Fanny disliked
Henry intensely. Then Fanny went to see the Price family in Portsmouth, and
Henry visited Fanny there, and talked to her of Everingham, his estate. He
asked Fanny for her advice as to whether he should return to Everingham and
continue the work he had started. I think what Henry really wanted was
encouragement, and this was a pivotal moment: if Fanny encouraged Henry, he
would be making progress with her, and if she did not, she most likely never
would. This is the moment when Revisit Mansfield Park begins (though the
first three chapters summarize Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, with a
spotlight on Fanny).
