Nothing ever fatigues me, but doing what I do not…

The scene takes place in chapter 7 of Mansfield Park. Edmund Bertram has lent the mare he found for his shy cousin Fanny Price to the lively Mary Crawford, who is learning to ride. The lesson runs long while Fanny waits for her own ride. At last Mary returns, escorted by Edmund on foot, with cheerful apologies: “Selfishness must always be forgiven you know, because there is no hope of a cure.” Edmund hopes she is not tired. Nothing tires her, she answers, but getting off this horse: “I am very strong.”

The line sums up Mary: charming, witty and frank about her own pleasure. She hands the mare back “with a very bad grace”. As Fanny rides off with the old coachman, she sees the others walking down the hill together.

Mansfield Park was published in 1814. Edmund falls in love with Mary, until her worldliness opens his eyes and he marries Fanny. Out of context, the line sounds like praise of passion; in the novel, it is also a warning.

Mansfield Park, Chapter 7 (Mary Crawford), 1814

Checked word for word in the work itself.

Read the passage in the work