The Crown Inn
The Crown Inn, though the principal house of its kind in Highbury, is an inconsiderable establishment where a couple of pair of post-horses are kept more for the convenience of the neighbourhood than from any run on the road. Its most notable feature is a large room visibly added many years ago for a ball-room, which had been occasionally used as such while the neighbourhood was in a particularly populous, dancing state. Those brilliant days had long passed away, and the highest purpose for which it was ever wanted was to accommodate a whist club established among the gentlemen and half-gentlemen of the place.
The Ball-Room and Its Revival
When Frank Churchill first visits Highbury, he is immediately interested in the Crown's ball-room. He stops for several minutes at the two superior sashed windows which were open, to look in and contemplate its capabilities, and lament that its original purpose should have ceased. He sees no fault in the room, acknowledging none which his companions suggest—it is long enough, broad enough, handsome enough, and would hold the very number for comfort. He argues that they ought to have balls there at least every fortnight through the winter, and wonders why Miss Woodhouse has not revived the former good old days of the room. Emma and Mrs. Weston mention the want of proper families in the place and the conviction that none beyond the place and its immediate environs could be tempted to attend, but Frank is not satisfied. He cannot be persuaded that so many good-looking houses as he sees around him could not furnish numbers enough for such a meeting, and even when particulars are given and families described, he is still unwilling to admit that the inconvenience of such a mixture would be anything, or that there would be the smallest difficulty in everybody's returning into their proper place the next morning.
The Ball Takes Shape
When the original plan to hold the dance at Randalls proves impractical due to the cramped space—Frank Churchill initially proposes finishing the dance begun at Mr. Cole's there, but the rooms are too small for ten couple—Mr. Weston conceives the idea of moving the event to the Crown Inn. Frank Churchill brings this new proposal to Emma, explaining that his father hopes his friends will be so kind as to visit him there, promising better accommodations and not a less grateful welcome than at Randalls. Emma immediately approves, calling it an admirable plan and the only improvement that could be made. Mr. Woodhouse initially objects, thinking a room at an inn always damp and dangerous, never properly aired, or fit to be inhabited, but Frank Churchill cleverly argues that the larger room at the Crown will be safer because they will have no occasion to open the windows at all—not once the whole evening—and that it is the dreadful habit of opening windows, letting in cold air upon heated bodies, which does the mischief. Mr. Woodhouse is eventually persuaded, especially when Emma points out that the horses will be so near their own stable.
The Event and Its Significance
The ball at the Crown Inn becomes a reality, and it is there that some of the novel's most significant social and romantic developments occur. Mr. Knightley, who had been indifferent to the ball, dances with Harriet Smith after Mr. Elton cruelly refuses to do so, an act that begins to shift Harriet's affections. Emma herself dances with Frank Churchill, and the evening is marked by the visible tension between the Eltons and the rest of the party. The Crown Inn, once a mere whist-club venue, is transformed into the stage for a pivotal social gathering that reshapes the romantic landscape of Highbury.
