Persuasion

Anne arrives in Bath with a "sinking heart," anticipating "an imprisonment of many months." Her father and sister greet her with unexpected warmth—not because they missed her, but because she makes a convenient fourth at dinner and gives them an audience for their Bath triumphs. Sir Walter and Elizabeth are thriving in their superficial glory: the best house in Camden Place, the finest furniture, cards left daily by people seeking their acquaintance. Anne must watch her father take more pride in thirty feet of drawing room than he ever took in Kellynch Hall's ancient dignity. He's traded being a landholder with duties and meaning for being a decorative nobody in a fashionable town, and he couldn't be happier. But the real news is Mr. Elliot. He's in Bath, and he's ardently courting the family's favor. After years of estrangement—after dismissing family connection, marrying beneath his station for money, insulting Sir Walter—he's suddenly returned, apologetic and eager. He's called repeatedly, dined with them, placed "his whole happiness in being on intimate terms in Camden Place." Sir Walter and Elizabeth are delighted, flattered, completely won over. He's explained away every past offense. The marriage to a low-born woman? She was beautiful, accomplished, rich, and desperately in love with him—what could he do? The neglect of family ties? All a misunderstanding. Anne listens skeptically. Mr. Elliot is sensible, well-mannered, and will inherit Kellynch regardless of whether he's on good terms with Sir Walter. So why the sudden devotion? "In a worldly view, he had nothing to gain by being on terms with Sir Walter." Anne suspects he's courting Elizabeth—that his sudden family feeling is actually romantic interest. Elizabeth is handsome, elegant in public, and Mr. Elliot knew her years ago before her character could be "penetrated." Anne hopes he won't observe Elizabeth too closely, for her sister's vanity and coldness don't wear well under scrutiny. Anne mentions seeing Mr. Elliot at Lyme, how he looked at her. No one cares. They're too busy describing him themselves. Sir Walter critiques Mr. Elliot's appearance with his usual vanity, lamenting that "ten years had not altered almost every feature for the worse," though he graciously admits "Mr. Elliot was better to look at than most men." Bath, to Anne, feels like exile.