Marianne's Anguish — Sense and Sensibility

The Dashwood sisters dine at Barton Park with the Palmers, Middletons, and Jennings on a rainy day that matches the group's restless mood. Mrs. Palmer chatters about town invitations and Cleveland; Mr. Palmer complains of weather, dullness, and Sir John's lack of a billiard room. Sir John's mention of Marianne's walk to Allenham and Mrs. Palmer's open gossip about Willoughby leave Marianne grave and silent. At table Mr. Palmer calls Combe Magna a vile spot while his wife insists Willoughby is extremely handsome and well liked. Charlotte invites the sisters to Cleveland at Christmas and interprets Mr. Palmer's sneers as droll affection.

Elinor, hoping to calm her fears for Marianne, asks what they know of Willoughby. Mrs. Palmer admits she barely knows him but declares Marianne's engagement certain because Colonel Brandon appeared to confirm it when she met him in Bond Street. Elinor is astonished that Brandon would spread such talk and probes further, learning Charlotte has long known him and that he once might have married her had her mother approved. Social testimony piles up in Willoughby's favor, showing how rumor, not fact, feeds the family's false confidence in an engagement that has never been spoken aloud. Sir John's whispers about an engagement never spoken aloud feed false confidence.