Mrs. Dashwood stays because a quiet man is not like Fanny, and that is already enough for love. She has remained at Norland for several months. When her grief eases she is impatient to go, but she will not move far from the place she loves, and no house is both easy enough for her and small enough for Elinor. She knows of John's solemn promise in their favour, and she trusts it as completely as her dying husband did. A much smaller sum than seven thousand pounds, she thinks, would keep her in comfort. His attentive behaviour convinces her that their welfare is dear to him. Her contempt for Fanny grows with every month. The daughters stay on because of a new attachment, between Elinor and Fanny's brother.
Edward Ferrars is the eldest son of a man who died very rich. Except for a small sum, his fortune depends on his mother's will. He is not handsome, and his manners need time before they please. He is too shy to do himself justice, but once that shyness lifts he shows an open, affectionate heart. His mother and sister want him distinguished, in parliament or among great men, or at least driving a fine carriage. He wants domestic comfort and a quiet life. A younger brother looks more promising to them. Mrs. Dashwood barely notices him while her grief is still sharp. Elinor says it is enough that he is unlike Fanny. It implies everything kind. Mrs. Dashwood answers that she loves him already. She has never learned how to separate esteem and love. Some mothers would have pushed the match for the money, or stopped it because the money is not his. She does neither. It is enough that he seems kind, that he cares for Elinor, and that Elinor returns it.
The moment she sees a sign of love in his behaviour, she treats the attachment as certain and the marriage as close. In a few months, she tells Marianne, Elinor will be settled for life. They will live a few miles apart and meet every day. Marianne loves Edward, and still finds something wanting. His figure is not striking. His eyes have none of the fire that would announce virtue and intelligence. He seems to have no real taste. He admired Elinor's drawings as a lover, not as someone who understands them. The night before, he read lines Marianne loves, from Cowper, with a calm she calls dreadful indifference. She would need his goodness, and also his person, his manners, and a taste that matches hers in every book and every song. She is not yet seventeen. Her mother says it is too early to despair, and hopes that Marianne's life will differ from her own in only one way. The wedding is already being counted in months. Will anyone ask Edward what he has actually said?
Coming Up in Chapter 4
Marianne tells Elinor it is a pity Edward has no taste for drawing. Elinor answers that he does not draw, but he takes pleasure in other people's work, and would have drawn well if anyone had taught him. He distrusts his own judgment in such things.
