Free Expectations of Happiness by Rebecca Ann Collins Page A

exactly what concerns me; these friends of Robert’s that she speaks of, who are they and why was she going into Somerset with them?”
    Edward raised his eyebrows. “You believe there is still some danger lurking in Somerset for Marianne?” he asked.
    â€œI do. You told me that Willoughby was spending the summer there. It probably sounds silly, and perhaps I am being over-anxious, but, Edward, you did not see Marianne when she was in love with Willoughby. I can only describe it as being besotted; she believed he was a prince among men who could do no wrong and would never betray her. She was unwilling to allow that she could be wrong in her estimation of him, and I don’t know if Marianne is strong enough to resist him now. Were they to meet again, at a time when the colonel is away and she is bored and susceptible to flattery, one cannot predict what consequences might follow.”
    Edward, who had been considering the possibility that his wife was being overprotective of her sister, hearing the apprehension in her voice, began to take her concerns more seriously. His brother had mentioned the Percevals—Edward recalled them vaguely as a wealthy family of young men and women whose main pastimes were entertainment and fun.
    â€œAre you certain, Elinor? Marianne has been married for some years now; is it not more likely that she will be able to deal with any such meeting—were it to occur—with greater confidence than before?” he asked, keen to reassure her.
    But Elinor was not comforted. “I wish I could be as confident as you are, dearest, but I’m afraid I cannot.” She recalled how easily Marianne, having recovered from her illness and expressed deep remorse for her undisciplined displays of affection for Willoughby and contempt for the opinions of others of their acquaintance, had persuaded herself that she had forgiven him. Convinced that Willoughby genuinely loved her, she had been prepared to lay the guilt for his behaviour principally upon his aunt and Miss Grey, the wealthy, unloved wife he had acquired. Remembering with great clarity Marianne’s response to her account of Willoughby’s visit and his protestations of remorse, Elinor could not regard with any degree of complaisance the prospect of a meeting between them. In her mind it was fraught with danger to her sister and ought be avoided.
    If Elinor could have known Marianne’s own thoughts and the content of her conversations with Lucy Ferrars, it is likely that she would have been a good deal more concerned.
    ***
    Once Robert and Lucy Ferrars had departed for Dawlish, Marianne had little to occupy her. Seated at her desk, at the window in the studio she used but rarely for the purpose for which it had been intended, she looked out on the familiar prospect of the grounds of Delaford Manor. It was not one that inspired her at all, being simply a view of green lawns and stands of old trees that she found singularly unexciting. It had neither the romantic quality of her memories of Norland Park, nor the immediate appeal of Somerset, which she had enjoyed more recently on her visit to that county with Lucy and Robert and their friends the Percevals.
    Thoughts of Exmoor and the Somerset woodlands quickly aroused pictures in her mind, and she turned to the diary she had recently begun to keep, to record her thoughts and observations.
    After a few prosaic entries of ordinary activities on the manor, it made interesting reading…
    Lucy and Robert Ferrars are here; and though I knew little of Robert, and had not a very high opinion of Lucy, on account of her dealings with Edward and Elinor in the past, I confess that I have enjoyed their company on this visit. I cannot say that either has acquired a better understanding of art or music—they appeared equally bored by both—but they have lots of stories to tell of London life and are constantly engaged with friends all over the country. Lucy