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legitimate concerns that trouble you and of course you must tell me about them; but you cannot be suggesting that there is any danger for Marianne from Willoughby? Was he not thoroughly exposed as a dissembler? Did not your sister and all her family and friends come to understand what a blackguard he was?”
    Elinor nodded. “Oh yes, they did, and heaped a great deal of opprobrium upon him at first; but, as the months and years have passed, I have noticed that he has undergone a degree of gradual rehabilitation—certainly in my mother’s eyes and perhaps in Marianne’s as well, although she has not spoken of it to me, except just once or twice while she was still recovering from her illness. But I believe Marianne and my mother have come to blame Willoughby’s domineering aunt Mrs Smith, who, by his account, was solely responsible for his betrayal of Marianne. He blamed his new, wealthy fiancée, Miss Grey, for his vile treatment of my sister when they met in town. I believe that Mama and Marianne wish to ignore that he knew all the time, while he was courting Marianne in Devonshire, that Mrs Smith would never countenance a match between them. As for his appalling behaviour towards Eliza Williams, it is as though they wish to turn a blind eye to it.”
    Edward was shocked, not only because his own values were affronted by what he had heard, but because until today, Elinor had not spoken of her fears to him. He felt deeply for her, because clearly she had concealed her fears out of loyalty to her family.
    However, the news he had brought of the arrival of Willoughby in the neighbouring county of Somerset, and his imminent visit to relatives near Delaford in Dorset, had brought all her anxieties to the surface.

Chapter Three
    Margaret Dashwood had lived most of her young life in the shadow of her two elder sisters, Elinor and Marianne.
    A bright, articulate little girl with a degree of intellectual curiosity almost approaching precociousness, she had long been interested in study and travel. While the modest pecuniary circumstances of their family had seriously circumscribed her ability to follow her dreams of journeying to exotic places, she had succeeded in improving her mind and her knowledge by extensive reading over many years. She had also the example of her sisters, Elinor in particular, for whom learning had a very special value.
    Following the marriages of her sisters, Margaret, dissatisfied with the type of education she could achieve at home, had begged to be allowed to attend what she called “a proper school with real teachers,” but in vain, until Elinor’s husband, Edward Ferrars, became involved. Through the good offices of a friend at Oxford, he had obtained for Margaret a place as a scholar in a ladies’ seminary situated just outside the university town. Edward had always appreciated young Margaret’s intelligence, and she would be forever grateful to her brother-in-law for the opportunity that opened for her the doors to an entirely new life.
    Margaret applied herself so assiduously to her studies and acquitted herself so well at the seminary that she soon caught the attention of the ladies who ran the establishment. They saw in her a potential teacher and sent her on a scholarship to a school in France to improve her knowledge of French language and literature. During her sojourn there, not only did Margaret improve her skill in the French language but she added to her list of friends a young woman named Claire Jones, some five years older than herself, of French and Welsh descent. Being a fluent French speaker, and a woman of some sophistication, Miss Jones was not only of considerable assistance to Margaret in learning the language and culture of France, but the two also became good companions as they studied and travelled together. Despite the difference in their backgrounds and upbringing—Miss Jones was considerably more worldly-wise than her young