reproach would have been spared."

From which it will be gathered that Marianne began now to perceive that
that desperation which had seized her at sixteen-and-a-half of ever
seeing a man who could satisfy her ideas of perfection had been somewhat
rash and quite unjustifiable.

_II.--Marianne Dashwood in Love_

Willoughby's society soon became Marianne's most exquisite enjoyment.
The mutual attachment was obvious--amusingly obvious. They read, they
talked, they sang, they danced, they drove together, and they even
agreed in depreciating Colonel Brandon as "the kind of man whom
everybody spoke well of and nobody cared about; whom all were delighted
to see, and nobody remembered to talk to." Then, after cutting off a
lock of Marianne's hair, after offering her a horse, and after showing
her over the house which would eventually be his on the death of Mrs.
Smith, the elderly relative on whom he was partially dependent, the
young lover suddenly took leave of the family, having said not a word to
Mrs. Dashwood of an engagement, and having offered no other explanation
of his hasty departure than the flimsy pretext of being sent by his
relative on business to London.

Willoughby left for London a few days after Colonel Brandon had also
been unexpectedly summoned to the same place, and he expressed no hope
of any rapid return into Devonshire. On such an occasion Marianne would
have thought herself very inexcusable had she not given way to all her
feelings; and for some days she courted misery and indulged in tears, in
solitude, and in sleeplessness. But she was soon set a better example by
Elinor, who did her utmost to remain cheerful under the depression of
heart caused by a visit paid to the family about this same time by
Edward Ferrars. He was obviously uneasy, low-spirited and reserved, said
he had already been a fortnight in Devonshire stopping with some friends
at Plymouth, and, after a week's stay with the Dashwoods, left them, in
spite of their wishes and his own, and without any restraint on his
time. But Elinor and Marianne were not long allowed leisure to be
miserable. Sir John's and Mrs. Jennings' active zeal in the cause of
society soon procured them some other new acquaintance to see and
observe. One of these couples was Lady Middleton's brother-in-law and
younger sister, Mr. and Mrs. Palmer. It was impossible for anyone to be
more thoroughly good-natured or more determined to be happy than Mrs.
Palmer. Th