Sense and Sensibility: chapter three

Mrs. Dashwood and her daughters remained at Norland for several months. Although she had wanted to be gone once her grief had abated, she could not find an adequate situation that would be her idea of comfort and Elinor's idea of economy. Mrs. Dashwood was comforted by her late husband's assertion that his son would care for them and believed it as he had. Thus, she thought that the small sum of 7000 pounds that was left her would keep them very comfortably. She was also convinced of this by his behavior towards them.

As she came to know Fanny, her dislike for her grew. Both would have found it hard to live in the same household had it not been for the arrival and long visit from Fanny's brother, Edward Ferrars. Mrs. Dashwood believed there to be a growing attachment between Edward and Elinor and therefore bided her time.

Edward was a shy, very pleasant gentleman. He was the eldest of his late wealthy father. However, his inheritance depended upon the goodwill of his mother and she wanted him distinguished. He wanted to live a quiet, private life. To Mrs. Henry Dashwood it mattered only that he loved her daughter.

It was Elinor who first observed the difference between Edward and his sister, Fanny and her mother agreed with the observation. This endeared the young man to Mrs. Henry Dashwood. She took time to become acquainted with him and shared her observation of an attachment between him and Elinior with Marianne. The later had a high opinion of Edward, as he was very amiable, but found him wanting. He was not a handsome, lacked spirit and knew nothing about drawing. She felt that she could never marry a man whose tastes were not as her own. He had shared a reading of poetry the night before with a dreadful indifference. In fact, Marianne felt that she would never be able to find a man that she could really love. Her mother reminded her that at seventeen it was much too early to despair of the matter.