Sense & Sensibility, chapter 28: I Made You My Temple, My Mural, My Sky

Marianne’s not doing so well, guys.

At the beginning of the chapter, she allows herself to be dragged to a ball while “wholly dispirited, careless of her appearance, and seeming equally indifferent whether she went or stayed.” Elinor is stuck playing nursemaid (not that I mean to sound insensitive toward MA, but jeez, this is Elinor’s London vacation too). And then, two paragraphs later, the man himself arrives on the scene: they see Willoughby “within a few yards of them in earnest conversation with a very fashionable looking young woman.” He gives Elinor the cold shoulder and doesn’t acknowledge MA at all.

… which is our biggest clue that there is something rotten in the state of Denmark.

Of course MA notices him, and of course she becomes agitated and overjoyed, and of course she’s so effusive that Elinor has to urge caution since they are in a very public space and this presumed engagement is a secret and they can’t just approach the guy willy-nilly. And MA sort of listens to her as she “[sits] in an agony of impatience, which affected every feature.” But once Willoughby turns, unable to look past them, MA springs up and approaches him with an outstretched hand, all did you get my texts? and well, you didn’t text me back. 

And he gives her nothing. At first, he plays it cool and responds politely to her questions. But then she asks “What is the matter?” and “his complexion change[s] and all his embarrassment return[s].” Then “on catching the eye of the young lady with whom he had been previously talking,” it appears (to Elinor, at least) that “he [feels] the necessity of instant exertion” and turns back into John Willoughby, Indifferent Acquaintance. He leaves them. He just freakin’ leaves them with no more than a “I had the pleasure of receiving the information of your arrival in town, which you were so good as to send me.”

Jesus, I hope no one caught frostbite from that chilly reception.

And THEN Marianne actually demands that Elinor “force” Willoughby “to come to me.” And THEN! she decides that the reason for Willoughby’s odd behavior is due to “some dreadful misapprehension or other …”

Some MISAPPREHENSION or OTHER. Now she finally—finally—starts to consider that maybe there was a critical misunderstanding of the nature of their relationship. Thank you so much for catching up with the rest of us. Now I feel ... 7% less dumb for being so confused before.

After Willoughby departs, MA demands to go home. Since their escort tonight is Lady Middleton and not Mrs. Jennings, who’s looking after a pregnant Charlotte, the Dashwood girls are whisked away without question. Elinor determines that “some kind of engagement had subsisted between Willoughby and Marianne” and that he’s “weary of it.” This will prove to be … not the case. In fact, most of her conclusions about Willoughby (drawn from her own observation and limited knowledge of his recent history) are wrong, as we’ll see in the future. But she is right that the “embarrassment” she observed earlier suggests “a consciousness of his own misconduct.” Willoughby, at least for now, cannot be considered a true cad. She’ll want to reconsider that conclusion in a few more chapters. But for now, she’s inclined to think slightly/somewhat better of him, especially since she knows as well as MA how close he was to MA and the Dashwoods back in Barton.

I ask again: if you had to choose between a public break-up and getting ghosted by the man you thought was your boyfriend, what would you choose? Because it’s important to remember that Marianne didn’t get a choice. As much as I grouse, it can’t be overstated how much MA keeps getting knocked down. She’ll find it harder and harder to get back up again.

Next time, we get some explanation and a lot more of Marianne’s perspective.