Sense and Sensibility: Willoughby

The Dashwoods had settled into their new home at Barton, and they were soon comfortable and busy with their old hobbies again.All around them were lovely walks, and from almost every window of the cottage they could see high hills that seemed to invite them to climb.

After two days of rain, Marianne and Margaret could not bear to stay indoors any longer, and one showery morning they set off up the hill, while Elinor and their mother stayed home with their pencils and books.Marianne declared that the weather would turn fine, and for a while the wind and the patches of blue sky seemed to prove her right.“Is there any happiness in the world greater than this?” she cried, and the two girls walked on into the wind, laughing.But suddenly the clouds closed over their heads and a heavy rain drove into their faces, so they turned and ran down the steep hill toward home.

Marianne slipped and fell, spraining her ankle, and Margaret, who could not stop in time, ran on to the bottom without her.A gentleman with a gun and two dogs happened to be passing a few steps away, and he put down his gun and ran to help her.Seeing that she could hardly stand, and that she was too shy to accept his help, he simply lifted her in his arms, carried her down the hill and into the house, and set her in a chair in the parlour.

Elinor and her mother stared in surprise, but the young man explained what had happened so frankly and gracefully that he seemed even more handsome than before.Mrs. Dashwood thanked him again and again, and he told her his name was Willoughby, that he was staying at Allenham, and that he hoped to call the next day to ask after Miss Dashwood.He left in the pouring rain, and everyone praised his good looks; Marianne, blushing, had hardly looked at him, yet she felt he was exactly like the hero of her favourite stories.

When Sir John Middleton visited, they asked if he knew a Mr. Willoughby at Allenham. “Know him!” he cried. “He comes down here every year!”Sir John called him a bold rider and a fine shot, but when Marianne asked about his mind and his talents, he could only wonder whether the man’s dog had been with him that day.

Elinor asked where Mr. Willoughby came from, and Sir John explained that he would one day inherit the old lady’s house at Allenham and already owned a small estate in Somerset.He teased Marianne that she would soon be “setting her cap” at Willoughby, and that poor Colonel Brandon was already in love with her.Marianne answered warmly that she hated such common phrases, and Sir John, who did not quite understand her, laughed as heartily as if he did.