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could feel some anxiety about the conduct of her mother or sisters, she no longer spent lonely, sleepless nights pondering the whys and wherefores of every difficult situation they faced. The intimacy they shared, together with Edward’s willingness to listen, analyse, and occasionally argue away her fears, had rendered her life considerably more tranquil than before, while the warmth of his affection had brought genuine contentment.
    What had begun as a dutiful visit to attend the funeral of Lady Middleton had, without warning, given rise to an uncomfortable situation that could become a continuing source of aggravation. Her husband, aware there was little he could do to change the circumstances, put a comforting arm around her and was pleased to be rewarded with an affectionate if somewhat sleepy response.

Chapter Two
    Since coming to live at the parsonage in the parish of Delaford, the living gifted to Edward by Colonel Brandon, Elinor had become acquainted with a number of families, some of whom, by dint of their long residence in the district, felt able to dispense information and advice on just about anyone and anything under the sun.
    While, as the wife of the Reverend Edward Ferrars, Elinor wished to maintain good relations with all of his parishioners, there were those among them in whose company she was more—and others with whom she was distinctly less—comfortable.
    Among the former group was Dr Bradley King—doctor not of medicine but of philosophy—lately retired from one of the Oxford Colleges, his wife, and daughter. Dr King had been a tutor to Edward Ferrars at Oxford, and when the pair met again by chance in Dorchester, both men had been delighted to discover that they were living within a few miles of each other. Upon being invited to meet Dr King’s family, Edward and Elinor had been easily drawn into their very friendly circle, in which, after the obligatory praise of their historic cottage situated on a site overlooking the confluence of two rivers, their discourse was all of subjects that interested and enthused them both.
    Like Edward Ferrars, Dr King was a man of learning and culture, with a special fascination for medieval archaeology, while Mrs King, who insisted that Elinor must call her Helen, found in her new acquaintance a rare companion who could share her love of reading and music, and enjoy thoughtful conversations during long walks in the woods. Not surprisingly, the two couples had, over the next few years, become firm friends.
    The Kings’ daughter, Dorothea, was a pretty, amiable young woman with a penchant for everything French—despite her passionate dislike of the former emperor, Napoleon. Her mother had confided to Elinor that this abhorrence of Bonaparte was chiefly based upon the circumstance that a young guardsman she had admired had gone to fight in France and been so grievously wounded in the war against Bonaparte that he had returned embittered and unable to propose marriage to the young lady he had courted through the previous summer.
    Helen King and Elinor Ferrars, both coming into the county recently, and having few other intimate friends, soon formed a natural bond; although Mrs King was almost ten years older than Elinor, neither felt the difference in their ages impeded the development of a warm friendship between them.
    On returning to Delaford, Elinor went first to the manor house, where she found Marianne still keeping mainly to her apartments upstairs, where she would read and draw and entertain herself by attempting to copy the works of artists she admired, in a studio specially fitted out for her at her husband’s behest. Elinor handed over Colonel Brandon’s letter, which Marianne put aside unopened and continued with her drawing. She was somewhat less communicative than usual, asking only a few perfunctory questions about Lady Middleton’s sudden demise and showing no interest at all in her funeral. “I suppose the