Persuasion

Since Anne accepted the Musgroves’ invitation to spend the entire next day with them, she puts off her visit to Lady Russell again and doesn’t tell her about Mr. Elliot’s true motives. When she arrives at the inn, Anne finds the entire group collected there, including Captain Wentworth. Anne spends the morning with the Musgroves in their drawing room. As Wentworth writes a letter, Anne stands nearby at the window with Captain Harville, who shows her a miniature of his late sister that was intended for Captain Benwick. They discuss the constancy of men in comparison to females, with each maintaining that their own sex is the more constant. Anne notices Captain Wentworth listening to their conversation.

Captain Benwick suggests that women are never portrayed in literature or song as constant, to which Anne replies that “Men have the advantage of us in telling their own story” (220). The two agree to disagree on the subject, and Harville and Wentworth leave to mail their letter. Wentworth returns a moment later and, without Mrs. Musgrove noticing, shows Anne a paper he left on the desk for her to read. In his letter, Captain Wentworth professes his steadfast love for Anne: “You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone forever” (222). Anne is so overcome with emotion that the Musgroves worry she is ill; Mr. Musgrove insists on walking her back home.

During their walk, they run into Captain Wentworth, whom Mr. Musgrove asks to escort Anne the rest of the way. They find a secluded street and there speak openly to each other of their feelings, going over their past regrets and the nature of their continued love for each other.

At the evening party that night, Anne tells Wentworth that she doesn’t believe herself to have been wrong for once being persuaded by Lady Russell. Rather, the situation was complex, with Lady Russell “in the place of a parent” (230). Wentworth wonders whether Anne would have agreed to marry him sooner if he had asked directly after acquiring his fortune. When she implies an affirmative answer, Wentworth recognizes how his own pride interfered with their relationship.

Sir Walter consents to Anne’s match, recognizing that Captain Wentworth is worthy of his estimation. Even Elizabeth accepts him cordially, and Lady Russell can only “admit that she had been pretty completely wrong, and […] take up a new set of opinions and of hopes” (233). Mary is ecstatic to hear the news of Anne’s impending marriage to Wentworth, mostly because Anne’s match is more financially advantageous than Louisa or Henrietta’s.

After the announcement of Anne’s engagement, Mr. Elliot withdraws his presence from Camden-place. The family soon learns that he has moved to London and there established Mrs. Clay with him so that “it was evident how double a game he had been playing” (234). Sir Walter and Elizabeth are mortified by the deception of their two supposed friends and seek refuge in their association with the Dalrymples.

Captain Wentworth helps Mrs. Smith reacquire her husband’s property to support herself. After Anne and Wentworth’s marriage, Mrs. Smith is often a visitor at their house. Anne “was tenderness itself, and she had the full worth of it in Captain Wentworth’s affection” (236) for the rest of their married life.