
    Willoughby could not hear of her marriage without a pang; and his punishment
was soon afterwards complete in the voluntary forgiveness of Mrs. Smith, who, by
stating his marriage with a woman of character, as the source of her clemency,
gave him reason for believing that had he behaved with honour towards Marianne,
he might at once have been happy and rich. That his repentance of misconduct,
which thus brought its own punishment, was sincere, need not be doubted; - nor
that he long thought of Colonel Brandon with envy, and of Marianne with regret.
But that he was for ever inconsolable, that he fled from society, or contracted
an habitual gloom of temper, or died of a broken heart, must not be depended on
- for he did neither. He lived to exert, and frequently to enjoy himself. His
wife was not always out of humour, nor his home always uncomfortable; and in his
breed of horses and dogs, and in sporting of every kind, he found no
inconsiderable degree of domestic felicity.
    For Marianne, however - in spite of his incivility in surviving her loss -
he always retained that decided regard which interested him in everything that
befell her, and made her his secret standard of perfection in woman; - and many
a rising beauty would be slighted by him in after-days as bearing no comparison
with Mrs. Brandon.
    Mrs. Dashwood was prudent enough to remain at the cottage, without
attempting a removal to Delaford; and fortunately for Sir John and Mrs.
Jennings, when Marianne was taken from them, Margaret had reached an age highly
suitable for dancing, and not very ineligible for being supposed to have a
lover.
    Between Barton and Delaford, there was that constant communication which
strong family affection would naturally dictate; - and among the merits and the
happiness of Elinor and Marianne, let it not be ranked as the least
considerable, that though sisters, and living almost within sight of each other,
they could live without disagreement between themselves, or producing coolness
between their husbands.
 
                                     Finis.

