John Willoughby - Marianne Catches Cold

Marianne Catches Cold

Marianne is so distressed by Willoughby's rejection that she becomes sick. She catches cold, which becomes putrid fever. She is not expected to survive, but does pull through. Willoughby coincidentally visits the house and speaks to Elinor when he confesses that he had been genuinely in love and intended to ask Marianne to marry him, before the scandal broke. But when his aunt dismissed him from her favor, he felt he had to marry for money because of his penniless state and debts. Willoughby's punishment for his treatment of Marianne is to spend the rest of his life married to a woman he does not even like, and to know that his bad behaviour lost him the woman he did love. His aunt, however, eventually forgives him, allowing him to return to Allenham, because of his marriage to Miss Grey. Nonetheless, he will forever be haunted by the loss of Marianne.

After her life-threatening illness, Marianne learns the errors of her previous belief that it is romantic to die of grief. She admits she could not have been happy with Willoughby's scandalous behavior, even if he had stood by her. She learns to overcome her love for him and starts to appreciate the constant devotion of the honourable Colonel Brandon. Eventually they marry, despite their age difference (she is 17 and he is 35 when they first meet).