Willoughby's Scandal
Colonel Brandon, a friend of Elinor and Marianne, explains the reason for Willoughby's abrupt change of heart. It turns out that Willoughby had seduced the Colonel's 15 year old ward, Eliza, then abandoned her though she was pregnant. Brandon finds her, but in doing so Willoughby's actions are revealed to the world. When his aunt learns of the scandal, she demands that he makes amends to Eliza. When he refuses, she expels him from her estate and disinherits him, leaving him penniless and with many debts. It is at this point that he flees to London in search of a rich wife. Elinor tells Marianne about this in order that she see what a selfish person Willoughby is.
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“Gossip isn’t scandal and it’s not merely malicious. It’s chatter about the human race by lovers of the same. Gossip is the tool of the poet, the shop-talk of the scientist, and the consolation of the housewife, wit, tycoon and intellectual. It begins in the nursery and ends when speech is past.”
—Phyllis McGinley (1905–1978)