Sense and Sensibility (novel)/Headscratchers: Difference between revisions

== Did Colonel Brandon and Willoughby actually fight or something when they met in London for the first time after Brandon learned what he'd done to Eliza? ==

In Chapter 31, Brandon tells Elinor of how his ward Eliza (the daughter of his doomed sweetheart Eliza) disappeared and how he discovered upon finding her that she'd been seduced and abandoned by Willoughby (along with his child). When Elinor asks if he has seen Willoughby since this discovery, he replies yes, and this follows:

 

 

 

 

A footnote in my edition translates "met by appointment" as "Met to fight a duel." Is Brandon, as a soldier, being figurative, or did he really beat Willoughby up for what he did to Eliza? Three cheers for him if he did, of course, don't get me wrong, but it's just the last thing I'd expect in a Jane Austen novel.