Description
Twenty-two, pretty, and out from England three months with the fishing fleet, staying with her aunt Mrs Courtney. Slightly vacant in conversation and devastatingly effective at the pianoforte — she plays at every gathering of the season. She has attracted attention from every unmarried man under forty and appears genuinely oblivious to all of it, and she smiles at everyone in exactly the same way.
Background
One of the season’s new arrivals: a daughter shipped east to the one marriage market where the odds favour her, with her aunt directing the campaign.
Motivations
To play, to be agreeable, and — if her aunt has any say in it — to be married before Christmas.
Connections
- Harriet Courtney — aunt and hostess
- Edmund Courtney — her uncle by marriage
- Freddy Cavendish — seated beside him at the Magistrate’s dinner, by her aunt’s arrangement
- Thomas Wyndham — her partner in the procession, the same evening, by the same hand
In Play
Chapter 4, Session 9 (9 October 1814) — introduced by reputation, then in person. Meg described her to Katherine in the afternoon as Harriet’s protégée with a head like a hot air balloon, spacious and perhaps empty.
At Garden Reach she was paired with Thomas Wyndham for the procession into dinner, to his visible displeasure, and appeared rather more charmed by Freddy. She is part of the fishing fleet.
Appearances
Table Talk — the Magistrate’s Dinner
Relationships
- Located at Calcutta 1814 — Arrived three months ago with the fishing fleet
- Family of Harriet Courtney — Her aunt, with whom she stays — and who is managing the marriage campaign like a siege