"Poor Mr. Woodhouse little suspected what was plotting against him in the breast of that man whom he was so cordially welcoming, and so anxiously hoping might not have taken cold from his ride. Could he have seen the heart, he would have cared very little for the lungs; but without the most distant imagination of the impending evil..."

I was very late to the group read and I was wondering if there was a discussion about why Mr W felt this way about marriage? Were there any clues given, or is it just that he is very slow to accept change? He was certainly married himself, and I would assume he loved his wife, so why would he consider marriage an evil? I just don't understand. Is he really that selfish and uncaring for the feelings of others? Does he only care about their health, not their happiness? Sometimes I think he is a sweet old guy, other times I think he would drive me bonkers. Perhaps he is simply the way he is so JA could prove to us how wonderful Emma really is, in spite of all her faults. :-)