Although it is quite obvious that, at marriage, all visible power devolved to the husband, it seems as though some of the ladies devised interesting strategies for controlling their husbands. Eliza Whittaker and her sisters seemed to fancy the "Lady Bertram Stragegy"

all the stories of the Ladies feigned illness &c are well known -- even little Annes are all put on, they say, & not one of the sisters are free from the charge of using these means, of gaining their ends & working upon the feelings of father and husband....

I can picture Lady Bertram starting out feigning illness and fatique as a way of gaining Sir Thomas's attention and agreement and it later becoming a way of life.