I, too, was struck by the fact that Anne is only mentioned in passing for the first two chapters, and then the introduction is not very flattering! "A few years before, Anne Elliot had been a very pretty girl, but her bloom had vanished early; and as even in its height, her father had found little to admire in her (so totally different were her delicate features and mild dark eyes from his own), there could be nothing in them, now that she was faded and thin, to excite his esteem."