Actually I can see Mrs. Clay's reasoning - the one that Anne gives her (going after Sir Walter) is certainly possible. But also her marriage is gone, she is left with 2 kids - I can see that the idea of living in idle splendor (even though it's not a splendorous as Sir Walter and Elizabeth were used to living - I'm sure it's much more than Mrs. Clay was used to) and getting to see new and exciting places that probably didn't come her way before.

But what's Elizabeth getting out of this? Just a toadying sycophant! Is that really enough?