There are undoubtedly others here who, like me, disliked Lady Russell on a first reading. How DARE she break up the Cinderella-like heroine and the handsome, dashing young naval officer? As a result, I was prone to take any praise of Lady R (some cited elsewhere in this thread) from the ON of the story as typical Austenian irony.

But this time around I've come to agree with Rachel & co., that Lady R _was_ right. She saw herself as having a mother's role to play, and much as I got a smile out of LeeAnne's very apt example of the talented young guy who heads for Hollywood (and has a one-in-a-million shot of making it), in Anne's case, there was a very good chance that she'd wind up an impoverished widow.

It's been pointed out elsewhere that Lady R's disapproval was not based on snobbery -- she didn't object to Chas. Musgrove on that score -- but on very good evidence. Two very young people who had just met and would have nothing to live? A husband who was just as likely to get killed as to wind up on a meagre pension should he fail to be one of the very lucky ones to get rich on prizes?

Now, we know that Capt Wentworth believed in his "genius", and of course so did Anne, but just as in the case of LeeAnne's would-be actor, I know that I for one would have been with Lady R on this.