There was this interesting note in my Annotated Persuasion about this quote in ch. 4:

"She had been forced into prudence in her youth, she learned romance as she grew older: the natural sequel of an unnatural beginning."

In a copy of Persuasion that was once in the possession of the Austen family, someone has read of Anne's struggles against "the natural sequel of an unnatiral beginning" and then written in the margin, "Dear dear Jane! This deserves to be written in letters of gold." Chapman believes the words belong to Austen's sister, Cassandra. "Who else, at any early date, would write 'Dear Jane'?" (Chapman, "Jane Austen's Text: Authoritative Manuscript Corrections," in Times Literary Supplement [February 13, 1937], 116).