Everyone at Uppercross seems almost bewitched by the charismatic Captain Wentworth. He really seems to charm all who meet him, and we get to see a bit of it in the dinner Anne attends. His comparison of the Asp to an old pelisse is especially appealing.

"I had no more discoveries to make than you would have as to the fashion and strength of any old pelisse, which you had seen lent about among half your acquaintance ever since you could remember, and which at last, on some very wet day, is lent to yourself." (ch. 8)