There are hints right at the start of Ch. 9 that the Dashwoods are interacting with a few other people in the Barton village area:

--their visitors (besides the Barton Park family) are not many

--Sir John wishes they would mix more in the neighbourhood

Sir John certainly wouldn't have put an end to his active social life just because they came, so I would imagine the picnics and other activities will continue. One family, the Careys, is mentioned by name later in this week's reading (and also later in the book), and it sounds as though they were part of Sir John's social circle

What I find interesting is that JA does not go off on a tangent and start describing all the encounters and goings on with whoever it is that the Dashwoods are visiting and mixing with--unlike somebody like Trollope (a little out of time, I know). It really shows the tight focus of this story. These other people are there, but they aren't the story. I love that.

What do you all think this means: "[Mrs. Dashwood] was resolute in declining to visit any family beyond the distance of a walk. There were but few who could be so classed; and it was not all of them that were attainable."