It seems that Colonel Brandon is often a guest at Barton Park, but being the silent and grave man we see in this early part of the book, that must be rather difficult for him to endure sometimes.

He does not seem at all the sort of person to be Sir John's particular friend, and one wonders what could have began the friendship: "Colonel Brandon, the friend of Sir John, seemed no more adapted by resemblance of manner to be his friend, than Lady Middleton was to be his wife, or Mrs. Jennings to be Lady Middleton's mother."

There is, perhaps, a hint in this description of Sir John: "for a sportsman, though he esteems only those of his sex who are sportsmen likewise..." Perhaps they enjoy hunting together? The last time we had a Pemberley annual meeting in England, we had the ladies from the History Wardrobe do a presentation for us (Called 'Undressing Mr. Darcy' (!)--which was actually about everything to do with men's clothing in that era). These ladies were of the opinion that a flannel waistcoat was something a sportsman would wear, rather than a sign of infirmity as Marianne supposes.

We had a bit of debate about that during the last group read, and it was felt that there was no way that Marianne would ever have made such a connection and that probably many if not most people would think of illness first upon hearing that someone wore flannel. Still, it's something to consider.

Another hint about the colonel comes from Mrs. Jennings. We read that "she had been anxious to see Colonel Brandon well married, ever since her connection with Sir John first brought him to her knowledge; and she was always anxious to get a good husband for every pretty girl."

One can only imagine the matchmaking the colonel has had to endure at Mrs. Jennings' hands. Her connection with Sir John would extend back at least seven years (since Sir John and Lady Middleton have a six year old child). Has she been trying to fix up the poor colonel with every single female in the vicinity?

He seems to pay no attention to it--it does not alter his behaviour towards Marianne. He listens attentively to her, they begin teasing them about each other, but he still listens attentively to her. Either he has great forbearance or he is so used to it by now that he can ignore it. Or perhaps he, too, cannot imagine that his friends could be seriously thinking of matching him up with a girl half his age.