I have been mulling over this and didnīt find an answer so far. In ch. 39 we read about the Colonelīs plan to offer Edward his rectory in Delaford and Elinor of all people is the person to break the news to him! Why on earth did he choose her for that task? Elinor "... could not help thinking that no one could so well perform it as himself." But Colonel Brandon, "on motives of equal delicacy declining it likewise, still seemed so desirous of its being given through her means, that she would not on any account make farther opposition."

Was it really mere delicacy that the Colonel refused to deliver the offer himself? Or could it be, that he had a specifc idea in mind why Elinor should perform it? How far did he know whether Elinorīs attachment to the gentleman whose name began with an "F" was not merely a fancy of Mrs. Jennings?