]If you do not see Mrs. Jennings stating probability as fact here

I didn't say that. I said that just because we know Mrs. Jennings to be a gossip, does not mean that everything she says is false. It's like Miss Bates in Emma. She blathers on and on and on about anything and everything, to the point where people stop listening to her, but often there are nuggets of truth to be found in what she says.

The fact is, Willoughby complained of being poor and observably, by Elinor, was living beyond his means even when he was back at Barton. If a person owes a lot of money to many people in a big city, why should that be difficult for someone to find out?

I said that Mrs. Jennings was not fabricating any of what she spreads around. By that I mean that she isn't totally inventing gossip, based on nothing. She may jump to conclusions, but they are not without any foundation whatsoever. Willoughby is broke and Colonel Brandon was falling in love with Marianne.

Colonel Brandon won't say much about Miss Williams and calls her a relative. He pays for her living, school, personal needs etc. No, she isn't actually his daughter, but thinking that she might be is not a stretch of the imagination. How many 20 year old men would take on the care of a young woman who was not their daughter? Mrs. Jennings jumped to a conclusion, but it was not based on nothing. It was not just some random young woman about whom she made up a story.