I'm new, but I'm just finished this book, so I thought I'd reread the sections the group is on and participate if that's okay (?)

] I always wondered why it took Col. Brandon so long to tell any of the Dashwoods the story of his ward.

The colonel has always impressed me as sort of a really introverted person. I mean he doesn't *directly* state his regard for Marianne, it's just sort of assumed by Elinor because of the way he acts. Maybe he's just really shy or something *because* of his background. After all, he doesn't seem all that lucky in love to begin with...nor does he appear very "sensible" when it comes to Marianne. As someone pointed out earlier (I've been stalking the site for a while), she's incredibly rude to him.

] Another question: in describing his brother's treatment of his wife in ch. 9, Brandon says "My brother had no regard for her, *his pleasures were not what they ought to have been*, and from the first he treated her unkindly." I don't quite understand what "his pleasures were not what they ought to have been" means. Can anybody enlighten me?