] if my daughter were seriously in love and contemplating marriage, I would want to know any life-changing facts about my future son-in-law! Why didn't he confide in *Mrs.* Dashwood before this?

I wonder if it would have helped? Mrs. D seems unwilling to listen to Elinor's unease on the subject of Willoughby; would she have listened to Brandon? As it is, Brandon goes unerringly to the real figure of strength in the family, someone he knows will hear him out and weigh his story well.

] What's the point of fighting a duel if your opponent knows that your silence will give him the chance to do the same thing again in future?

Here is where I have to speculate about what Brandon might have spoken at the duel--condensed version might be something like, "Next time, if there is one, I won't fire into the air."

Also, Brandon acknowledges the possibility that W might really have changed and is going to do the honourable thing by Marianne. A broken engagement could be a serious thing and if he is convinced that Willoughby and Marianne are engaged, he might have feared to do more damage with his story than might occur if he just kept silent and hoped for the best.

There's a pop song I always think of at this point when I'm thinking of Brandon. It's called "Silence is Golden" and at one point the lyrics go:

How many times did she fall for his lies?
Should I tell her or should I keep cool?
And if I tried I know she'd say I lied--
Mind your business--don't hurt her, you fool!

] I don't quite understand what "his pleasures were not what they ought to have been" means. Can anybody enlighten me?

I'd always thought there were several ways to read it. One would be that he abused Eliza; another would be infidelity--i.e., seeking his pleasures elsewhere than in Eliza's bed. The cruel irony, if this were the case, would be that infidelity would not leave so black a mark on a man's reputation as it would on a woman's. The old double standard at work again.