] On the other hand, once the news comes out about the secret engagement, it is also know that it has existed for four years. Not having acted on it in that time does not seem so much like desperation. From what little Brandon knows of him, if Edward were absolutley certain of meeting this opposition from his family, and desperately in love with Lucy, it would seem like he might have acted before this time.

I suppose I was thinking more along the lines of not the engagement being of longstanding, but the news of it, and the resultant consequences. Suddenly Edward is practically penniless. That could make anyone feel desperate.

] First, that too many characters in this story so far have been acting based on inaccurate assumptions about other people, and that there is always a danger in that.

Quite agree with this. Too many people are gossiping, spreading incorrect information, acting on assumptions rather than facts.

] Second, that the misery the colonel has suffered in his own life has very much coloured his view of many things, giving him quite a different perspective from most other men.