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CHAPTER VIII . Mrs . Jennings was a widow with an ample jointure . She had only two daughters , both of whom she had lived to see respectably married , and she had now therefore nothing to do but to marry all the rest of the world . In the promotion of this object she was zealously active , as far as her ability reached ; and missed no opportunity of projecting weddings among all the young people of her acquaintance . She was remarkably quick in the discovery of attachments , and had enjoyed the advantage of raising the blushes and the vanity of many a young lady by insinuations of her power over such a young man ; and this kind of discernment enabled her soon after her arrival at Barton decisively to pronounce that Colonel Brandon was very much in love with Marianne Dashwood . She rather suspected it to be so , on the very first evening of their being together , from his listening so attentively while she sang to them ; and when the visit was returned by the Middletons ’ dining at the cottage , the fact was ascertained by his listening to her again . It must be so . She was perfectly convinced of it . It would be an excellent match , for he was rich , and she was handsome . Mrs . Jennings had been anxious to see Colonel Brandon well married , ever since her connection with Sir John first brought him to her knowledge ; and she was always anxious to get a good husband for every pretty girl . The immediate advantage to herself was by no means inconsiderable , for it supplied her with endless jokes against them both . At the park she laughed at the colonel , and in the cottage at Marianne . To the former her raillery was probably , as far as it regarded only himself , perfectly indifferent ; but to the latter it was at first incomprehensible ; and when its object was understood , she hardly knew whether most to laugh at its absurdity , or censure its impertinence , for she considered it as an unfeeling reflection on the colonel’s advanced years , and on his forlorn condition as an old bachelor . Mrs . Dashwood , who could not think a man five years younger than herself , so exceedingly ancient as he appeared to the youthful fancy of her daughter , ventured to clear Mrs . Jennings from the probability of wishing to throw ridicule on his age .
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