In that moment Maria approached them and the spell was broken. As she began to talk—of nothings, of some pretty platitudes, possibly of the weather and the table settings in the dining room—both Fanny and Edmund immediately observed how flirtatious Maria’s manner was. They noted her sly glances at the Lord, her heightened colour and somewhat raised voice. Indeed, all signs pointed to a new infatuation—most likely a consequence of rebounding affection from Mr. Crawford to a fresh, new highly eligible and deserving object—an infatuation, fueled even more by a sense of revenge against all parties who had aggrieved her.

Indeed, it would have been surprising if Maria had not fallen a little in love with such a handsome, elegant man as was Eastwind, had she met him under normal social circumstances. As it were, she had no memory of him, naturally, during the days of the unfortunate acting of Lovers’ Vows, when he was ever at Lady Bertram’s side, and a non-presence to all but Fanny. And yet, from all that time, Maria must have had a supernatural sense of him, a familiarity that had carried over into the present. Thus, it had been so easy for her to trust him in London where he first “approached” her at some social gathering—how, exactly, she remembered not—so easy to have trusted him to bring her here, to her family. Maria hoped Mr. Crawford was informed of her leaving town with such a fine escort.

Soon, Sir Thomas had ordered dinner, and there was movement from the living room to the other. Mrs. Norris glared and indeed growled and bared her teeth at Lord Eastwind as he gallantly took Maria’s hand to escort her to dine. Fanny recalled how aunt Norris was another one of them who had always been aware of his presence, and while Edmund thought he had always known (he had not), the werewolf aunt (and Mr. Rushworth, for that matter) certainly had—since those tainted by the dark are drawn to always recognize each other.

Dinner conversation was at a minimum, and Maria continued to flirt rather overtly with Lord Eastwind, who, to give him credit, returned her charming provocations with impeccable vague politeness. Despite the lukewarm courtesy, Sir Thomas seriously started to consider the annual endowment, estates, and the lineage, but was having some odd difficulty recalling the exact family connexions of Eastwind, though he was certain they were sterling beyond belief.