What were Sir William’s feelings? His first marriage made him prudent as well as rich; his first object upon meeting the de Bourghs was to establish the nature and extent of their ready fortune, and whether they could be of use to him in the furtherance of some one or other of his adventures in the shares that required capital—a great deal of capital—and he was scrupulous in preferring that the sums be as little derived from his own pocket as possible. How soon after meeting Miss de Bourgh did he re-adjust his ideas to include herself as well as her fortune is uncertain. That Anne soon became his intended object for a wife was, he felt, so well marked by his constant, although quieter, compliments, and his steady solicitude in the few moments they could speak together without including Lady Catherine, that she must be in no doubt as to the nature and respectability of his intentions.

Shortly after the turn of the new year, Sir William’s associate, Colonel Wallis, having an acquaintance who derived his income through the procurement of information not obtainable through respectable means, related to Sir William the astonishing results of his enquiries; namely, that Lady Catherine’s father had been able to secure on behalf of his daughter, upon her marriage, a jointure of no more than seven thousand pounds. The Earl had not thought to provide Lady Catherine with a life estate, as may usually be supposed, for the reason that there was neither town-house nor Rosings at the time of his daughter’s marriage; Rosings had been the purchase of Sir William following his marriage, and he was, therefore, able to dispose of it as he chose. The only requirement made of Sir Lewis by his marriage was a clause that he provide Lady Catherine with a dower house for her life-time. Other than that vague stipulation, the estate was entirely unencumbered.