Your recollection that Sir William Elliot is my cousin is entirely correct, although I was not myself acquainted with him until five years ago, following an accidental meeting at Lyme. Sir William (at that time he was only Mr. William Elliot) subsequently decided to renew an association with my esteemed father, to whom, I was later to learn, he had previously behaved with a most deceitful and scandalous disrespect. If I may speak frankly, Mrs. Darcy, Sir William pursued me with an ardency that was as unexpected as it was unwelcome. I found him to be all that appeared respectable and honourable, yet I remained in question as to his real character, partly due to his sudden change of opinion regarding my family, whom he had previously been content to ignore entirely, and also from my own observations. I will only add my gratitude to Providence that both preserved me from his suit, and fulfilled my long attachment to the man who was become my husband, Captain Wentworth, with whom you were acquainted when we met at Bath.

It was only when an old friend, Mrs. Smith, enlightened me as to the particulars of William Elliot’s past, incorrectly suspecting me of intending a most regrettable alliance with Mr. Elliot, that I learnt the truth about my cousin. I regret to tell you that he is both artful and unprincipled in his every dealing. His conduct in his marriage was disgraceful, and he spent the fortune of his first wife with no restraint, and even less regard for her happiness. In his effort to prevent my father from marrying again—and consequently producing an heir, which would, of course, have spoilt his chance to inherit—he began an illicit affair with the very woman who threatened an intimacy with my father! To my knowledge, he still keeps his mistress, Mrs. Clay, to this day. On the melancholy event of my father passing on, Sir William inherited his title and Kellynch, our family estate. I suspect his funds are low, and can only surmise that his overtures toward your unsuspecting aunt, a woman older than himself, can best be explained by his requiring her fortune.