is john not yet arrived?
the girls--i have left so little.
elinor will try to look after you all, but make sure she finds a good husband. the men are such noodles hereabouts, little wonder none has pleased her.
a romantic poet with flashing eyes and empty pockets?
margaret will go to sea and become a pirate so we need not concern ourselves with her.
let me speak to john alone.
ah, my dear. how happy you have made me.
john you will find out soon enough from my will that the estate of norland was left to me in such a way as prevents me from dividing it between my families.
norland in its entirety is therefore yours by law and i am happy for you and fanny.
but your stepmother my wife and daughters are left with only five hundred pounds a year, barely enough to live on and nothing for the girls' dowries. you must help them.
you must promise to do this.
help them.