Sylvester Part II

Sylvester secures an invitation to Austerby, Phoebe's home, meeting her father, who is a stupid man who is horse mad. He would like to see his daughter married to a duke, and brings him home. Lady Marlow, who does not get on with her stepdaughter, is not a very charming hostess but she too hopes for a marriage. Sylvester begins to wonder if he has made the right decision in visiting the Marlows. The house is uncomfortable, Lady Marlow is grim and charmless and he's not at all sure about Phoebe. Phoebe is very shaken when she's told that the Duke of Salford is considering marriage to her, since she hardly knows him and disliked him for his arrogant manner when she did meet him in London. She tells her governess that she is horrified by this news, since Salford is Ugolino. DUring her time in London, Phoebe has written a novel, with a lot of portraits of society people, and she has had an offer to publish it. The villain of the novel Ugolino, is an arrogant man with eyebrows like Sylvester's and Phoebe, now that the novel is going to be published is worried that such a resemblance to a real life character may cause problems. Miss Battery, Phoebe's governess is very fond of her, and the 2 of them hope that when Phoebe is 21, she could support herself writing and her governess could keep house for them. When Sylvester arrives, he is not very happy. Phoebe is dull and awkward. Lady Marlow is not an adept hostess, and he feels that he has made a mistake in considering her as a wife. However Phoebe is nervous. She knows that her stepmother wants to get her married and her father is too weak to stand up for her. She meets with Tom Orde, son of the local squire, who is her best friend. The 2 of them have always supported each other, and Tom even thinks of offering marriage, to save Phoebe from having to marry Sylvester. However she tells him if she could only get away from Austerby and go to London, her grandmother would give her a home till she's able to set up a place for herself. Tom agrees to help her by driving her to London - but leaves an ambiguous note for his mother, which sounds like he is planning to elope with Phoebe.