Cousin Kate again and again

Kate agrees to marry Philip and assures him that she will be glad to have a home. She does not care that he's not the heir to the baronetcy. But she feels guilty that she has become engaged without the sanction of Lady Broome who is her chaperone, and while her aunt is ill. She resolves to tell Minerva as soon as she's well enough, that she's engaged. She tells Philip that she thinks he's unjust to her aunt, that she is selfish, true but not as bad as he makes her out to be. Kate loves Philip and admires his character but she feels that he's prejudiced against Lady Broome... She hopes that Torquil is not really going mad, though his behavour is becoming more erratic. She was aware of his fits of temper and concerned when he got hold of a gun and began brandishing it about. After a couple of days, Kate is allowed to see Lady Broome. Her aunt tells her about her own youth, and how her family were not that well off. She was a good looking girl, but she only had a small dowry. She then met Sir Timothy. He was much older than her, but she liked him and married him. She loved London society life, but within a few years, her husband's health broke down and she had to move back to Staplewood. Kate sympathises but then her aunt tries to persuade her to marry Torquil. She tells her that she is now engaged to Philip. Her aunt gets very angry, at this penniless girl thwarting her plans. Then Sarah Nidd arrives, worried about Kate. But she has met Torquil during her journey to Staplewood. He was riding, and he had spurred his horse and almost caused a terrible accident. WHen Lady Broome hears of this, she tells Kate that she knows Torquil is mad. He was always unstable, and now, he has become dangerous and violent and may have to be confined. She says that the only thing that can save Torquil's reputation is for him to get engaged and married. She tells her niece that the mental illness came from her family. She wants her son to father an heir, before he becomes seriously ill. Kate is horrified at her callousness and her obsession with keeping the Broome line going from father to son.