If you read the novel in a little more detail you will find that it is in fact Anne's concern for Wentworth that calls for her to break off the engagement. Lady R manipulates her detailed knowledge of Anne's character for her own ends by introducing this idea as further encouragement of the termination of the romance. <br> "Had she not imagined herself consulting his good, even more than her own, she could hardly have given him up"<br>Read the book more closely before you pass judgement - look at the last chapter and you will notice that Wentworth says that he was angry with Anne for the entirety of volume 1. It is only after Louisa is injured that he realises his true feelings for her, hence his uncertainty of himself in volume 2. There is plenty of evidence of strong emotion if you look for it.<br> Austen wrote at a time where subtlety was of the greatest importance, something else that should be taken into account; Anne would have been very unwise to disregard Lady R's advice. The sense of family at the time is much stronger than that today, where it is commonplace to marry without the consent of parents. This is one of the most finely honed books I have read, but it requires careful or repetitive reading to really get anything from it. Something quite unnattractive in today's culture of the pampered audience. Please don't presume that you know how write better than an author as timeless as Jane Austen.
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