Actually, I rather doubt if Capt Benwick felt things deeply, though he made such a show of his grief for Fanny Harville -- chap 18 --
"Captain Benwick was not inconsolable. That was a point which Anne had not been able to avoid suspecting before; and ... from the present course of events, they served only to confirm the idea of his having felt some dawning of tenderness toward herself. ... any tolerably pleasing young woman who had listened and seemed to feel for him would have received the same compliment. He had an affectionate heart. He must love somebody."
I'm inclined to agree with Anne, I'm not condemning his character, and I think he and Louisa will do very well together -- precisely because of his "affectionate heart" which "must love somebody" and she being "a very amiable, sweet tempered girl and not deficient in understanding" although not clever (chap 20) -- I believe they make an excellent couple. Part of my objection to Anne-Benwick and Fred-Louisa is because I like Louisa-Benwick so much! They are inferior to Anne and Fred but will do very well with each other. I would like to write a Louisa-Benwick romance, I think what happened between them at Lyme could make a sweet little story, and it is sometimes nice to focus on minor characters.
"Captain Benwick was not inconsolable. That was a point which Anne had not been able to avoid suspecting before; and ... from the present course of events, they served only to confirm the idea of his having felt some dawning of tenderness toward herself. ... any tolerably pleasing young woman who had listened and seemed to feel for him would have received the same compliment. He had an affectionate heart. He must love somebody."
I'm inclined to agree with Anne, I'm not condemning his character, and I think he and Louisa will do very well together -- precisely because of his "affectionate heart" which "must love somebody" and she being "a very amiable, sweet tempered girl and not deficient in understanding" although not clever (chap 20) -- I believe they make an excellent couple. Part of my objection to Anne-Benwick and Fred-Louisa is because I like Louisa-Benwick so much! They are inferior to Anne and Fred but will do very well with each other. I would like to write a Louisa-Benwick romance, I think what happened between them at Lyme could make a sweet little story, and it is sometimes nice to focus on minor characters.