Who Is Mrs. Clay?
The lawyer's daughter who befriends the Elliots
Mrs. Clay is the daughter of Mr. Shepherd, the Elliot family's lawyer. Her marriage did not go well, and she has returned to her father's house with her children.
She is close to Elizabeth and wins over Sir Walter with her pleasant, flattering manner, so it is decided that she will go with them to Bath. Anne and Lady Russell worry that she may be hoping to marry Sir Walter.
Sir Walter is bothered by her freckles and other flaws, but the novel shows with humor how her tact and charm gradually ease his doubts.
Episodes featuring this character3
NEWEpisode 1
Please Stay Out of the MirrorPersuasion
In a grand house sinking under debt, Anne Elliot, the middle daughter, is the one no one in her family listens to. Her vain father and older sister insist they can't possibly give up a single horse or servant. In the end the family decides to let the house and move to Bath. Then, at dusk, a single word drifts through a doorway — "navy" — and for one moment, Anne's eyes waver.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 2
My Ex's Sister Is Moving Into My HousePersuasion (Jane Austen)
While her family turns choosing a tenant into a comedy, settling on a navy admiral, 27-year-old Anne Elliot ends up saying a name before anyone else can. It belongs to the man she gave up more than seven years ago. Out on the woodland path, she remembers the summer she was nineteen, and quietly accepts that his sister is about to live in her home.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 3
Every Night, They Praise the Man I LeftPersuasion (Jane Austen)
Her family leaves her behind because "no one will miss Anne if she stays." So Anne goes to her sister's house three miles away, where everyone soon treats her as the one person who'll listen to their complaints. But in that house, the name of the man she gave up eight years ago starts coming up every night, and always as praise.
19 pages