Isabella, James, and John persuade Catherine not to wait for them any longer, and Catherine agrees to go on a carriage ride instead. Of course, she also wants to know more about Henry.Ĭatherine schedules a walk in the countryside with Miss Tilney and Henry, but on the morning of their walk it is raining, and the Tilneys do not arrive exactly on time.

Catherine decides to become friends with Henry's sister Miss Tilney in order to fill the sudden lack of companionship. Meanwhile, Isabella and James have dove headlong into an open courtship, and Catherine finds that the two people she loves best in Bath-her brother and her closest friend-are devoting more and more time to each other, at the exclusion of her company. John's presence becomes obtrusive and even odious to her. It turns out that Henry left Bath for a week, but now that he is back Catherine finds herself increasingly enamored of him. During the course of their first carriage ride, Catherine notes that John spends a great deal of his time bragging, but nonetheless she agrees to dance with him when he asks her to be his dance partner.Īt the ball that night, Henry returns, and Catherine wishes she could dance with him instead. When James and John come to Bath for a visit, Isabella reveals her fondness for James, and John attempts to court Catherine by offering her carriage rides in the countryside. It turns out that their brothers, James and John, are friends from Oxford. The eldest of these daughters, Isabella, befriends Catherine. Thorpe, who has three daughters near Catherine's age. Catherine seeks him out the next day at another social gathering, but Henry is nowhere to be found. Henry charms Catherine with his gentle witticisms, and she is delighted to dance with him.

During one of their first nights in town, Catherine attends a ball in a venue called the Lower Rooms and meets a wealthy young clergyman named Henry Tilney. Catherine has never been away from home for an extended period of time, and she is excited to see the famed resort town.Īt Bath, Catherine is inducted into the social world of balls and entertainments.

As Austen's novel opens, we are introduced to Catherine Moreland, a seventeen-year old girl who is invited to go on a trip to Bath with her wealthy neighbors, Mr.

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