“How long have you known?”
Why it's great
Five words carry two blows, demanding both the fact and how long it was hidden.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
How long have you known about the move?
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Elinor's Secret Finally Comes Out, Explained
Sense and Sensibility · 1995
Chapter 23 of 27 · 2'30"
Mrs. Jennings reveals that Edward has been engaged to Lucy for five years and has been disinherited for keeping his promise. Elinor admits she has known all along, and Marianne turns on her — 'Elinor, where is your heart?' — until Elinor finally breaks her silence.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 1:43–2:23
❝ Monologue · 8 lines Marianne Asks Where Elinor's Heart Is
40s - 2:05–2:28
Elinor Finally Speaks of Her Pain
23s
Elinor's Secret Finally Comes Out, explained
What happens
Mrs. Jennings brings news that Edward has been secretly engaged to Lucy for five years and has been cut off without a penny for refusing to break it. Elinor confesses she has known since London but was bound to silence. Marianne accuses her of having no heart, and Elinor finally answers with her own hidden suffering.
What's really going on
The chapter finally lets Elinor break, and the way it happens is the point. Until now she has carried Edward's secret alone, unable to explain herself even as Marianne's suffering took up all the room. Marianne's accusation — 'Elinor, where is your heart?' — is unfair and understandable at once, since Marianne has never once doubted that feeling should be shown. What she cannot see is that Elinor has been feeling the whole time, in silence, and that silence was a kind of promise. Elinor's answer is the strongest speech she is given: she has endured Lucy's exaltation again and again while knowing herself divided from Edward forever, and says she could have produced proof of a broken heart even for Marianne. The sisters are both right, which is what makes the quarrel hurt: one believes in showing, the other in bearing.
Key lines & what they mean
- “How long have you known?”
- Mrs. Jennings's startled question once the secret is out, the first crack in Elinor's long silence.
- “- I could not break my word. - But Edward loves you.”
- The heart of the quarrel: Elinor's promise of secrecy against Marianne's plain fact that Edward loves her.
- “Would you have him treat her even worse than Willoughby has treated you?”
- Elinor's sharpest defence of Edward, turning Marianne's own wound into an argument for his honour.
- “Elinor, where is your heart?”
- Marianne's accusation, meaning that Elinor seems to feel nothing; in fact it is the question that finally breaks her.
- “What do you know of anything but your own suffering?”
- Elinor's reply, the first time she names Marianne's self-absorption and her own buried pain.
- “I could have produced proof enough of a broken heart even for you.”
- Her closing claim: she has been heartbroken all along, and could have proved it to the one person who thought she felt nothing.
Theme
- Heartbreak — Elinor has hidden her own loss for months, and the quarrel forces her to admit a broken heart she never showed.
- Family conflict — Marianne's confidence that feeling must be seen collides with Elinor's belief in bearing pain quietly.
What this chapter teaches
Teaching points
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Language points
Click a card to jump to its moment in the videoGolden lines
A great line in its own right — why and how to use it“- I could not break my word. - But Edward loves you.”
Why it's great
Duty and love are set against each other in two sentences, and neither side gives way.
Register
Formal
Use it yourself
I gave her my word, and I could not break my word.
“Would you have him treat her even worse than Willoughby has treated you?”
Why it's great
She measures Edward against the very man who hurt Marianne, and the comparison silences her.
Register
Formal
Use it yourself
Would you have him lie to her just to please us?
“Elinor, where is your heart?”
Why it's great
She accuses calm itself of being heartless and aims the question straight at Elinor's silence.
Register
literary
Use it yourself
You heard the news and said nothing; where is your heart?
“What do you know of anything but your own suffering?”
Why it's great
It denies the other person any feeling but her own, the cruelest cut in the quarrel.
Register
literary
Use it yourself
What do you know of anything but your own plans?
“I could have produced proof enough of a broken heart even for you.”
Why it's great
She turns her private grief into evidence, and the calm wording makes the outburst hit harder.
Register
literary
Use it yourself
I could have produced proof enough of my effort even for you.
Monologue
One character carrying the scene — shadow the whole passage❝ Elinor's outburst
For weeks, Marianne, I've had this pressing on me... without being at liberty to speak of it to a single creature. It was forced on me by the very person whose prior claims... ruined all my hope. I have endured her exaltation again and again... whilst knowing myself to be divided from Edward forever. Believe me, Marianne, had I not been bound to silence... I could have produced proof enough of a broken heart even for you.
Her voice stays level as she lays out months of silence, which makes the confession cut deeper.
Up next · 24only too delightedThe scene: Brandon Offers Edward a LivingTakeaways
What you walk away with- Silence can be a promise, not coldness.
- Marianne reads restraint as a lack of feeling.
- A family fortune is used here as a weapon.
- The calm sister is the one who finally breaks.
People also search
Questions, then the linesWhat news does Mrs. Jennings bring?
That Edward has been engaged to Lucy Steele for five years, that his mother demanded he break it on pain of disinheritance, and that he refused and was cut off.
How long has Elinor known the secret?
Since the night Mrs. Jennings offered to take them to London. Lucy told her in strictest confidence and Elinor could not break her word.
Why is Marianne angry with Elinor?
Because Elinor has said nothing and seems to accept everything calmly. Marianne asks where her heart is, unable to see that Elinor is hiding her own pain.
What does Elinor finally reveal?
That she has been suffering all along. She says the news was forced on her by the very person whose prior claims ruined her hope, and that she has silently endured Lucy's exaltation.
What is Edward's situation now?
He has kept his promise to Lucy and been disinherited for it. His mother has settled everything irrevocably on his brother Robert.