Everyone at Mansfield Park is distracted by the recent events, and no one is more distracted than is Mrs. Norris. Maria had been her favorite child; she had encouraged Maria’s marriage to Mr. Rushworth. With Maria’s recent disgrace, Mrs. Norris finds her authority at Mansfield Park has been diminished. With the return of Fanny and her sister, whom Lady Bertram warmly welcomes, Mrs. Norris feels as if she has been pushed out of the home.

With Fanny’s attention devoted to Lady Bertram, Susan is left to adjust to her new surroundings on her own. She uses the time to familiarize herself with the house and the grounds. She is thankful to have this time to herself because she must work to rid herself of the more vulgar mannerisms with which she was raised.

Fanny’s main goal, upon her arrival, is to ease the misery Lady Bertram must be feeling. Although Lady Bertram’s mind often returns to the thoughts of disgrace that her daughters have caused the family or to Tom, whose health has deteriorated with the news of his sisters, Fanny talks of subjects that remove Lady Bertram from further distress. In the course of their conversations, though, Fanny learns more details of what had happened.

When Mr. Rushworth went to visit his mother, Maria chose to visit friends. Henry had gone to the same town, and he visited Maria on several occasions. When the Rushworths returned to London, Mr. Rushworth was much agitated by rumors from his servants. A friend of Sir Thomas’s had written, expressing his concern for the family’s name, so Sir Thomas took Edmund with him to London in the hopes of finding Maria and talking sense with her. Either Maria should make amends with her husband or marry Henry to save her name. But Maria could not be found.

A few days after her return to Mansfield Park, Fanny listens to Edmund’s tale of what occurred in London. He went to visit Mary and was shocked by her lofty airs. Mary’s version of the events were colored by blaming everyone but her brother. First Mary blamed Maria, insinuating that Maria lured Henry to her side. Then Mary blamed Fanny. Had Fanny accepted Henry, he would not have been so easily swayed. Mary did not see Henry’s actions as wrong; rather, she thought the problem was that what had been done had been detected. Before he left London, Edmund told Mary there was no longer anything between them. After he stated his feelings, Mary responded that what Edmund just said sounded like a sermon. She mocked him by asking if he had delivered the same speech in front of a congregation.

Edmund tells Fanny that he knew he and Mary had different opinions, but he never guessed the disparity of their thoughts. Despite all this, Edmund still believes that Mary has great potential. He says she would have turned out differently if she had a better family supporting her as she was growing up.

Fanny finally confides in Edmund, now that his relationship with Mary is over, and tells him about Mary’s comments about the consequences of Tom’s possible death. Fanny insinuates that Mary is more deeply depraved than Edmund imagines, almost hoping for Tom’s death so Edmund could inherit the family’s wealth. With money in hand, Mary could adjust to life with Edmund.