In the Regency era, it was common for people to visit private homes and estates. There was a "presumption of access to private houses" (Clarke, "A fine house richly furnished: Pemberley and the visiting of country houses") In this discussion, Elinor is chiding Marianne for breaking one of the cardinal rules of visiting a great house: visiting while the family who owned said house was at home. "If the family were away, [a] housekeeper would feel free to show the house to visitors" but "access [could be] refused because the family were at home" (Clarke). By entering Allenham while Mrs. Smith was at home, Marianne has intruded. The fact that she was also alone with Willoughby, a man who is not a relative of hers, with no supervision from others could cause people to question Marianne's virtue.

"Among family, friends and romantic partners, exchanging a lock of hair was a sign of mutual esteem and deep affection. Upon the death of a loved one, locks of hair were often cut and kept as a way to both honor and remember the dead... [H]air was both an intimately personal souvenir of a specific person and an (almost) everlasting memento." ("Hairwork jewelry" on the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) Museum of Los Angeles' blog) Locks of hair were often kept in the form of jewelry, as we see Edward Ferrars wearing later in the novel. Hair jewelry ranged from simpler rings like the one Edward wears to complex necklaces, brooches, and other pieces.

(Image: "Gold and enamel mourning ring with hair of the deceased under glass, c. 1855." from The Victor Mourning Blog) (Image: "Hairwork necklace. 1850-1890. Gift of Andrea Tice. 2008.46.101" from the FIDM Museum Blog)

The term "Christian name" refers to one's first or given name, which was often given at the time of an infant's baptism (Thurston, Catholic Encyclopedia). An excerpt from Etiquette for Ladies, published in Philadelphia in 1840 by Lea & Blanchard, details some specifics on the use of Christian names in different types of company: "In speaking, it is always proper to give the name of Sir, Madam, or Miss... It is equally good [etiquette], when alone with [one's husband], to designate him by his Christian name." The use of a Christian name, or given name, was incredibly intimate and for the most part only meant to be used by family members in private spaces.

In the Regency period, women were not permitted to ride alone, except under very specific circumstances, and were usually expected to be accompanied by a chaperone. This chaperone was often a groom, whose duties also included caring for the horses. "A lady was permitted to drive her own carriage, but only about the town attended by a groom, or by herself on the family estate... It was acceptable to go out riding or driving with a man as long as a groom or other chaperone was in attendance... It was acceptable to go out driving or riding with a man without a chaperone if he was a relative of close family friend" (Kloester, Georgette Heyer's Regency World).

A daughter born out of wedlock.