Elinor has convinced Marianne to accompany her and Mrs. Jennings to a jewelry store. There while completing their business, John Dashwood arrives, which surprises the sisters. He is happy to see his sisters and promises to visit them the next day at Mrs. Jennings's home. He and Mrs. Jennings get along very well, after a while he has Elinor escort him to the home of Sir John Middleton.

He wants to meet the people who have given his sisters a home. While at Mrs. Jennings's, John meets Colonel Brandon, who John thinks is in love with Elinor, this makes John happy, after he finds out Colonel Brandon has money. He tells Elinor he thinks Mrs. Jennings might leave her and Marianne an inheritance, because her daughters have married well and do not need any additional funds. Elinor tries to tell her brother that Colonel Brandon does not have any interest in her and Mrs. Jennings is not leaving them an inheritance, but John will not listen.

He does tell Elinor of Edward Ferrars impending marriage to the Hon. Miss Morton, who comes from a rich family. This surprises Elinor, because she thinks he is going to marry Lucy Steele. John is trying to find a way to marry his sisters off to men with money, so he does not have to feel guilty for not giving them very much financial assistance.

John and his wife get along well with the Middletons, so well in fact that they give a dinner party in their honor. They invite the Middletons, Mrs. Jennings, the Dashwood sisters, the Steele sisters, Mrs. Ferrars, who is Mrs. Dashwood's mother, and Colonel Brandon to the dinner. Lucy Steele is nervous meeting for the first time, the woman who she thinks will be her mother-in-law, Mrs. Ferrars.

Mrs. Ferrars is rude to Elinor, because she thinks Elinor still wants to marry her son Edward, and because of this Elinor cannot please her. Elinor is not upset by her behavior, because she knows the secret Lucy is carrying. Lucy is loved by Mrs. Ferrars, as she does not know Lucy and Edward are engaged. Elinor is amused by the whole situation.

Marianne, after noticing how rude Mrs. Ferrars is to her sister, tries to defend her sister, which only leads to Marianne bursting out in tears. Meanwhile, John Dashwood tries to extoll Elinor's virtues to Colonel Brandon, in the hopes of securing a marriage for his sister. What John fails to notice is the attention Colonel Brandon pays to Marianne, who is the true object of his affections. The whole dinner party is full of mislaid alliances and lackluster conversation.

The next day Lucy is absolutely delighted by the reception she received from Mrs. Ferrars and Lady Middleton. To her it is the end of any anxiety she has over how she will win over Edward's mother and sister, but Elinor knows the truth of the situation. She points out to Lucy Edward's mother and sister do not know of her relationship with Edward and so view her as a friend of the family and not a future in-law. Lucy will not allow Elinor's words to dampen her spirits.

As the two ladies talk, Edward comes into the room, he is embarrassed at being alone in a room with both Lucy and Elinor. He does not know how to act in this situation, so Elinor decides to take matters into her own hands and talks about her family, life in London, and how happy she is to see him. Then she leaves Edward and Lucy alone, so she can retrieve Marianne from her bedroom. Lucy is not at all happy with Elinor, because she wants to have Edward to herself for the rest of his visit.

Marianne, who does not know of Lucy and Edward's engagement, treats Edward as the brother-in-law she thinks he will soon be. Marianne invites Edward to accompany her and Elinor on their trip back to Barton Cottage. Edward leaves, confused about how to handle the situation and Lucy leaves soon after him. Marianne is confused by Elinor's reaction of friendship, but not love towards Edward.

A few days later, Mrs. Jennings's daughter, Charlotte Palmer, gives birth to a baby boy. Mrs. Jennings decides since she is spending all her days with her daughter and the new baby, the Dashwood sisters should spend their days at the Middleton's. This arrangement only pleases Mrs. Jennings, because Lady Middleton does not like the Dashwood sisters, and the Steele sisters do everything in their power to make the sisters feel unwelcome.

An acquaintance of Mrs. John Dashwood, Mrs. Dennison, happens to stop by the Dashwood home as Elinor and Marianne are visiting and thinks the girls are staying with Fanny Dashwood and her husband. Because of this misunderstanding the sisters are invited to a musical performance party called a musical. Fanny Dashwood is not pleased to have her husband's sisters accompany her to the party.

Once at the party, Elinor is introduced to Robert Ferrars who is Edward's brother. The two brothers couldn't be more different, while Edward is reserved, his brother is egotistical. Elinor is not fond of Robert and is even more fond of Edward after meeting Robert.

John decides to ask his sisters to stay with them, so Fanny's friend will never find out about her mistake. Fanny instead convinces John to allow the Steele sisters to stay with them, because she reasons his sisters can stay with them next year. The visit is seen by Lucy as a sign she is being accepted by Edward's family.

The characters in these chapters experience a number of misunderstandings such as John thinking the Colonel is in love with Elinor, Mrs. Ferrars liking Lucy because she thinks Elinor is trying to marry her son, and Mrs. Dennison thinking Elinor and Marianne are staying with John.