Mrs. Smith is an elderly woman (presumably a widow) who is planning leave her estate of Allenham to Willoughby upon her death. Willoughby describes himself as her “cousin,” though it is unclear if they truly share grandparents or if they are simply distant relations.
Mrs. Smith invites Willoughby to Allenham once each year and has considerable influence over his life as she has the power to withhold his inheritance.
When she learns of what Willoughby did to Eliza Williams, he says “The purity of her life, the formality of her notions, her ignorance of the world—every thing was against me. The matter itself I could not deny, and vain was every endeavour to soften it. She was previously disposed, I believe, to doubt the morality of my conduct in general, and was moreover discontented with the very little attention, the very little portion of my time that I had bestowed on her, in my present visit.” Willoughby goes on to explain that she offers forgiveness if he will marry Eliza. Though he refuses, leading to a falling out, the narrator later tells us that the character of Miss Grey ultimately wins back the favor of Mrs. Smith.
Before the Dashwood girls ever meet Willoughby, they are told by the community in Barton that Mrs. Smith is “an elderly lady of very good character, who was unfortunately too infirm to mix with the world, and never stirred from home.”
