But, alas, they are no match for the razor-tongued master manipulator. “She has an uncanny understanding of men’s natures,” one laments.
Lady Susan’s scheming doesn’t go unnoticed, however, especially by the wise women around her who try their best to squelch her duplicitous intentions. And all while continuing to see her married lover Lord Manwaring (Lochlann O’Mearain). Nearly penniless, Lady Susan plots to seduce Catherine’s impressionable younger brother Reginald ( Xavier Samuel) and get him to marry her, and foist her neglected 16-year-old daughter Frederica (Morfydd Clark) off on Sir James Martin (scene stealer Tom Bennett), a true idiot, but one who possesses vast riches. Elegantly adapted by Stillman from Jane Austen’s posthumously published novella “Lady Susan,” the story begins with the recently widowed - but grief-free - Susan slithering her way into the posh residence of her late husband’s wealthy brother Charles (Justin Edwards) and his keen-eyed wife Catherine (Emma Greenwell).
Kate Beckinsale stars as Lady Susan Vernon, “the most accomplished flirt in all England,” in director Whit Stillman’s pleasing, if slight, comedy of manners set among the estate-dwelling privileged class in late 18th century Britain.