Thanks, Livia, for popping over to Newcomer's, and for including JA in all this. Mrs Clay is certainly an interesting and somewhat mysterious character, isn't she?

Jane Austen doeesn't actually tell you anything much about Mrs Clay's marriage, except that it was "unprosperous" and that she was a widow with young children. I assume that means that a) she didn't bring much money into the marriage herself, and b) that if the couple had any money, or expectation of money at the time of marriage, then it didn't last long. We have absolutely no knowledge of what Mr Clay's family were like, and whether the Clay grandparents did, or did not, support the married couple. Neither do we know whether the Clay grandparents are in any position to provide for their grandchildren, or even if they are still alive! However, I suspect that there isn't any support from that direction, and Mrs Clay, finding herself with little money, and much responsibility, took herself back to her father voluntarily. We don't know much about Mr Shepherd, except that he's Sir Walter's lawyer. Perhaps he is a widower, and needed a housekeeper?

Another thought. Mrs Clay, as a widow of little means , would have to live very quietly. At least living with her father, and acting as his hostess, and presiding over the management of his house, she would have the opportunity to meet her father's acquaintances, and his "rich" clients. If she was tied up with the Clay grandparents, she probably would be expected to live as a widow for the rest of her life.....