John Willoughby first appears in Sense and Sensibility when he rescues Marianne Dashwood after she falls down a hill and twists her ankle during a rainstorm.

The reason given by Willoughby to explain this is that his aunt has sent him on a business trip to London, and he must obey instantly, and he might not ever return to Devonshire.

The next day, Marianne receives a letter from Willoughby in which he informs her in very cold and distant terms that his affections have long been engaged elsewhere and he is sorry if she ever mistakenly thought otherwise.

Elinor attempts in vain to afford Marianne some consolation, and tells her to think of her family and to exert herself through this difficult interval of sorrow.

Marianne is so distressed by Willoughby's rejection that at Cleveland Park, on her way home with Elinor, she becomes sick with putrid fever.

He elicits Elinor's pity because his choice has made him unhappy, but she is disgusted by the callous way in which he talks of Miss Williams and his own wife.

Jane Austen created Willoughby as an antagonist driven by the need for his own pleasure, whether that be through amusing himself with whatever woman crossed his path, or via marrying in order to obtain wealth to fuel his profligate ways.

They both have the charm to ingratiate themselves with people and to deceive them, as John Willoughby did to Marianne when apprising her of his journey to London, and George Wickham to Elizabeth by fabricating a story to demonstrate how much anguish he had experienced in his life.

However, it appears that Willoughby is not completely without a conscience because he did express remorse and guilt concerning his actions toward Marianne, and showed himself to be capable of falling in love.

In contrast, Wickham was very calculating in his behaviour and never demonstrated any regret regarding his treatment of Georgiana or Lydia, or embarrassment about his lies to Elizabeth.