How does Sir Willoughby Patterne treat Constantia Durham in The Egoist?

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George Meredith George Meredith, detail of an oil painting by G.F. Watts, 1893; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.

In George Meredith’s novel The Egoist, Sir Willoughby Patterne treats his fiancée, Constantia Durham, as a possession he deems worthy of his status. However, his profound egoism and shallowness are eventually exposed to her. Upon discovering his true character, Constantia rejects his controlling nature and humiliates him by eloping with an officer of the hussars.1