Frances "Fanny" Harville is a character mentioned in Persuasion. She died before the course of the novel, so she never appears in the book. Before her death, she was engaged to Captain Benwick. She was also the sister of Captain Harville and the sister-in-law of his wife, Mrs. Harville. Her death broke Benwick's heart, and he became very sad and forlorn. Only Anne Elliot had been able to get him to talk and to come out of his melancholy by talking of books.