The Dowager Lady Vernon told a friend that Mansfield Park was '' ( n ) ot much of a novel , more the history of a family party in the country , very natural '' . The Dowager Lady Vernon told a friend that Mansfield Park was '' ( n ) ot much of a novel , more the history of a family party in the country , very natural '' â '' as if , comments one Austen scholar , `` Lady Vernon 's parties mostly featured adultery . ''