He explained that at first , John Thorpe , who had thought Catherine would marry him soon , had lied to General Tilney that she was very , very rich . General Tilney had believed ( on the misinformation of John Thorpe ) her to be exceedingly rich and therefore a proper match for Henry . In London , General Tilney ran into Thorpe again , who , angry at Catherine 's refusal of his half-made proposal of marriage , said instead that she was nearly destitute .