Margaret Peel Timeline and Summary

Margaret is a senior instructor in the History Department. At the beginning of the book, she's living with the Welches because she's recovering from a suicide attempt after her boyfriend left her.
She and Jim have been seeing each other for several months and she has a way of drawing Jim deeper into the relationship.
At a weekend party at the Welches', Margaret spends most of her time hanging around Jim. When he gets back from a spontaneous trip to the pub, he comes into her bedroom and makes out with her on her bed.
Margaret seems to be into it as much as Jim; but when he tries to go beyond that, she fights him off and tells him to hit the road.
The next morning, Margaret catches Jim and Christine together. She sulks about it.
Margaret manages to get Jim to take her to the university's Summer Ball. But Jim eventually sneaks off with Christine, leaving Margaret on her own.
Margaret has a complete meltdown and has to be slapped silly to come out of it.
Margaret eventually pulls it together and tells Jim that she knows they'll never be able to stay together.
In the end, we find out from Margaret's ex, Catchpole, that her suicide attempt was all a manipulation to try to make Catchpole stay with her.
It was only after the fact that she used the same story to get Jim to be her sort-of boyfriend.
She didn't get some details of the story straight, and her scheme is exposed as a fake.