I found a sentence, which I could not understand after several rereading, in an introduction to Pride and Prejudice.
It reads (the context is also included, and the sentence I don't understand is in bold):
The project remained alive for some time in its original form: at the start of 1799 Jane wrote to Cassandra, 'I do not wonder at your wanting to read first impressions again, so seldom as you have gone through it, & that so long ago.' Jokingly, she reported in June of the same year the malign plans of her friend and connection by marriage Martha Lloyd: 'I would not let Martha read First Impressions again upon any account, & am very glad that I did not leave it in your power. — She is very cunning, but I see through her design; — she means to publish it from Memory, & one more perusal must enable her to do it'.
It's quite easy to figure out the structure of the first half of the sentence:
Jokingly, she reported in June of the same year the malign plans of her friend
However, I cannot understand the latter half.
Was the "connection" also one of the two things she reported? The word "by" here means "by the means" I suppose. But shouldn't the word "marriage" be "marrying" then if the what I suppose is right? In addition, I don't know what role the name Martha Lloyd is in here. According to the context, it should be the name of Jane's friend. But if it's that case, shouldn't some commas be interpolated in between?