Some random thoughts that invaded whilst perusing your latest chapters...
- When Elizabeth has just arrived at Hunsford Parsonage and she and Charlotte have the conversation about preserving vegetables, there is this sudden interjection by Miss deBourgh, of whom I was not aware that she was present at the time. It reads:
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Charlotte's response to the line above somehow makes me feel as if Miss deBourgh is indeed not there, so I am a bit confused here.
- Elizabeth does leave me a bit dumbfounded, by showing such extraordinary stubbornness when it comes to Darcy. He was quite solicitous of Jane and her wellbeing while at Netherfield, - more so than in the original story, it felt - and helped out his friend on some occasions. Yet she chalks it all up to officiousness. Argh!
And here, you write:
<<"She learned some of his views on literature, art, and even music and found they matched her own preferences quite easily. He was solicitous and even kind when disagreeing with in their discussions. Elizabeth was horrified when she found herself actually agreeing with him. ">>
So even then she resists her own natural response and veers back to the path of 'Must Dislike This Man At All Cost'.
- Furthermore, she strikes me as someone who has to learn to practice what she preaches. In Hertfordshire, for instance, Louisa Hurst seemed genuinely interested in furthering her aquaintance with Elizabeth, yet there it was the latter who kept evading and 'forgetting' invitations and promises with regard to Mrs. Hurst. And now, in just one fell swoop, Elizabeth accuses Louisa of being just like Caroline in wishing to evade Jane. That's a bit like the pot calling the kettle black. (As an aside, I wonder if Caroline actually kept Louisa in the dark about Jane's visit in London. Jane did write that she did not see Louisa and that she was said to be indisposed.)
And this may seem like a minor thing, but did Elizabeth actually reply to her grandfather's inquiry regarding his choice of fabrics? He praises her for speaking her mind - so when Catherine mentioned that pink was not Elizabeth's color, I wonder whether either Catherine was wrong as to Elizabeth's color preferences, or whether Elizabeth was indeed forthright with her grandfather and told him her opinion, as he implored her to do and as her (also self-proclaimed) fortrightedness would ask of her - especially as he's apparantly putting quite some thought and effort into it. If she did not, then it feels a bit as an other instance where she does not seem to live up to her own expectations.
- On a happier note, I suddenly had this mental picture of the Duke running into Darcy and demanding to know what the latter had done to his granddaughter - which would leave Darcy completely flabbergasted. LOL!
Well, one thing is for certain: your story does not leave me indifferent :-)
