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“Emma, well as she knew her father, was sometimes taken by surprize at his being still able to pity "poor Miss Taylor," when they left her at Randalls in the centre of every domestic comfort” — I snorted out loud 😆

OH Mr Perry, his health and humours guy, once told him that cake is not necessarily good for you and should be indulged in moderation, so Mr Woodhouse took it upon himself to guard everyone at the wedding from the grave and dire threat of cake-borne ill health.

LMAO the chapter concludes with Mr Woodhouse devoutly refusing to acknowledge that all of Mr Perry’s children definitely had some wedding cake

OH I see. We’re doing a Mean Girls-style tour of the cafeteria, and we’re finding out who Mr Woodhouse sits with at lunch. So first we’re introduced to young Mr Eston, who lives alone, for some reason, apparently reluctantly. Then it’s a trio of ladies.

Anyway, three ladies also hang out a lot with the Woodhouses. They’re carted back and forth so often that Mr Woodhouse completely takes for granted what an endeavor that is, but if it happened only once a year he would get it.

Mrs Bates is an old vicar’s old widow who is very old, and she lives with her daughter, Miss Bates, who is not Old-old, but she is old enough that it’s an impediment to her prospects. Also Miss Bates is mid in every respect, except that she is incredibly convivial, which people seem to like.

I feel like the book is giving us a foil to Emma in Miss Bates. They’re both affable, but Emma is young, pretty, clever, and rich. Miss Bates is middle-aged, plain, not especially sharp, and has no money.

But Miss Bates is so overwhelmingly affable and good-natures that people love her in spite of her being aggressively mid, and I can’t decide if that’s a little mean on the part of the book.

It is a little confusing that (iirc) there are three generations of maiden Miss Bates. There’s an elderly one, a middle-aged one, and a youngish one. The two older are resident in town and are pleasant and shabby chic. The younger is a governess who Emma doesn’t like much.

Thaaaat’s right 😆😅. I had a vague suspicion at the time, as the younger Miss Bates isn’t her parent, but I was too tragically lazy to look it up. Don’t trust strangers on the internet, children.