] ... seem to let us know what one Georgian woman, anyway, thought of the custom! ;-)

Indeed!

Of course, my mind also leapt to Mr. Collins when I read that bit--and oh, what an unfortunate thing to leap to! ;-)--but I did get to thinking about how his pointing out of this little game-playing seems to break the rules of the game.

The way I read this, men were supposed to be all humble-servant-ish, even in the face of refusal. It seems to me that coming right out and telling a woman that you expected her to accept in time because-you're-such-a-great-prize just makes a mockery of the game. :-) Could this be Mr. C's primary tactical error? Besides being an odd, little toady of a man, I mean? ;-)