] When the perfect gentleman disclosed a sincere and honourable passion, he diffidently stressed his own unworthiness, in contrast to the estimable qualities of his chosen object.

]I was struck by just HOW inappropriate and un-gentlemanlike Darcy's first proposal really was.

It's nice to see you here, and I don't mind reviewing the chapters at all. There was a lot of information that needs to become more fixed in my brain. :-)

I am especially interested in reading how bits of this book can be tied in with JA's novels, so am pleased to see you make a connection between Darcy's proposal (who definitely did not "diffidently stress his own unworthiness" - LOL), and how courtships actually played out. I don't recall* one proposal in this particular book that sprung out of nowhere, so am wondering how often these unexpected proposals (like in P&P) occurred.