] Lucy's death surprised me;

It did me too, though I suppose there was plenty of foreshadowing ;-)

the envious & malvolent Sukey, is too disagreable to live with ... for often has she threatened, & sometimes endeavoured to cut my throat. (ch 8)

I laughed when I read that, but then in the next chapter, Sukey actually does the deed, though she poisons her, rather than cuts her throat. EEK! Yes, I was surprised and a bit shocked, but then JA made me laugh again by saying that Alice mourned for she had a sincere regard for Lucy, having

...spent a whole evening in her company & had never thought of her since.