“Mrs. Portman is not much admired in Dorsetshire; the good natured world, as usual, extolled her beauty so highly, that all the neighborhood have had the pleasure of being disappointed.”

JA is right that people enjoy gossiping about others and if it is not all nice, people often enjoy it more. Reminds me of Emma and P&P—Frank Churchill did not disappoint, except for Mr. Knightly but Elizabeth did disappoint Carolyn Bingley and Mrs. Hurst—so they said.