Hi everybody! I'm so glad we're doing another Letters GR! I'm always full of questions whenever I read one of JA's letters. In paragraph 5, JA wrote:

Cassandra I find handsomer than I expected, though at present disguised by such a violent breaking-out that she does not come down after dinner. She has charming eyes and a nice open countenance, and seems likely to be very lovable. Her size is magnificent.

It sounds like Cassandra (whoever she may be) was suffering from adolescent acne, but I don't understand why that would keep her from coming down after dinner. It was just family after all, wasn't it? Anyway, this comment made me suddenly feel very close to Cassandra and her family. (When's the last time you saw a character in a historical film or TV adaptation with noticeable pimples? Didn't JA understand that everyone in her time period was supposed to have rose petal skin? ;-)