--quite a horror of them. (Mrs. Elton)

LOL at the slobbering dog description. If only people were able to have the devotion and unconditional love of a sweet but slobbery dog.

Your reformed rake comment got me thinking. Yes, it is a fantasy to think love can "fix" what is wrong with a person. And we'll see next week whether Austen takes the story that way. But I would say too that cartoon villains are also fantasy. I've never met a person who schemes evil things from morning to night. There might be pure evil people in the world. Thank goodness I haven't met them. If villainous Henry is capable of the occasional kind impulse he seems more realistic, more human to me- and it makes the story much more interesting and nuanced, which is how I read it. If there's something in the text which shows that particular act of kindness isn't kindness, I guess I'll have to eat my words. :)