...parallels the descriptions given earlier of Catherine. In saying that he was, "...if not quite handsome, was very near it" echoes the earlier statements of Catherine looking "almost pretty", and the implication at the end of chapter 2 ("...and had the company only seen her three years before, they would now have thought her exceedingly handsome.) that, relatively speaking, Catherine is much improved over what she used to be, though still not up to par with a true beauty.

Beautifully constructed!