At the end of Chapter 17 we read, "Many were the inquiries she was eager to make of Miss Tilney; but so active were her thoughts, that when these inquiries were answered, she was hardly more assured than before, of Northanger Abbey having been a richly endowed convent at the time of the Reformation, of its having fallen into the hands of an ancestor of the Tilneys on its dissolution, of a large portion of the ancient building still making a part of the present dwelling although the rest was decayed, or of its standing low in a valley, sheltered from the north and east by rising woods of oak.

I don't get this - has she been led to believe these things or led to disbelieve them?

The other one that I'm not sure how to interpret comes in Chapter 22, when we read: "Catherine was saved the embarrassment of attempting an answer by the entrance of the general, whose smiling compliments announced a happy state of mind, but whose gentle hint of sympathetic early rising did not advance her composure.

What's the General hinting at? Is he telling her she should get up earlier? Sympathetic to or with whom?

Any insights on these would be welcome!