I came in very late to the GR and haven't had a chance to post yet, but this was one of the items I had noted to myself that I really wanted to post about. Catherine was not a girl who was in love with every boy she met, and she herself says that she spends most of her time at home pursuing amusement. So I think that it is perfectly logical that her parents, who are not prone to flights of fancy or teasing their children, would never indulge such a thought. They still see her as the same Catherine - she found a great deal of amusement at Bath and Northhanger, and they think she is now bored with home. She had never been in love before, so they don't know how she will act. As someone who has no skill at 'reading' people, I think I would have come to the same conclusion with my daughter. I'm afraid I'm not a very intuitive mother. :-( But if she starts acting like Catherine does in this chapter I'll be sure to ask..... :-)