She simply cannot stop talking about Captain Tilney in the letter she is writing to Catherine to try to win back James. She is pining for him even while she is denying it. She thinks highly of his taste when compared to James (although she does question Tilney's truthfulness).

Anne Mitchell had tried to put on a turban like mine, as I wore it the week before at the concert, but made wretched work of it — it happened to become my odd face, I believe, at least Tilney told me so at the time, and said every eye was upon me; but he is the last man whose word I would take. Ch. 27