This is going off on another subject, but since you bring up Mrs. Reynolds's glowing character reference for Darcy, it was only during this GR that I noticed that Mr. Collins describes Lady Catherine exactly the same way Mrs. Reynolds does Darcy!

Lady Catherine was reckoned proud by many people [Mr. Collins] knew, but he had never seen anything but affability in her. (ch.14)

"Some people call [Darcy] proud; but I [Mrs. Reynolds] am sure I never saw anything of it." (ch.43)

I'm beginning to think that it must have been the done thing at the time to claim that a person of elevated rank of one's acquaintance was *not* proud, the same way people acquainted with a celebrity today rush to assure others that s/he is down to earth, not a snob, etc. No wonder Elizabeth didn't take Mr. Collins at his word, but suspected from his further descriptions that the opposite was true!

Also, I notice that Mrs. Reynolds describes Georgiana as "the handsomest young lady that ever was seen", while later on, we are told that Miss Darcy is *less* handsome than her brother, although Elizabeth likes her face.