at least, 'blooming' seems to imply a young lady who isn't too thin or haggard (heaven forbid!), and whose skin is fair and smooth. Interestingly though, Elizabeth, who we know is just as handsome at 29, if not more so, than she was at 16, doesn't have the vivacity and youthfulness that we might associate with 'blooming'. It looks as though her 13 years as mistress of Kellynch-hall has given her 'a self-possession and decision which could never have given the idea of her being younger than she was'.