Yes, this is one of the steamiest scenes in all Austen. I've always thought CW turned away because he was feeling all the same sensations and needed a moment to pull himself together.

Also, there really is nothing to attract women, like a man who is good with kids. I think too it is the automatic quality of the action, the instinctual nature of it, that heightens the steaminess. It shows they have real, unbreakable chemistry together.

I missed it in P2 as well! The first time I watched the movie, I almost could not forgive the filmakers for leaving it out.

"I don't know, it doesn't explain her more rational self at the end of the long walk, except that the day of the carriage she was with him all day, and the little Walter incident happens so quickly. Speculation."