In ch.21, Anne admits that she didn't notice who let her into Mrs. Smith's building the day before. This reminds me too much of Agatha Christie's attitude that nobody notices servants because they're like part of the furniture. People have compared this to (not) remembering sales clerks in stores, but I must say I *do* tend to remember sales clerks' faces, especially in stores I have been to more than once!

Further on, Mrs. Smith clarifies the fundamental objection to the late Mrs. Elliot: "Her father was a grazier, her grandfather had been a butcher." Elsewhere in the chapter, she is described as being *personally* "ignorant and giddy" (though at the same time she is supposed to have had a good education?), but her "low birth" is the most basic objection, and the "sensible" characters' attitude seems to be "What could you expect if a gentleman married a woman like that?"