I hope this isn't getting too much off the discusion trail but I just wanted to add, I think Lizzy is just as good a friend to Charlotte. I notice after the Collins engagement she is humiliated and mortified, not for herself but her pleasant,sensible friend would marry her foolish cousin. Like a sister,Lizzy is concerned for Charlotte's future happiness. And then Charlotte tries to encourage Lizzy to secure her future with Colonel Fitzwilliam although Lizzy doesn't love him. Marriage was the only respectable choice for an C18th gentrywoman and Charlotte and Lizzy represent two diverse opinions for matrimony.Yet the friends in different ways look out for each others best intersets. One thing puzzles me. I would have thought with the Collins-Lucas marriage, even Lizzy would permit herself some comfort with the fact she and Charlotte are now cousins. In an Age when familial connections were so important, I would have thought this may've been referred to by Lizzy and Charlotte in P&P2 or in the book. Surely it is lovely for two close friends?