A well stated post! I like the way you refer to JA's touch as a brushstroke. I think it a most apt term. Also, after reading Julie's post, this idea you present of Mrs. Bennet's comment on fish did not occur to me. Of course---as you say, no one would have even been expecting to have fish served to them. In JA's day this must have produced a good laugh, at least a smile. I agree, that it adds a subtle, almost gossamer, layer to the character of Mrs. B. What skill to be able to continually build on one's characters throughout the novel without the reader barely noticing that it is happening. You get to know them the way you would in real life---as you continue to meet and be around them. ;-)