Now and then they were honoured with a call from her ladyship, and nothing escaped her observation that was passing in the room during these visits...if she accepted any refreshment, [she] seemed to do it only for the sake of finding out that Mrs. Collins's joints of meat were too large for her family.

This strikes me as a little odd. I would have thought the proper refreshment to offer someone who dropped by during the day (not at mealtimes) would be something like tea and cookies. How would Lady Catherine be able to find out the size of the Parsonage's joints of meat from Charlotte's refreshments? What would Charlotte likely have offered her?