JA tells us that SJ is a blockhead with a "total want of talent and taste" at the start of ch.7. But this overgrown frat boy seems kind, and has treated the Dashwood girls charitably. So, we would like to take his evidence at face value when he reports on the Big W in ch.9. But he gives such a bizarre performance. He uses the phrase "setting one's cap" thwice, the second time AFTER Miss Marianne asks him to stop using the inane expression. As though he could not hear her. SJ mentions Brandon three times. Why such ra-ra-ra on Brandon's behalf? Yes, CB is a friend, but is it subtle criticism of W? Can SJ even be subtle? And twice he talks about Marianne "tumbling down hills." Has SJ hit the sauce?

Better that Miss Marianne ask Brandon, but that would have been tactless: "So, Mr. Moody, what do you think of that dark brute over there?" At least, Brandon notices people. SJ notices the absence of people.