Interesting connection between Mrs. Jennings and Marianne! One of the most brilliant things I find that Jane Austen does is to plant nuggets of truth in the mouths of characters who tend to gossip or talk too much. She trains us, as readers, to discount what they are saying, but sometimes what they are saying is actually the truth or the real story.

A perfect example is Miss Bates in Emma. As she prattles on about her 300,000 very dull things, she actually is revealing quite a bit about what is actually going on.