] But now that I'm on solid ground, and re-reading the same passage, it still gives me a headache! He is such a whirlwind. I feel like I'm back on that ship. Ha!

Very funny! Yes, he does make one's head spin, doesn't he? ;-)

Stuart Tave called the Thorpes "those determined shapers of life." John Thorpe appears and immediately begins to remake space and time to fit his own imaginings and doesn't allow simple arithmetic to hamper him. The distance from Tetbury to Bath changes from 23 to 25 miles; it took them not 3 1/2 hours to drive the distance, but only 2 1/2...

I can see why you, and Catherine, are confused and come away from the encounter with a headache - alternate reality will do that to a person! ;-)

] At first, I didn't understand why he was making such a big deal about it, but after further thought, it struck me, he was describing his ride as someone would a sportscar nowadays. When I realized that, I couldn't stop laughing! JA's brilliant =D