] Chapter 9 gives us a brief, biased look into the Tilney family. Mrs. Allan met with Mrs. Hughes, Miss Tilney and Mr. Tilney while out walking. In Mrs. Allan's usual way, however, all she remembers has to do with clothes and appearance.

Isn't this a hoot? I wonder if Mrs. Allen would even take notice of a naked man wandering round the Crescent - no clothing after all, nothing with which to distinguish him....

] (1)Does anyone know what a brickbat is? I doubt its being chosen as Freddie's downfall could have any special significance, but since I don't know what it is, I'm not really sure.

It's a broken piece of brick thrown at someone. Sounds too simple, doesn't it? ;-) Here's a more thorough definition:

The earliest sense of brickbat, first recorded in 1563, was “a piece of brick.” Such pieces of brick have not infrequently been thrown at others in the hope of injuring them; hence, the figurative brickbats. The appearance of bat as the second part of this compound is explained by the fact that the word bat, “war club, cudgel,” developed in Middle English the sense “chunk, clod, wad,” and in the 16th century came to be used specifically for a piece of brick that was unbroken on one end.

] (2) Does the specific reference to the 12th Light Dragoons warrant special attention? Were they known for anything in particular? Did JA know a captain in the 12th Light Dragoons and what did she think of him?

Our Captain Everett has been making this a project of his for some time now. This is the only regiment in Austen's books named specifically and he's been trying to find a connection between a member of the Dragoon and Jane. Here are a few posts on the regiment (all courtesy of Jason):