] Was anyone else misled by the General's attentions to Catherine? I didn't pick up on the fact that he may have been "courting" her on his son's behalf. I found his behavior very troubling on a number of levels, and was relieved that I had been mistaken. Even after several readings, I still find him rather creepy...

Creepy is exactly how I remembering feeling about the General the first time I read NA. Right from the moment Catherine realized he was staring at her, talking with JT, the compliments and then "come to my castle" had me worried for her. It felt kinda like "come into my parlor said the spider to the fly". I was also relieved to have been wrong. Thanks for sharing.