Interesting post -- and has sparked off an idea. In the period when Eleanor and her charming young man were separated, did they write to each other?

Here's what JA says about Henry and Catherine's correspondence:
` Whether the torments of absence were softened by a clandestine correspondence, let us not inquire. Mr. and Mrs. Morland never did--they had been too kind to exact any promise; and whenever Catherine received a letter, as, at that time, happened pretty often, they always looked another way.'

A couple were not supposed to write to each other unless they were engaged, and it was a breach of decorum to do so. The Morlands turn a blind eye to it, so they evidently don't think that it's a serious breach, but General Tilney would have thrown a fit if he'd found that his daughter was writing to her young man.