] I'm not sure. But on this reading it really struck me as almost coming out of the blue. I had forgotten that we see so little of the "falling in love" in the text (this is E.T.'s fault, of course) ;-)

It is my understanding that S & S was originally written as a series of letters between the two sisters. In that case, the two would be describing events in the past tense, I'm guessing. It is possible that when JA abandoned that format that Edward's character became "stuck" between the two versions. Emma Thompson's screenplay obviously made Edward a much more attractive character than he was in the book, in part, I believe, to appeal to modern viewers who may not have read S & S. There is also the possibility that since the movie ED is older than the ED of the novel, a totally dull EF could make her interest seem motivated primarily by desperation rather than by admiration, affection, and then love.