Long evening

The good news is that, after this chapter, I will be done with over a quarter of the book  :)

The bad news is that:
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9:08 p.m.  Chapter XVI is ten whole pages long  :((  I'll go smoke, then start reading when I return.

9:31 p.m.  Back now.  This chapter must be the dinner with Collins and Wickham, that would explain the length.  I am intimidated by length  :(

9:33 p.m.  Mr. Collins is in form  on the first page already  :)

9:35 p.m.  Huh?  What's wrong with "breathing ... wine"  :(  although port isn't my cup of wine either

9:37 p.m.  Meanwhile, Mr. Collins is "... most abundantly supplied with coffee and muffin."  Muffin!  Austen can be quite ruthless where she wants  :)

9:40 p.m.  I, too, am "... extremely fond of lottery tickets"  :)

9:43 p.m.  And Wickham is a gadzillion times worse than Collins!  Where I, as a Math teacher, know exactly how much a gadzillion is  :)

9:44 p.m.  And Wickham's endowed with certain skills of the fiction writer---he knows how to place a hook when telling a story  :)

9:52 p.m.  Wickham rests his case (I hope).  Meanwhile at whist, Collins has "... lost every point"  :)  It's a masterful touch that Austen brought us these two characters at the same time, I think either of them would have been difficult to tolerate without the other.

9:57 p.m.  But the bottomline is, Wickham'll keep Collins at bay.  Mustn't forget that  :)

9:59 p.m.  Done  :)  More tomorrow---