Oh how I long for an acquaintance...

As others have been posting, this book is quite funny. And both Catherine and Mrs. Allens lack of an aquaintance in the beginning of the novel is the best part. They seem exceedingly desperate and needy. I have yet to understand why they would not just walk up to someone and make an aquaintance instead of complaining about it. But this is a digression. By the two characters, namely Catherine, longing for a friend, this makes the relationship between her and Isabella that more important. It causes the reader to pay special attention to how Catherine will interact with her "new acquintance." I am not exactly sure how everyone else feels about their relationship, but it seems a little rushed to me. By the end of the night, they were instant best friends. I was particularly taken back at what Catherine thought of Isabella as she was walking away. At the very end of chapter four, the narrator states that "Catherine then ran directly up stairs, and watched Miss Thorpe's progress down the street from the drawing-room window; admired the graceful spirit of her walk, the fashionable air of her figure and dress, and felt grateful, as well she might, for the chance which had produced her such a friend." The reader cannot help but to feel that Catherine is extraordinarily innocent. I am happy she found herself an acquaintance, but it just seems a little unrealistic given that they just met that afternoon. I am very interested in seeing how this relationship between the two friends plays out; especially since they honestly do not know each other that well.