Northanger Abbey, chapter 13: Girls Chase Boys (Chase Girls)
The arbiter of justice that is in charge of calculating the “ethical calculus” of Northanger Abbey has deemed it fit to test Catherine’s character again—and to make it easy, the second test is pretty similar to the first. Catherine faces off against the same group as before, who make a plan to include her on another trip to the summer home castle on the day after just when Cat is making a plan to walk out with Henry and Eleanor on the same day. To really emphasize their duplicity, we the readers are told that it’s really Isabella who claims she wants to go, with James falling in line and they need John and Cat there as cover. On being informed of Cat’s date with the Tilneys, the attack begins. Isabella is relentless in her sweet-talk, “sure her dearest, sweetest Catherine would not seriously refuse such a trifling request to a friend who loved her so dearly.” She hypocritically accuses Cat of choosing a new friend over “her best and oldest [friend]” (they have known. Each other. ...
