Reader’s Reflections: I confess that I have never taken the time and effort to learn to hold my knife and fork quite properly, and I have found myself embarrassed at a few fancy restaurants. My favorite uncle used to eat directly from the buffet tables at restaurants. A guy from my high school has a little sister who became a stripper. These things can be embarrassing, yes; but it’s hard to think of anything that can quite compare with the life-altering shame Jane & Elizabeth are feeling right now. Will the way I hold my knife and fork stop high-class folks from associating with me? I don’t think so. But are there people who would feel funny about marrying into a family that includes members who behave in ways that they find embarrassing, offensive or even immoral? If Lydia has lost her virginity to Wickham and they don’t end up getting married, she may as well have sewn scarlet letters onto the whole wardrobe of all 5 sisters – no one will touch them with a 10-foot pole. And without husbands, the girls and their mother will be homeless and destitute when Mr. Bennet dies. And this horrible situation comes just at the moment when Elizabeth realized she cared for Darcy! It sounds like an altered iteration of Nanny McPhee’s mantra: “When you can have me, but do not want me, then I shall stay. When you want me, but cannot have me, then I have to go.” Lydia’s letter, in which she speaks so carelessly and acts so proud of herself, is a perverse second wound to the rest of her family. I’ll be sure not to call everyone’s attention to my indelicate cutlery-handling the next time I’m in a restaurant! No need to add salt to the wound!