Thanks again to Karen for the peer review. And thanks to Suzanne and Michelle for the comments on chapter 1.
I was inspired by the movie Megamind (character who is villainous due to nurture rather than nature; plucky love interest who is not intimidated; upstart who is supposed to be good but turns out rotten). I keep coming back to Henry's dad being a bad person and trying to pull Henry into a similar life, and Henry makes better choices when he is able but still not as good as Catherine.
Henry is, yes, less-than Austen wrote him (or I imagine him). But he's had a very unusual upbringing and even now lives under his father's menacing shadow. So I don't feel bad about that OOC-ness.
Catherine is a little more forward than canon, but without Eleanor to act as her wingman she needs to step up.
Ah, the Thorpes! I love to write them, because I love that kind of wrongness getting identified and, if not punished, at least not allowed to succeed in the novel. So much more satisfying than Willoughby or Wickham.
Eleanor was reused as Celsia, with the older brother (Capt Tilney) and father who isn't exactly the least corrupt politician in town.
Hero/villain names are hard! Major props to those who think of really clever names (Frozone, Atomic Blonde)! "General Terror" was meh, but it tied into the General Tilney name. "Celsia" was okay but probably wasted in a country that measures temperature in Fahrenheit.
Anyway, I hope you had fun. Drop a comment if you feel generous.
-NN S