Most Ardently: Chapters 16-21

by Gabe Cole Novoa
In this retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Oliver Bennet struggles to balance the need to hide his identity with the desire to be freely himself, a conundrum made more difficult as he falls in love with Darcy.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1-5, Chapters 6-10, Chapters 11-15, Chapters 16-21, Chapters 22-Epilogue
15 words 17 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. impropriety
    the condition of being unsuitable or offensive
    “Do you have any care for my nerves at all? How could you encourage her like this? The impropriety—”
    “Oh please,” Mr. Bennet interrupted.
  2. taut
    pulled or drawn tight
    Her lips were pinched, her face taut.
  3. reprimand
    rebuke formally
    Oliver’s stomach knotted as he sat in a lounging chair, flattening his skirts beneath his palms, feeling absurdly like a child about to be reprimanded.
  4. wallow
    devote oneself entirely to something
    After spending a full week wallowing in self-pity, Oliver decided a better course was to acknowledge the cowardice of such a move.
  5. leer
    look suggestively or obliquely
    That the other boy leered at his chest and drew attention to Oliver’s so-called feminine nature made any chance of attraction that was left wither before it could bloom.
  6. insipid
    lacking interest or significance or impact
    He couldn’t exactly explain to his mother that there were multiple things he disliked about Wickham — namely the way he treated Oliver not just like a girl, but an insipid one at that, and his lack of care for other people’s reputations.
  7. spinster
    an elderly unmarried woman
    “That’s hardly reason to discount him, dear. Why, if you turn away every man who thinks himself superior to women, you’ll find yourself a spinster. And we can’t have that.”
  8. vex
    disturb, especially by minor irritations
    “I’m suggesting,” Mrs. Bennet said tersely, “that men have very different standings in society that cannot be ignored. Men should expect to guide their wives, and women should expect to defer to their husband’s authority, even when it vexes them. It’s the way of things.”
  9. pompous
    puffed up with vanity
    And given that her new husband was Collins, of all people, the pompous but awkward traditionalist … Oliver didn’t really know what to think.
  10. amenities
    things that make you comfortable and at ease
    He wasn’t sure he’d ever want to live so far from the city and all of the amenities London provided, but this was undeniably nice.
  11. meticulously
    in a manner marked by extreme care of details
    The grounds were enormous and meticulously manicured.
  12. dabble
    work with in an amateurish manner
    “Oh. I’ve dabbled in it here and there, but I can’t say I really took to it.”
  13. lackadaisical
    idle or indolent especially in a dreamy way
    He’d always thought Mrs. Bennet to be stringent in her ways, but Lady Catherine made Mrs. Bennet appear lackadaisical in comparison.
  14. propriety
    correct behavior
    The name fell out of his mouth before he could stop it, forgetting all propriety for a moment.
  15. reciprocate
    act, feel, or give mutually or in return
    “I was aware,” Darcy responded stiffly, “that Bingley was courting your sister, yes. But it was also painfully obvious to me that your sister didn’t reciprocate the depth of my friend’s feelings, so I advised him to walk away before suffering emotional injury.”
Created on Fri Aug 29 04:38:42 EDT 2025 (updated Mon Oct 13 14:27:38 EDT 2025)

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