Heh. To be honest, I hadn't thought of it that way. Actually, my perception of Darcy's interest in Elizabeth is due to her lively and intelligent manner - something very different from the so called "cultured ladies" who prance about talking a good talk about loving books while demonstrating ever so clearly that their interest is to impress, not in the books itself.

I always figured it was Elizabeth's genuiness, as much as anything else, that interested Darcy.

And yes; to date, Elizabeth is my absolute favorite Autin protagonist.