Austen’s pauses feel deliberate, like a quiet breath between lines. They let us feel what’s not spoken – the shame, the longing, the social pressure. It’s her way of letting the reader sense the weight of a character’s thoughts, without a word to carry it. So yes, those gaps are purposeful, not idle.

It’s a lovely way to read her—like a soft sigh between sentences. It invites you to fill in the quiet with your own feelings, making the story feel even more intimate. I love how she turns silence into a kind of punctuation that speaks louder than words.