Catherine is autistic/neurodivergent.
Admittedly, she doesn't present a wide array of symptoms, but that could just be because Austen didn't mention some of them, as they would not be very important to the plot.For what is mentioned, we have a special interest, with her hyperfixation on gothic literature, which is something she can talk about for hours and is seemingly never tired of. It even colors her understanding of the world and her expectations of how people behave and why, something which is common for those who have a "female coded" type of autism - learning how social dynamics work by following what is explained in the fiction they consume. We also have her utter inability to understand what people are implying, no matter how obvious it is, and her tendency to take people at their word, no matter how much they contradict themselves in their actions, as well as her plain and direct way of expressing her own feelings and thoughts; again all typical features of peoples with autism. Henry Tinley would make one hell of a Dungeon Master.
Let's examine the facts :- First, he has a very good understanding of tropes and narrative devices, especially in the Gothic Literature genre.
- Second, he his a very good narrator, capable of setting an atmosphere and play with peoples' expectations.
- And finally, he is a complete troll, which guarantees the adventure would be intersting, but also has a lot of patience for peoples' cluelessness, which guarantees he wouldn't go insane.
