I'm trying to understand the character of Eliza Reed, and there's something I can't quite grasp: is there a connection between her miserliness (and thirst for profit - she's quite the little capitalist), her monastic vision of time, and her becoming a Catholic nun? I understand her vision of time as being in accordance with her fate, but where do profit and usury come in? Were Catholics supposed to be good at managing money more efficiently? I would have thought her economy more typically Protestant. Or is this idea linked to the anglican vision of the Catholic Church as corrupt and money-grasping (as in Gothic fiction)?
And does someone have an explanation for the sisters' names? Eliza(beth) and Georgiana are both regal names, so I thought maybe this indicated the shift from earthly/temporal authority to spiritual authority (the names of the other two cousins, Diana and Mary, are those of divinities). Plain John (another king) becomes St. John as well.
Thank you very much if you answer.