What's more flimsy and two-dimensional than a cardboard character? Vicky is. Vicky appeared several chapters ago, encouraging Jason to go out for the evening. Here, she appears as Jason and Araminta are settling back in after the trip for the cottage.
It's too tedious to consider her a foil for Araminta - in fact, the only one who feels that Jason might like Vicky is Araminta. This is one occasion when Araminta's much-vaunted common sense goes out the window. She should see that if Jason didn't attach himself to Vicky after all these years, he's hardly likely to take up with her now that he's married.
But for whatever reason, we all have to endure these scenes with Vicky, clearly designed to make Araminta look good. Jason offers Araminta some sherry, and asks Vicky what she would like. She answers, "Gin and tonic, of course - unless there's champagne" (p. 158). Vicky gossips light-heartedly and mocks Araminta for adopting the cat, so of course Jason is very disapproving of Vicky. Betts makes Vicky even more shallow on the next page: "Life's too short not to get as much fun out of it as possible."
I'd probably get a kick out of coffee with Vicky.
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