ISTM that the rewritten third sentence conveys a different meaning. Ms Austen surely intended us to understand that the new relationship is based on friendship and esteem whereas the AI suggests that the previous relationship was the subject of the sentence’s second. clause.

ISTM it relates to " If a woman conceals her affection with the same skill from the object of it, she may lose the opportunity of fixing him." The romantic theory that if a man loves a woman then nothing will deter him from persisting in that love, and that a show of indifference may indeed stimulate him to even greater heights of love is doubted by Charlotte. She thinks that a natural preference may exist and predispose a man towards a woman but that this may wither away if all the other feelings which simultaneously exist in any person, the need to feel liked, approved of and valued for example, are ignored or slighted.

On general principles it is often a good idea after ten years or so to go back and read some of the things you were forced against your will to read while at school. Shakespeare or Dickens or Austen or whoever may remain just the same as they were but you do not. And those changes in you can make all the difference.

‘The Book of Mormon’. Reading that took away some hours of my life that I’ll never get back. Also anything by D.H. Lawrence or Dan Brown.

Each one of us will read in different ways depending in part on our particular reason for reading this text at this time of the day. So deciding why and how you want to read this text may determine the time of the day and the amount of time you set aside for it.

For example. At those times when my mind is most alert and ready to absorb information, usually early in the day, I read non-narrative non-fiction because I can easily grasp and retain the information contained. At the end of the day, when I am tired I can easily grasp narratives but not much else so I tend to read light or light-ish fiction mostly. Back when I was a commuter by train every day I would read a ‘difficult’ book on my way into work and an ‘easy’ one on my way out because that was the most efficient and enjoyable way of managing my reading.

TL;DR version would be: work out what your mental terrain is and then choose the horse best adapted to run across it.

Perhaps ‘Orlando’ by Virginia Woolf, or her 'To the Lighthouse ’

Well, English wasn’t Conrad’s first language either but he managed to write it so you might be able to read it. He is a very intense author and Heart of Darkness is one of his more intense works so it is liable to be a struggle for most readers. Perhaps you should try some of his other stories like Youth, Under Western Eyes and/or The Secret Agent before coming back to Heart of Darkness.

I think that its very widely known in the English speaking world. It generally gets considered though as a children’s book and especially as one for girls so it probably doesn’t get much talked about outside of that category.