I don't find it to be quirky, retro,
or middle-aged and boring. :-)
Jane to me is dignified and regal. I second Bear's description!
"Do you know how a man makes his way here? By brilliance of genius or the cunning use of corruption.
You must cut a path through this mess of men like a cannon-ball, or creep among them like a pestilence."
Balzac