about the clause after"would rather"

[roseriver1012]

Here is the sentence: We tried to comfort her, but she would rather we_____________
A. left her alone B. had left her alone
which is right? Thanks!

 

[Kondorosi]

Here is the sentence: We tried to comfort her, but she would rather we_____________
A. left her alone B. had left her alone
which is right? Thanks!

My understanding is:

Both work; there is a difference.

A: She does/did not want us to comfort her.
B: She did not want us to comfort her.

To talk about past actions, a past perfect tense is possible.

 

[Raymott]

Here is the sentence: We tried to comfort her, but she would rather we_____________
A. left her alone B. had left her alone
which is right? Thanks!

Hmm. I agree with Kondorosi that both could be used.
But I have a problem with "she would rather" for a single past action. (Why put the past perfect tense marker in the 'we' clause when a past marker really belongs in the 'she' clause?)

Australian colloquial usage sometimes uses "she would have rathered we left/leave her alone", but this is not strictly right because she did rather it.
The past marker belongs before "would rather", but that's not possible in English. Perhaps 'would' functions here as the past tense of present conditional 'would'?
Personally, I'd avoid the problem and say:
We tried to comfort her, but she preferred that we leave/left her alone.