“It is settled between us already that we are to be the happiest couple in the world. But are you pleased, Jane? Shall you like to have such a brother?” “Very, very much. Nothing could give either Bingley or myself more delight. But we considered it, we talked of it as impossible.” *********************************************** A carriage …
It was Beatrice Nearey, an Edmontonian Janeite, who gave me an auspicious kick start as a Jane Austen Playwright. I had written Austenesque stories for years, but it never occurred to me to try my hand at plays, until Beatrice and her friend Dolores Kohler cleverly adapted a story of mine, “The Courtship of Mrs. …
In 1798, a little more than a week after her twenty-third birthday, Jane Austen wrote to her sister Cassandra what might certainly be called a Christmas letter, as it was begun at Steventon on the Monday night of Christmas Eve. She opens with news of hopes for a promotion for her brother Frank, then a young Navy …
Abbotsford, home of Sir Walter Scott Jane Austen and Scotland – the UK Jane Austen Society was putting on a conference in Edinburgh in September, and the title was irresistable. I knew Jane Austen never went to Scotland, and had little if anything to do with that country; but it was intriguing to …
Lydia received an invitation from Mrs. Forster,the wife of the Colonel of the regiment, to accompany her to Brighton. This invaluable friend was a young woman, and very lately married. Spring, 1812. Early on a bright morning in late May, a gay party left Meryton: the girls, Lydia and Mrs. Forster, with the …
“We will go as far as Meryton with you,” said Catherine and Lydia. Elizabeth accepted their company, and the three young ladies set off together. 13 November 1811 At Meryton, Lizzy left her younger sisters near the lodgings of one of the officer’s wives, Mrs. Pratt, and crossed the road to walk through …
Mrs. Bennet’s famous reaction to Elizabeth’s marriage in Pride and Prejudice contains this rhapsody: “Oh! my sweetest Lizzy! how rich and how great you will be! What pin-money, what jewels, what carriages you will have! Jane’s is nothing to it – nothing at all.” Pin-money was money given to a wife for her private expenses. Pins were expensive …
The maid pulled apart the curtains, and left the tea tray. As soon as she had withdrawn, Elizabeth opened her eyes and lifted her head from the feather pillow. Darcy, in his nightshirt, was beginning his ablutions with water-pitcher and bowl. “Oh, Darcy,” she fairly wailed, “only look at the rain!” He turned from his …
Mrs. Clay’s affections had overpowered her interest, and she had sacrificed, for the young man’s sake, the possibility of scheming longer for Sir Walter. Of as little importance as Anne had ever been to Sir Walter and Elizabeth, her marriage made a difference to them. She was gone on her honeymoon, to the seaside of …
Sir Walter and Elizabeth, left alone, with few friends, little money, and no sense, soon found that as their enjoyments were less, their complaints grew greater. “This cravat,” thundered Sir Walter, “will never do.” “I beg your pardon, sir.” The butler, Harris, stood back a little, his face red from his efforts at tying, and …
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