The Letters of Jane Austen: Selected from the compilation of her great nephew, Edward, Lord BradbourneAusten, Jane
General
The Letters of Jane Austen: Selected from the compilation of her great nephew, Edward, Lord Bradbourne
Austen, Jane
Austen, Cassandra, 1773-1845; Austen, Jane, 1775-1817 -- Correspondence; Novelists, English -- 19th century -- Correspondence
They behave extremely well in every respect, showing quite as much
feeling as one wishes to see, and on every occasion speaking of their
father with the liveliest affection. His letter was read over by each of
them yesterday, and with many tears; George sobbed aloud, Edward's tears
do not flow so easily; but as far as I can judge they are both very
properly impressed by what has happened. Miss Lloyd, who is a more
impartial judge than I can be, is exceedingly pleased with them.
George is almost a new acquaintance to me, and I find him in a different
way as engaging as Edward.
We do not want amusement: bilbocatch, at which George is indefatigable,
spillikins, paper ships, riddles, conundrums, and cards, with watching
the flow and ebb of the river, and now and then a stroll out, keep us
well employed; and we mean to avail ourselves of our kind papa's
consideration, by not returning to Winchester till quite the evening of
Wednesday.
Mrs. J. A. had not time to get them more than one suit of clothes; their
others are making here, and though I do not believe Southampton is
famous for tailoring, I hope it will prove itself better than
Basingstoke. Edward has an old black coat, which will save his having a
second new one; but I find that black pantaloons are considered by them
as necessary, and of course one would not have them made uncomfortable
by the want of what is usual on such occasions.
Fanny's letter was received with great pleasure yesterday, and her
brother sends his thanks and will answer it soon. We all saw what she
wrote, and were very much pleased with it.
To-morrow I hope to hear from you, and to-morrow we must think of poor
Catherine. To-day Lady Bridges is the heroine of our thoughts, and glad
shall we be when we can fancy the meeting over. There will then be
nothing so very bad for Edward to undergo.
The "St. Albans," I find, sailed on the very day of my letters reaching
Yarmouth, so that we must not expect an answer at present; we scarcely
feel, however, to be in suspense, or only enough to keep our plans to
ourselves. We have been obliged to explain them to our young visitors,
in consequence of Fanny's letter, but we have not yet mentioned them to
Steventon. We are all quite familiarized to the idea ourselves; my
mother only wants Mrs. Seward to go out at midsummer.
What sort of a kitchen garden is there? Mrs. J. A. expresses her fear of
our settling in Kent, and, till this proposal was made, we began to look
forward to it here; my mother was actually talking of a house at Wye. It
will be best, however, as it is.
Anne has just given her mistress warning; she is going to be married; I
wish she would stay her year.
On the subject of matrimony, I must notice a wedding in the Salisbury
paper, which has amused me very much, Dr. Phillot to Lady Frances St.
Lawrence. She wanted to have a husband, I suppose, once in her life, and
he a Lady Frances.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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