Every Woman Dreams...

Not Celebrating Birthdays with Jane Austen

Posted on September 17, 2018 by Regina Jeffers

Today, I turn the ripe old age of 71. I am a VIRGO. Some of you know what that means. Some of you are about to learn.

Horoscope.com tells us these Virgo Facts

Symbol: The Virgin
Element: Earth
Polarity: Negative
Quality: Mutable
Ruling Planet: Mercury
Ruling House: Sixth
Spirit Color: Silver
Lucky Gem: Peridot
Flower: Sunflower & marigold
Top Love Matches: Cancer
Key Traits: Graceful, organized, kind
Motto: “My best can always be better.

Smart, sophisticated, and kind, Virgo gets the job done without complaining. Virgos are amazing friends, always there to lend a hand and also lend advice. Practical Virgos are incredibly adept at big picture thinking, and planning out their life, their vacations, and what they’re going to do today isn’t a drag it makes them feel in control and secure.

Virgos have a rich inner life, and can sometimes seem shy at first meeting. A Virgo will not spill secrets right away, and it is important to earn a Virgo’s trust. But once you do, that Virgo will be a friend for life.

Virgos expect perfection from themselves, and they may project those high standards on the other people in their lives. A Virgo hates when someone lets him or her down, even if the indiscretion is minor and unavoidable, like a last-minute cancellation. Virgos never want to disappoint the people in their lives, so they may spread themselves too thin and put themselves last.

Intelligent and a lifelong learner, Virgos loves trying new things, reading books, and learning about the world. They will happily sign up for an adult-education course, and they consider an afternoon in bed with a book pretty much ideal. A Virgo prefers an evening with good friends to a huge party and values downtime just as much as socializing. This sign does not need to fill their calendar to be content.

According to Metro, these are some of the reasons being born in September is special.

“September is the best month to be born in. Fact. Birthdays are a highlight of the year for us all because it is the one day of the year when everyone has to be nice to us. We get to eat as much as possible, people sometimes sing a little jingle and fancy presents are involved. In fact, birthdays are even better than Christmas. But the only way to make a birthday even better is by having it in September.

“Perfect weather September babies don’t need to fret over the implications of the weather on their fierce birthday outfit when celebrating. The weather is in that blissful stage when it’s not so humid that within ten minutes your back gets sweaty, and it’s not so cold that you’ll freeze your fabulous birthday socks off. So basically werk it.

“Excellent timing The fact that summer is now over doesn’t even register on your radar, because you’re far too busy counting down until your birthday. Summertime sadness isn’t a thing for September babies, and in fact you’re a bit glad when it’s over because you know it’s time to dig out the birthday badge. Yay.

“So many outfit choices If your birthday lands in September you don’t have to deal with the trauma of squeezing yourself into a tiny dress, or a tight vest. Nope, instead you can bask in the greatness of autumn fashion, and wear the nicest jumper that you have.

“And food choices As the weather gets a little cooler it’s goodbye to salads and fruit juices, and hello to lovely stodgy food like cheese potato pie and roast dinners. May as well have a roast dinner for your birthday meal.

“Cool star signs September babies are either a Virgo or a Libra. So you’re basically the most sexiest star sign around (fact) or have a strong sense of justice. None of this boring water carrier nonsense over here.

“Birthday drinks Does anyone else have a special type of alcohol dedicated to their birthday month? Probably not. September is all about Jack Daniels, and because no-one is quite sure when he was actually born the whole month is dedicated to him. A perfect excuse to have several Jack Daniels drinks.

“So much fun ahead A September birthday is a great way to kick off an entire period of absolute fun. A birthday just before the return of the Pumpkin Spiced Latte from Starbucks followed by Halloween, Bonfire Night, the new TV season and Christmas? Yeah, go on then.

“Sapphire is your birthday stone Titanic pretty much cemented the fact that September babies are the best. Not convinced? Well does your birthday stone have an entire movie based around an expedition searching for a necklace known as ‘The Heart of the Ocean’? No, no it does not.

“Birthday getaways are cheaper We all know the best birthday present is a cheeky little getaway. And thanks to kids going back to school, you can be guaranteed to pick up a really good holiday bargain. Barcelona return flight for £50, when in August it was £200? Amazing. [It’s $1415 for a nonstop flight to London when I wrote this post on 18 July 2018. It is estimated to be $455 in mid September, with connecting flights.]

“New beginnings Everyone foolishly assumes that January is the month for a fresh start, but we all know that this is a lie. Have you ever started something in January and followed it through? Probably not. But in September you’ll actually stick to any new ventures you take up, like that new TV series that has just started, or your commitment to try everything on the new autumn Costa menu.

“Turns you into a smarty pants Apparently babies born in September have 25% more chance of getting into Oxford or Cambridge than a baby born in August. [Unfortunately, according to Facebook, which never shares Fake News, Virgos outnumber other signs of the Zodiac as serial killers. Perhaps people shouldn’t piss us off. Just saying!]

“Empty theme parks Going to a theme park is probably the best way to celebrate your birthday, and because all the annoying little kids are back at school, September babies can indulge in queue free fun. The lack of queues and perfect weather make for the most fun you can have in the daytime. And if you make enough of a scene about it being your birthday you can probably get in for free.

All this talk of birthdays got me thinking about the lack of birthday celebrations in Austen’s novels. It is quite disheartening to have others forget one’s birthday, but it was not so for Jane Austen and her family. We know Christmas had not the “glorious significance” as it does these days, but what of birthdays? Quite simply, as Anglicans, such humoring of a person, would have been frowned upon.

Can you think of one person in Austen’s books who even mentions a birthday? The only one which springs to mind to me is Harriet Smith in “Emma.” Harriet speaks of hers and Robert Martin’s birthdays occurring within a fortnight, and those birthdays were separated only by one day.

As readers we know many of the characters’ ages. Lydia Bennet is but fifteen when we first meet her, but she is sixteen when she marries George Wickham. Marianne Dashwood is seventeen at the beginning of “Sense and Sensibility” and is nineteen when she marries Colonel Brandon. Fanny Price is a child when she first comes to “Mansfield Park”; yet, never once are her birthdays mentioned as a passing of time. Jane Fairfax is approaching one and twenty and the prospect of becoming a governess. Charlotte Lucas at seven and twenty has “become a burden to her family.” Elizabeth Elliot is nearly thirty and not married, and Anne Elliot is seven and twenty when Captain Wentworth returns to claim her. Catherine Morland turns eighteen just before Henry Tilney claims her as his wife. Even Elizabeth Bennet must have had a birthday somewhere in the year she had taken Mr. Darcy’s acquaintance. But when? There is no mention of her chronological aging, only her emotional aging. The closest we come to knowing something of Elizabeth’s age is when she admits to being twenty to Lady Catherine. But we do not know if she was nineteen when the book began and turned twenty some time between November when she dance with Mr. Darcy at the Netherfield Ball, or whether, like me, she is a September baby, turning one and twenty after she encounters Darcy again at Pemberley. Is such true for all of Austen’s characters? Austen wrote from her life experiences. If she did not “celebrate” such milestones, why would her characters? Tell me what you think. Am I being bizarre or is there some truth in this assumption?

Posted in customs and tradiitons, Great Britain, Jane Austen, Living in the UK, Pride and Prejudice, Regency era, Regency personalities, writing | Tagged Birthdays, celebrations, Emma, Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility | 9 Comments

The Rame Peninsula, Setting for Parts of “Where There’s a FitzWILLiam Darcy, There’s a Way” + Giveaway

Posted on September 14, 2018 by Regina Jeffers

In writing Where There’s a FitzWILLiam Darcy, There’s a Way, I wanted the Bennet ladies to end up in an area more remote than Hertfordshire after the death of Mr. Bennet—to be out of their element. I wanted them not to be close to either Bingley or Darcy—to be in a place where they would need to adapt and stand on their own. I also provided them some interesting legal issues with which to deal.

I chose the Rame Peninsula in Cornwall. Visit Cornwall tells us, “Known as Cornwall’s forgotten corner, the Rame Peninsula is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with a landscape of tidal creeks, sandy beaches, lush farmland and country parks. Small villages hide at the heads of creeks, waiting to be discovered, whilst the stretch of coast fronting onto Whitsand Bay offers fantastic views, great walking along the South West Coast Path and one of the few surfing beaches in this part of Cornwall. The Rame Peninsula is bordered on three sides by water; the River Lynher, River Tamar and Plymouth Sound and the English Channel. It encompasses the villages of Antony, Cremyll, Kingsand, Cawsand, Millbrook, St.John, Sheviock, Antony, Wilcove, Crafthole, Downderry, Portwrinkle, Seaton, Freathy and Torpoint.”

This is Cawsand, where the Bennet ladies will reside in my story. https://www.visitcornwall.com/places/rame-peninsula

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cawsand#/media/File:The_Square_Cawsand_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1609248.jpg

I specifically chose the village of Cawsand for their new home. Cawsand (Porthbugh in Cornish) and Kingsand are twin villages in Cornwall. Kingsand, at the time the story is set, was in Devon. The border has since been moved and now is situated on the River Tamar. They were once renowned for the smugglers along the Plymouth Sound. Cawsand is within the Mount Edgcumbe Country Park.

In my story, Darcy stays at Mount Edgcumbe Country Park with a friend named, Captain Ralston. When they arrive in Cornwall, the Bennets, specifically, Elizabeth, does not initially realize the size of the the park. Mount Edgcumbe Country Park is 885 acres (3.58km) park. It overlooks Plymouth Sound and the River Tamar. The Edgcumbe family created formal gardens, temples, follies, and woodlands, all surrounding the Tudor-style house. Wild deer are found upon the estate. The South West Coast Path runs through the park for nine miles (14km) along the coastline. The park contains the villages of Kingsand and Cawsand, as well as Mount Edgcumbe House itself. The Formal Gardens are grouped in the lower part near Cremyll. Originally an 17th Century wilderness garden, the Edgcumbes transformed the park in the 18th Century. The Formal Gardens contain an Orangery, an Italian garden, a French Garden, an English Garden and a Jubilee Garden, which opened in 2002, to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Although the park covers a large area, the park has limited formal maintenance. This gives it a rough and ready rural feel in all except the Formal Gardens.

View from the deer park to Drake’s Island, a 6.5 acre island in the Plymouth Sound

Where There’s a FitzWILLiam Darcy, There’s a Way : A Pride and Prejudice Vagary

ELIZABETH BENNET’s world has turned upon its head. Not only is her family about to be banished to the hedgerows after her father’s sudden death, but Mr. Darcy has appeared upon Longbourn’s threshold, not to renew his proposal, as she first feared, but, rather, to serve as Mr. Collins’s agent in taking an accounting of Longbourn’s “treasures” before her father’s cousin steals away all her memories of the place.

FITZWILLIAM DARCY certainly has no desire to encounter Elizabeth Bennet again so soon after her mordant refusal of his hand in marriage, but when his aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, strikes a bargain in which her ladyship agrees to provide his Cousin Anne a London Season if Darcy will become Mr. Collins’s agent in Hertfordshire, Darcy accepts in hopes he can convince Miss Elizabeth to think better of him than she, obviously, does. Yet, how can he persuade the woman to recognize his inherent sense of honor, when his inventory of Longbourn’s entailed land and real properties announces the date she and her family will be homeless?

The eBook is available at these outlets:

Kindle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H69N1P1/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1536421253&sr=8-1&keywords=Where+There%27s+a+Fitzwilliam+Darcy

Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/where-there-s-a-fitzwilliam-darcy-there-s-a-way

Nook https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/where-theres-a-fitzwilliam-darcy-theres-a-way-regina-jeffers/1129490646?ean=2940161708804

Excerpt from Chapter 18 where Darcy tells the Bennets what he has learned of Eugenia Gardiner’s bequest.

With the express he received earlier, he was able to clarify several details Mr. Bennet’s papers did not include.

“The house has eight rooms for sleeping purposes on the third storey and several common use rooms on the second. It is not so large as Longbourn, but more than adequate for your needs. Repairs are regularly addressed by the trustees, who accept requests from the land steward when the house has no residents. The rent moneys are used for repairs to the main house and those of the twenty home farms. The estate is relatively small, but it has sheep herds, milk cows, vegetable gardens, and the like. The lease is one hundred twenty-five pounds per year.”

When the others girls remarked that their mother could easily afford the rent with the moneys provided by Mr. Bennet, Elizabeth asked, “How can it be so? Is there some sort of manipulation being practiced?”

He admired how she looked for all the possibilities, while her sisters accepted things without question. If she could see her way clear to marry him, Elizabeth would serve Pemberley well as its mistress. “First,” he explained, “the former Mrs. Gardiner made the arrangements to provide for the women in her family who could not care for themselves. You must remember, when the lady initially came to the estate, she was still a Sommers. Your relation was quite wealthy, her family owned several tin and copper mines, as well as a diamond mine on the African coast. She took possession of this property when she was but one and twenty. She did not marry until she was nearing thirty; therefore, the provisions on age included in her bequest make more sense. According to the men I hired in the area, several female cousins were reported to have lived with her during those years she remained at the manor.

“Secondly, the area is not as readily accessible as Hertfordshire. Kingsand in Devon and Cawsand in Cornwall are fishing villages, not villages in the image of Meryton. They are twin villages. Supposedly there is one house sitting on the border between the two shires, but I do not know whether that is legend or fact. The villages have been around since the 1600s, and, at one time, were renowned for smuggling activities. The area is beautiful, part of the Rame Peninsula, and the villages are within the Mount Edgcumbe Park, the expansive estate owned by George Edgcumbe, the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe. The beach is sand and shingle and offers views of ships coming and going on the Plymouth Sound. There are ferries at Torpoint and at Cremyll. Plymouth is some ten miles by land from the Gardiner estate.”

“It sounds magnificent,” Miss Jane declared. “A new start for our family.”

Darcy continued his recital of all they should expect, without making comments on the suitability of the estate of their choice to remove to the property. He wished the decision to be one belonging to the Bennets, even if their doing so would destroy his dream of claiming Elizabeth to wife. “It will take us close to a week to reach Mrs. Gardiner’s property. There are horseboats to move your belongings as part of the ferries or Mr. Hill may choose the longer land route along the peninsula. Either way, Hill should depart Longbourn by this time next week to provide him time to make the journey there and return before Collins summons him to Kent.”

“What is the name of the estate?”

“What do you mean by ‘us’?”

Miss Kitty and Miss Elizabeth spoke over each other.

He smiled at Miss Kitty before saying, “Gardenia Hall, but its original name was Peninsula Place. Your relation changed the name when she married and joined her husband’s home.”

“I think Gardenia is the perfect name,” Miss Kitty declared. “It is the mix of Gardiner and Eugenia, and it sounds more inviting than Peninsula Place.”

“There is nothing inviting about it,” Miss Lydia grumbled, until Mrs. Bennet snapped her fingers and ordered the girl from the room. Darcy did his best to hide his smirk, but it was difficult. At least for now, Mrs. Bennet remained adamant about her daughter’s inconsiderate nature.

“And to answer your question, Miss Elizabeth,” he said in tones which brooked no argument, although he suspected she would argue with him, nevertheless, “you must realize I mean to escort you and your family to Cornwall. A gentleman would never permit six females to travel alone. Moreover, neither of your uncles can afford to spend two weeks away from his business. It will be that long to see you to Cornwall and return safely to their homes.”

“But your obligation is to Mr. Collins, not us,” Elizabeth challenged.

“My obligation to Mr. Collins is nearly complete, and if I do not finish before your family must depart, I will leave your cousin detailed instructions chronicling what I have completed and what still must be done. I will not move on this matter, so another argument will serve no purpose.” He wanted to tell her he loved her too much ever to desert her, but, with an audience, his stubbornness would have to serve as his rebuttal.

“It is best, Elizabeth,” Mrs. Gardiner said. “Your family will require a gentleman to act upon your behalf in securing the property. It is the way of the world. Even if you were a rich heiress, you would require a man to perform as your agent in terms of property.”

Miss Elizabeth scowled at her aunt, but she said, “So be it. Mr. Darcy will serve as our escort.”

“If the area around the estate is less accessible than what is in Meryton, how will we get about after we return Mr. Bennet’s carriage to Mr. Collins?” Mrs. Bennet asked.

Although he would prefer to pacify Elizabeth’s questions, Darcy answered, “The estate is but a little more than a mile from Cawsand, but there is a work wagon and a small carriage available. The annual feed and the cost of running the estate are currently paid by the trust set aside by the late Mrs. Gardiner, but those items will be a part of what you must furnish while you remain in residence at Gardenia Hall. The trust which oversees the estate says the late Mrs. Gardiner spoke to her relations knowing independence, not charity. I will leave the letter I received today for each of you to read at your leisure.” He handed it off to Mr. Gardiner. “It outlines the responsibilities your family must meet to be a recipient of the bequest. I must caution you all, but specifically you, Mrs. Bennet, although it will be the funds Mr. Bennet supplied you which will support your family during this period, it will be whichever daughter oversees the estate at the time who must make all the decisions. The accounts will be in that daughter’s name.”

“But my daughters can accept my suggestions? Can they not?” Mrs. Bennet frowned deeply.

Darcy chose a diplomatic response. “As you and your daughters are part of a loving family, I am certain no contention will be present, but the late Mrs. Gardiner was very specific in her instructions. The lady wished those using her property to learn how to survive the death of the family patriarch, something with which she personally struggled. Therefore, the reason for the choices to be only in one person’s hands is clear. Your role will be to advise each of your daughters in turn.”

GIVEAWAY!!!! I have two eBook copies of Where There’s a FitzWILLiam Darcy, There’s a Way available for those who comment below. The giveaway ends at midnight EDST on Tuesday, September 18, 2018.

Posted in Austen Authors, book excerpts, book release, books, excerpt, Georgian England, giveaway, Inheritance, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, Pride and Prejudice, Regency era, Vagary, writing | Tagged book excerpt, book release, Cawsand, Cornwall, Jane Austen, Kingsand, Mount Edgcumbe Country Park, Plymouth Sound, Pride and Prejudice, Publishing, Rame Peninsula, Regency Era, Vagary, variation, Where There's a FitzWILLiam Darcy, writing | 14 Comments

Tenant of the Curtesy and the Release of “Where There’s a FitzWILLiam Darcy, There’s a Way” + a Giveaway

Posted on September 10, 2018 by Regina Jeffers

Tenant of the Curtesy or Courtesy tenure is a legal term indicating the life interest which a widower (meaning the wife’s former husband) may claim in the lands of the deceased wife, under certain conditions. Those requisites to create a tenancy by courtesy are:

1. A legal marriage existed between the man and the woman

2. The estate claimed in courtesy must have been an estate in possession of which the wife must have been actually seised. (Seisin (or seizin) denotes the legal possession of a feudal fiefdom or fee, that is to say an estate in land. It was used in the form of “the son and heir of X has obtained seisin of his inheritance,” and thus is effectively a term concerned with conveyancing in the feudal era. The person holding such estate is said to be “seized of it,” a phrase which commonly appears in inquisitions post mortem (i.e. “The jurors find that X died seized of the manor of …”). The monarch alone “owned” all the land of England by his allodial right and all his subjects were merely his tenants under various contracts of feudal tenure. Seisin is believed to have been applicable only to freehold tenures, that is to say a tenure for a term of life, which was heritable, on condition of payment of the appropriate feudal relief to the overlord. A “freeman” was a man who held by freehold tenure, and thus freehold tenure was anciently said to be the only form of feudal land tenure worthy to be held by a free man. Tenure, and the variety thereof, was the very essence of feudal society and the stratification thereof, and the possession of a tenure (i.e., holding, from Latin teneo “to hold”) was legally established by the act of seisin.

3. Issue must have existed born alive and during the mother’s existence, though it is immaterial whether the issue subsequently live or die, or whether it is born before or after the wife’s seisin.

The tenure relates only to those lands of which his wife was in her lifetime actually seised (or sasined in Scots law) and not therefore to an estate of inheritance. By definition, it is said of a who becomes such in his wife’s estate of inheritance by the birth of a child, but whose estate is not consummated until the death of the wife.

In the case of lands held under gavelkind tenure [Gavelkind was a system of land tenure associated chiefly with the county of Kent in England, but also found in Ireland and Wales. Under this law, land was divided equally among sons and other heirs.], the husband has a right to courtesy tenure whether there is issue born or not but the courtesy extends only to a moiety (i.e. half) of the wife’s lands and ceases if the husband marries again. The issue must have been capable of inheriting as heir to the wife, so that if for example a wife were seised of lands in tail male [also know as fee tail or entail; a form of trust established by deed or settlement which restricts the sale or inheritance of an estate in real property; instead, it passes automatically by operation of law to an heir pre-determined by the settlement deed.], the birth of a daughter would not entitle the husband to a tenancy by courtesy.

The title to the tenancy vests only on the death of the wife.

The Married Women’s Property Act 1882 has not affected the right of courtesy so far as it relates to the wife’s undisposed-of-realty, and the Settled Land Act 1884, section 8, provides that for the purposes of the Settled Land Act 1882, the estate of a tenant by courtesy is to be deemed an estate arising under a settlement made by the wife.

The application of Courtesy (as spelled in Scots law) was abolished by Section 10 of the Succession (Scotland) Act 1964, in respect of all deaths occurring after the date of that Act. The right of Terce (being the equivalent claim by a wife on her husband’s estate) was also abolished by the same provision.

Resources:

Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). “Curtesy“. Encyclopædia Britannica. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 651.

Baron and Feme

Where There’s a FitzWILLiam Darcy, There’s a Way: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary

The eBook is available at these outlets:

Kindle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H69N1P1/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1536421253&sr=8-1&keywords=Where+There%27s+a+Fitzwilliam+Darcy

Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/where-there-s-a-fitzwilliam-darcy-there-s-a-way

Nook https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/where-theres-a-fitzwilliam-darcy-theres-a-way-regina-jeffers/1129490646?ean=2940161708804

In this excerpt, Darcy and the Bennets discuss the possibility of Mrs. Bennet and her daughters claiming an unusual bequest from Mrs. Bennet’s great-great-grandmother, Eugenia.

“When we reach Longbourn, I mean to sit my sisters and my mother down and explain to them the necessity for economy and how we must be prepared to leave Longbourn by month’s end. Trunks must be packed and transportation arranged. With Mama’s allowance, there is the chance we could discover a small cottage if Eugenia’s property cannot be arranged. We can share rooms, if necessary. I wish Mr. Bennet had not been so quick to make finding his will a game. We could have spent our time searching for a cottage in which we could all live together. If it is viable, I wish my family to leave Longbourn unbroken, instead of being scattered to the wind.”

“I am your servant in this matter,” he said solemnly.

“I despise asking it of you, but would you join us for this difficult conversation? I am certain Mrs. Bennet will possess a multitude of questions.”

“If it is your wish,” he assured her.

And so, before he returned to his lodging at Netherfield, Darcy found himself in a prominent place, beside Elizabeth, at a table holding her mother, her sisters, her Aunt and Uncle Gardiner and Mr. Philips.

“I find it quite disheartening,” Mrs. Bennet announced to the group, “that neither my brother, my sister’s husband, nor Mr. Bennet thought me capable of understanding the situation in which we find ourselves.”

“Your nerves,” Mr. Philips said lamely.

“Are a result of being omitted from such decisions,” the lady corrected. “It is quite disconcerting to worry over one’s future, especially as I am permitted no say in my life.”

Miss Elizabeth squeezed the back of her mother’s hand in support. “I agree. Mrs. Bennet’s allowance is our only source of income; therefore, she must thoroughly be made to understand what is expected of her. I know my mother can practice economy. I have witnessed her doing so previously. As Papa made adjustments when they first came to Longbourn, so did she. When Jane and I were small, Mama spoke often to us of the differences in prices of goods, for she realized we must some day run our husbands’ households. Mrs. Bennet came from trade, but that proved an advantage when her husband required a wife who could be frugal.”

“Elizabeth is correct. Mama can be quite adept at running a household when it is necessary. We were never hungry, nor did we go without the necessities. It is only of late that we knew the luxury of new gowns and so forth,” Jane acknowledged in serious tones.

Darcy suggested, “You must wait until I receive word on the Cornwall property to know the extent of the provisions placed on it by the late Mrs. Gardiner, but, meanwhile, you should pursue the possibility of a cottage for let. Lady Catherine informed us that her new clergyman will be in place by the first week of June. Your days at Longbourn are, therefore, truly numbered. I have completed my accounting of all your quarters and the common use areas. You can begin to pack your belongings. As you have expressed your desire not to be in the house when Mr. Collins arrives, you should place the last of your energies in preparing for your removal. Is it possible for you to use Mr. Bennet’s carriage and for Mr. Hill to transport your belongings to your new home?”

“I will see to it,” Mr. Philips replied, but Darcy decided he would write to Mr. Collins to learn when the man would send for the coach to bring him and Mrs. Collins to Longbourn. As he had come to expect, Elizabeth knew the right of the matter: Her family should be gone before the Collinses arrived.

Elizabeth addressed her family, “Do we still wish to pursue the Gardiner property with its possible provisions for our possession or pursue an available cottage instead?”

Miss Jane said, “I would not wish to remain in the area, even in a cottage. We would constantly encounter the Collinses and the Lucases and—” Darcy understood the lady was thinking of Mr. Bingley. “Even though we will not live in penury, we will be facing reduced circumstances. I choose not to know the gossips who will rejoice in our loss of face. In a different neighborhood, no one will know our history unless we choose to share it with them.”

Miss Lydia still complained, “I would prefer a cottage nearby. I do not wish to wait until my sisters marry before I do.”

Mrs. Bennet scowled at her youngest daughter. “Your recent actions have proven I made a mistake in permitting you and Kitty to join in society before you were prepared to do so. Jane and Elizabeth and Mary served their time waiting to be presented to others, and I should have seen such was best for all of you. Your father attempted to warn me, but I did not listen. That being said, you will listen to me now, or know my wrath. Your selfish disregard for your sisters and for me speaks loudly of my error in trusting you with so much responsibility. Thankfully, being in mourning will deny you the freedom you demand and provide you time on reflection. We will begin again with your studies as soon as we are settled elsewhere. None of us will enjoy society for six months, and there will be no balls or assemblies or the like for another six. Wherever we settle, our interactions will be limited to church services and the occasional call upon our neighbors. Your preference holds no significance in this conversation. How do you ever expect to attract a proper husband when you waste your time with the likes of Mr. Wickham?”

Miss Lydia countered, “Only recently you defended Wickham to Elizabeth.”

“That was before I learned of his many debts to the local shopkeepers. Your father and I were very conscious of our debts to others, and we never spent more than we had available. I cannot entertain the idea of any of my daughters residing in debtor’s prison with those of Mr. Wickham’s ilk. Your actions in this matter were unacceptable. You placed yourself before your family, when family is all a person has when adversity knocks upon his door. You have injured each of your sisters. You injured me. It shall be many years before I can trust you again.”

NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY!!! I have two eBook copies of Where There’s a Fitzwilliam Darcy, There’s a Way for those who comment below. The giveaway will end at midnight EDST, Thursday, September 13, 2018.

Posted in Austen Authors, book excerpts, book release, British history, George Wickham, Georgian Era, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, Pride and Prejudice, Vagary, writing | Tagged book excerpt, book release, giveaway, inheritance, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Publishing, Regency Era, research, tenant of curtesy, Vagary, variation, Where There's a FitzWILLiam Darcy, writing | 16 Comments

Preparing for the September 10 Release of “Where There’s a FitzWILLiam Darcy, There’s a Way” + a Giveaway

Posted on September 7, 2018 by Regina Jeffers

IT IS ON ITS WAY!!! The release of Where There’s a FitzWILLiam Darcy, There’s a Way is scheduled for Monday, September 10. The premise behind the story is Mr. Bennet has passed from a heart attack, which, ironically, occurred on the same day as Darcy’s failed proposal at Hunsford Cottage. Darcy has time to shove his letter of explanation in Elizabeth’s hands before Charlotte Collins delivers the express sent by Elizabeth’s family, demanding her immediate return to Longbourn. She rushes away to pack to return home, leaving Darcy to feel foolish for worrying whether she will accept his version of his involvement in Bingley’s separation from Jane and in Wickham’s tales of woe. He thinks never to see Elizabeth Bennet again. However, his aunt decides Darcy would be the perfect person to travel to Hertfordshire to assure Mr. Collins’s interests in Longbourn. The story involves Darcy taking an inventory of what must remain at Longbourn and what the Bennets may take with them when they vacate Longbourn, putting him in an awkward position, but his duty to Collins also allows Elizabeth to observe a different side of Fitzwilliam Darcy—a man of honor and loyalty. Will this allow them finally to come together or will Elizabeth’s reduced circumstances and her pride keep them apart? How can Darcy prove himself as the man she requires in her life when he is, literally, in a position to name which of her father’s books stay at Longbourn and which she can keep to foster memories of her father?

Inheritance was a tricky situation during the Regency, especially for a woman and her daughters. Women rarely inherited property. Remember Mr. Bennet’s warning to his family: “When I am dead, (Collins) may turn you all out of this house as soon as he pleases.” A woman could inherit “personal” belongings such as, furniture, jewelry, clothing, moveable goods, etc. But that does not mean a woman could NOT inherit real property (meaning land, or what we now call “real estate”). After the death of a person owning property, an accounting of all the belongings within a household occurred—to compare what was previously recorded as being part of the inheritance and what was still available or what had been added since the last accounting. William Savage, who has a fabulous blog called Pen and Pension, wrote a recent article about “The Wealth of an 18th Century Butcher,” in which he listed all the items belonging to a butcher in Kent during the reign of Queen Anne. I will quote just a bit from the piece of what a man of trade owned. After reading these minute details, imagine an accounting of all Pemberley held, and then think upon Longbourn. How many books did Mr. Bennet own? What about the silver? The furniture? The sheets and pillow coats? Clocks? Persian rugs? Mrs. Bennet’s jewelry? Or the ribbons Kitty and Lydia shared? Knick-Knacks and What Nots? Quite a task.

Take, for example, this inventory of the goods of a local butcher in Kent, one Thomas Burwash, who died in 1705. It begins like this:

Ane Inventary of all and singular the goods & chattels and credits of Thomas Burwash, late of the parish of Gillingham in the County of Kent, Butcher, deceased taken & appraised the 24th day of Aprill Anno Domini 1705 by Mathew Tilden of Gillingham aforesaid, yeoman, and John King of the same yeoman as ffolloweth vizt:

These are two local tenant farmers and were presumably either the executors of the butcher’s will or friends. They are going to go through Thomas Burwash’s house, room by room, listing what they found and assigning it a value for the purpose of obtaining probate from the consistory court of the diocese.

Inpri[mi]s (First) in the Best Chamber
his wearing apparel, purse with money: xx li (£20.00)

Item one ffeather Bedd and all its ffurniture: v li (£5.00)

Item 3 Chests and a base of drawers: i s vj d (1s 6d)

Item ½ a doz. of Leather Chaires: ix s (9s)

Item One looking glass and some Earthen ware: v s (5s)
Item 20 pair of sheets and 10 paire of pillow Coates: iv li xv s (£4 15s)
Item three Dozen of Napkins and Towells: i li ix s (£1 9s)

Now, enjoy this excerpt from Where There’s a FitzWILLiam Darcy, There’s a Way.

The eBook is available from these outlets:

Kindle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H69N1P1/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1536421253&sr=8-1&keywords=Where+There%27s+a+Fitzwilliam+Darcy

Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/where-there-s-a-fitzwilliam-darcy-there-s-a-way

Nook https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/where-theres-a-fitzwilliam-darcy-theres-a-way-regina-jeffers/1129490646?ean=2940161708804

Chapter One

“I certainly will not return to Hertfordshire,” Fitzwilliam Darcy groused. “And most definitely not on Mr. Collins’s behalf.” The idea of seeing Elizabeth Bennet again so soon after her refusal of his hand was not to be fathomed.

He had been with her when Mrs. Collins had come running to bring Miss Elizabeth an express from Longbourn. Only moments earlier, he had met Elizabeth at the gate where the grove edged the park and placed his letter of explanation in her hands. He had wanted more time to study her sweet countenance—time to memorize every feature to cherish when he considered giving his heart to another, but he had no more said, “I have been walking the grove some time in the hope of meeting you. Will you do me the honor of reading that letter?” before another called to her.

In what appeared to be panic, Miss Elizabeth had stuffed his letter into a pocket of her pelisse and turned away from him. “Pardon,” she murmured before moving off in the direction of the lane, which led further from the turnpike road. With nothing else to do, he had presented her retreating form a slight bow, before turning again into the plantation without a proper farewell between them. It was only through his cousin that he had learned the express had come from Miss Mary Bennet, delivering the news of their father’s passing. The Collinses had received a similar letter from Sir William Lucas. Darcy had immediately extended an offer of his traveling coach for her journey, and his cousin had personally seen her off to Hertfordshire, while all Darcy could do was to stare out the window in the direction of Hunsford Cottage and say a private prayer for the quick healing of her heart.

He wished he had been in a position to rush to the Collinses’ cottage and offer Miss Elizabeth his comfort—to hold her until she had spent her tears and to whisper words of assurance that he would see to her care and her protection. However, he did not have the right, for he was the last man in the world whom she could ever be prevailed upon to marry.

“There is no one else,” Lady Catherine’s shrill voice dragged him from his musings. “Even if there was a decent inn in Meryton, and Mr. Collins assures me there is not, I cannot go. It would not be proper. Mr. Collins is my rector, not my relation. Moreover, I must interview those who wish to replace him. I cannot rush off to assure myself the Bennets do not take more from the estate than is their due.”

“Should that not be Mr. Collins’s responsibility? To secure his inheritance? Certainly the Bennets have an executor of the estate in place,” he remarked with disinterest in anything but Elizabeth Bennet’s welfare. “The man has inherited the property. He should be the one counting the silverware and examining the household books.” Darcy did not think he could bear viewing Miss Elizabeth brought low. He seriously doubted Mr. Bennet had dutifully provided for his family.

“Collins has agreed to stay on until I can find a replacement; therefore, I have promised to protect his interests in Hertfordshire,” his aunt said in that matter-of-fact tone she often employed.

Darcy shook his head, refusing to give in. “I still do not see how any of this becomes my burden.”

He waited. Counted to ten and ten more. Waited for his aunt to rap her cane upon the floor to express her displeasure. Waited for her outrage. Instead, she responded in what sounded of calmness, a fact that set Darcy’s equilibrium off balance. “You are correct: Collins is not your responsibility, but Anne is.”

Darcy’s frown deepened. It would be necessary for him to proceed cautiously, guarding his words, until he knew his aunt’s intent. When Lady Catherine spoke of Anne and him in the same sentence, he knew something was afoot. “How has Anne become my charge? If something were to happen to you, Matlock would assist his niece. Moreover, Anne is of age. My cousin may name her way if she so chooses.”

“Your idealism is your weakness, Darcy,” his aunt responded with a challenging lift of her eyebrows. “You believe Anne can find her way without a man to guide her.”

“I will not entertain this conversation again,” he said stubbornly. “I adore Anne, but I will not marry her. We would not suit.”

“So says my daughter.” His aunt’s sudden change of heart had Darcy’s every nerve on alert. “Anne has begged for a Season, but I have been reluctant to agree. However, I might be persuaded to alter my opinion if—”

“If what?” Darcy demanded. Lady Catherine’s gestures and features were too amiable for Darcy to know ease.

“As you well know,” she began again in what sounded of reasonable tones, “I am most attentive to my duties.” Darcy resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “I have made a promise to Mr. Collins to see him well situated in Hertfordshire.” In other words, his Aunt Catherine wished to brag to all those under her tutelage of her assisting Collins. “However, aiding my current rector, while employing his replacement would consume too much of my time. I could not oversee Anne’s entrance into society. Matlock’s countess has offered to introduce Anne at several events, but anyone who knows my sister-in-marriage knows she was never the most attentive mother. How can I expect Lady Matlock to tend to Anne’s delicate nature? I am one of the few people who know my daughter’s frangible side.”

As realization dawned, Darcy’s eyes narrowed. “You mean to make me the thief who steals away Anne’s opportunity for a Season,” he accused.

“Certainly not,” she protested, but Darcy noted the shift of her shoulders, as if Lady Catherine assumed an enviable position. “Anne is sensible enough to realize Mr. Collins’s future must take priority over a few balls and afternoon teas. After all, my daughter possesses no one depending upon her for his support. She has not known a day of labor.”

As much as Darcy despised his aunt’s manipulations, a part of him admired how easily she had assaulted his sense of honor. Lady Catherine knew he was incapable of denying those he loved, and he was excessively fond of his sickly cousin. “Yet I would imagine if I chose to oversee Collins’s interest, say for a month, you would feel comfortable in allowing Anne to claim a husband, who is not me.” He stressed the facts upon which they must still come to an agreement, for they both knew he would relent in such a matter. If Anne was not successful during the Season, he did not want Lady Catherine again to take up her pleas for him to marry his cousin.

“Naturally,” she agreed readily, having won her concessions. “Without worrying over Collins’s inheritance, I would have more time to devote to Anne’s comportment. It is not my wish to have my daughter leave me, but in the natural order of things, I possess no choice, but I consider it my duty to make certain a man who sees her only as an heiress does not turn her head.”

Darcy held his tongue. He understood Lady Catherine completely: His aunt wished Anne to marry a man her ladyship could control, just as she controlled Mr. Collins and all her tenants. Otherwise, the gentleman could banish her to one of the other properties, which were part of the De Bourgh inheritance, or to the dower house.

His aunt continued. Their negotiation was not over. “I would assume your cousin will require more than a month to claim success in Society.”

“Six weeks maximum,” Darcy bargained. “I have my own estate to which to attend. Naturally, you and Anne are welcome to spend longer in London, but you must have a replacement for Mr. Collins by that time or else your rector must name another to act in his stead. He has a father-in-marriage who has been knighted by the King. Sir William Lucas can assume the duties, or you might suggest another to Collins. I am certain your man of business could successfully oblige you.” The idea of spending more than a few weeks in the neighborhood with Elizabeth Bennet, especially as Wickham was still part of the Meryton militia, shook Darcy to his core. But perhaps his presence in Hertfordshire could convince Elizabeth she had judged him harshly. Although he knew there was no hope for them, he would prefer not to leave her thinking poorly of his character. “More importantly,” he emphasized, “I insist Anne should remain in the Capital long enough to discover a gentleman to her liking.”

“I suppose I can conduct my interviews while in London,” his aunt observed. Darcy instantly knew such was her intent all along. “And although Anne will know disappointment at losing your attention, she will recover. The newness of a Season should resolve any lingering doubts.”

Darcy wondered if Anne would be permitted truly to experience life in London, but all he could do would be to provide his cousin the opportunity to discover someone who would cherish her for herself. He would speak to his uncle and ask Lord Matlock to intervene with his sister once Lady Catherine and Anne arrived in London. Perhaps the earl could “encourage’ several suitors to seek out Anne.

“Then instruct Mr. Collins to draft a letter naming me as his agent. Also ask him to provide me copies of any correspondence he has received from Mr. Bennet’s man of business or his solicitor since it became known that he was the heir to Longbourn. Meanwhile, I will contact Mr. Bingley regarding the use of Netherfield Park. You are correct: The inn in Meryton could only be termed as mediocre at best.” In addition, I am less likely to encounter Wickham if I am not in the village, he thought. “I must see to Colonel Fitzwilliam’s return to Town. I assume you do not intend to travel to London in the next few days.”

“Certainly not,” his aunt declared. “It shall take a sennight, at least, before we can depart. There is so much to do. Appointments for fittings. Making arrangements to stay at Matlock House or to let a house. Making inquiries of a suitable replacement for Mr. Collins.”

“In that case, perhaps Collins could forward me the necessary papers to Darcy House. Bingley should still be in Town, and I can speak both to him about the availability of Netherfield Park and to Matlock upon your behalf when I return Fitzwilliam to his duties.”

“You mean to depart so soon?” she questioned.

“Mr. Farrin should return with my coach later this evening,” he explained. “I will set a course for London tomorrow. Now if you will pardon me, I have much to accomplish.” Darcy did not wait for his aunt’s acknowledgement. His decision made, he anticipated the opportunity to look again upon Elizabeth Bennet. He had presented her his letter. Surely sometime between yesterday morning’s encounter and next week, when he would arrive in Hertfordshire, Miss Elizabeth would recognize something of his worth.

Leave a comment below to be a part of the giveaway of two eBooks of Where There’s a FitzWILLiam Darcy, There’s a Way. The prizes will be awarded after the book’s release on September 10, 2018. The giveaway ends Tuesday, September 11.

Posted in Austen Authors, book excerpts, book release, excerpt, Georgian England, giveaway, historical fiction, history, Inheritance, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, Pride and Prejudice, publishing, reading, Regency era, research, Vagary, writing | Tagged book excerpt, book release, books, entailments, giveaway, inheritance, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Regency, Vagary, variation, Where There's a FitzWILLiam Darcy | 38 Comments

Richard Bertie’s Attempt to Become Lord Willoughby d’Eresby ~ Part I

Posted on September 3, 2018 by Regina Jeffers

800px-Catherine,_Duchess_of_Suffolk_by_Hans_Holbein_the_Younger

Catherine, Duchess of Suffolk (Wikipedia)

Like Barry Lyndon (see post on November 27, 2017), Richard Bertie was born of humble origins, but aspired to claim a peerage through marriage. Bertie (ca. 1517 – 9 April 1582) made an astounding marriage to the widowed Duchess of Suffolk, a peeress in her own right, the heiress of an important family, and a proud bluestocking. Bertie was Catherine Willoughby’s, 12th Baroness Willoughby d’Eresby, Dowager Duchess of Suffolk, and a woman Henry VIII was considering as his seventh wife shortly before his death, second husband. She was also known to have received a proposal from the King of Poland. Catherine Willoughby was the daughter and heiress of William, 11th Lord Willoughby and the widow of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk.

After the marriage, Bertie wished to be recognized as the holder of the ancient feudal title, Lord Willoughby d’Eresby. Unfortunately, his claim to the peerage brought out a search of Richard Bertie’s humble origins. Richard Bertie was from an unusually undistinguished beginnings for the connections he made. He was the son of Thomas Bertie (ca. 1480 – bef. 5 June 1555), Captain of Hurst Castle and a master mason, and Aline Say. His paternal grandfather Robert Bertie (died 1501/2) was also a stonemason at Bearsted, Kent, and was married to one Marion, by whom he had two more children, a daughter Joan Bertie and a son William Bertie, born after 1480. Richard matriculated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, on 17 February 1533/1534 and succeeded his father in 1555.

The claim Bertie made was a landmark one in peerage law. It raised the question of peerage jure uxoris. In European property law, jure uxoris (Latin for “by right of (his) wife”) is a title of nobility held by a man because his wife holds it suo jure (“in her own right”). Similarly, the husband of an heiress could become the legal possessor of her lands. In England, until the Married Women’s Property Act 1882, married women were legally incapable of owning real estate. The thing was the question of the legality of jure uxoris for it had never been addressed by the House of Lords. Other cases that brought forth the right of nobility by jure uxoris included the Fitzgerald v. Fauconberg case in 1730 and the Earl of Norfolk in 1906, for starters.

220px-Portrait_of_William_Stubbs_by_Hubert_von_Herkomer.jpg “The older Baronies descended to heiresses who, although they could not take their place in the assembly of the estates, conveyed to their husbands a presumptive right to receive a summons. Of the countless examples of this practice, which applied anciently to the earldoms also, etc., and although some royal act of summons, or creation or both was necessary to complete their status, the usage was not materially broken down until the system of creation with limitation to heirs male was established.” [The English Historical Review, No. CXIX – July 1915, “The House of Lords and the Model Parliament.” quoting Dr. William Stubbs’s Constitutional History of England (1873)]

Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas in his The Historic Peerage of England, Exhibiting Under Alphabetical Arrangement, the Origin, Descent, and Present State of Every Title of Peerage which Has Existed in This Country Since the Conquest; Being a New Edition of the Synopsis of the Peerage of England [London, John Murray (1857)], purports, “At a very early period the same law (sic) was applied to Baronies of Writ that pertained more especially to Earldoms and Baronies by tenure, and the husbands of heirs female are summoned jure uxoris, when, having issue by their said wives, they had obtained an interest in law in the wife’s inheritance whixh was considered to entitle them to such summons; the practice, however, clearly partook more of the nature of barony by tenure, and was not in accordance with the personal dignity of a Barony of Writ.”

The Berties had married for love around 1553, after Bertie had for several years served her as her Master of the Horse and Gentleman Usher. The pair fled to the continent during the reign of the Catholic Mary I and the Counter-Reformation. They ignored commands to return, and their estates were sequestered. They travelled first to Cleves and then Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, despite the Duchess, a strong Protestant, being one of the richest and most powerful women in England. They returned in 1559 soon after the accession of the more Protestant Elizabeth I and had their lands restored to them. Their story is recorded in Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.

Richard was the father of Susan Bertie, Countess of Kent and Peregrine Bertie, 13th Baron Willoughby d’Eresby, prominent Protestants during Elizabeth I’s reign. Bertie became a Member of Parliament (MP) for Lincolnshire from 1562 to 1567. In 1564, he attended Elizabeth I during her visit to Cambridge University, from which he was granted a MA. In 1570, he unsuccessfully claimed the Barony Willoughby de Eresby in right of his wife. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace for Lindsey in 1564 and High Sheriff of Lincolnshire from 1564-1565.

Tomorrow, we will have a closer look at Bertie’s failed attempt to become Lord Willoughby.

Resources:

Bertie, Richard. Dictionary of National Biography

Richard Bertie (courtier)

Posted in Act of Parliament, British history, Elizabeth I, family, history, Inheritance, marriage, peerage, primogenture, real life tales | Tagged British history, Catherine Willoughby, Duchess of Sufflolk, peerage law, Richard Bertie | Comments Off

Letters from Jane, a Guest Post from Georgina Young-Ellis

Posted on August 31, 2018 by Regina Jeffers

Do you remember when we used to send and receive letters? Actual, physical letters? Were you a person like me who used to sit down with a feeling of relish at the blank paper in front of you, in anticipation of what you would write to your friend, mother, sister, dad, brother, boyfriend, or girlfriend, while always conscious that either the amount of paper you could use was limited (because maybe it was a from a nice stationery set) or because you knew your hand would grow too tired at some point to continue? And then, oh then, the happiness of receiving that long awaited reply! I’m not the first one to observe that some specialness has been lost in the rapidity and conciseness of exchanging emails instead of “snail mail.” To me, it’s just not the same. But though I still send cards, I very rarely write a physical letter anymore. How awe-inspiring it is then, to think of the immense amount of letter writing Jane Austen did in her day. I think I read somewhere that she wrote in excess of 400 letters in her lifetime, though it is a fact that only 160 of those have been preserved.

One of the most memorable experiences of my life was going to an exhibit of Jane’s letters and early published copies of her books at the Morgan Library in New York in 2010. Some of you may have seen some of these treasures in person, and will know how truly incredible it is to stand there in front of a letter written in Jane’s own script that you know she touched with her own quill, ink, and hands. At one point I became so overwhelmed I had to go to the ladies room and cry. This was back when I was still writing my first novel, The Time Baroness, in which the main character time travels back in time to Regency England, and I was steeped in research on the period. It was also before people were writing much in the way of JAFF, or at least I wasn’t connected to them, and didn’t have all the helpful blog posts and things that we have now for quick research. One of my pieces of research was a book of all surviving letters to and from Jane, many exchanged between her and sister Cassandra. The minutiae of her thoughts fascinate me.

It’s because of that trip to the Morgan Library, as a matter of fact, that I have the book, an anniversary gift from my husband. Here is part of the inscription he wrote in it. Please excuse me for a moment as I swoon over the man who, after thirty years of marriage, can still make me weak in the knees. (He’s such a dude that you’d never know he harbored such a flare for the poetical.) Anyway, in the inscription he spends a few paragraphs rhapsodizing over the expression on my face the day we got married, and again when my son was born, and then goes on to say: “…So it is then, on this occasion, that I wish to acknowledge the moment when recently that expression of warmth, radiance, and love swept across your face once again. It was when you stood, motionless, transfixed, and mute before the display of the letters of Ms. Jane Austen. That expression led me to purchase this book, to write this note, to express my admiration and love for you, and to remind you that the expression I speak of is always there, reflected back to you in my eyes across years, months and days to this eternal moment. It is the expression of my heart.” He doesn’t really get Jane Austen, but he obviously gets that I get her.

Inspired by the letters in that book, I included in The Time Baroness a scene in which the main character, whose name is also Cassandra, takes a trip to Steventon to see the home where Jane grew up. In my book, Jane has been three years dead, Cassandra having particular reasons for going back in time after Jane has passed, which I won’t go into now. Anyway, one of Jane’s brothers still lived at Steventon Parsonage at the time, and was raising his family there. Cassandra is kind of snooping around, and discovers a young woman out behind the house, burning something over a fire. She goes to talk to her, and discovers that it is Jane’s niece, Fanny, burning her aunt’s letters, which both she and Jane’s sister did apparently do. Cassandra freaks out and begs her to stop, asking if she can have one of the letters, explaining that she’s a fan of the still not well-known author. Fanny reluctantly agrees, and Cassandra returns to the future with a priceless relic that will always remain her own.

Having been to that library exhibit, I could well imagine how my character felt, and, of course, that’s why I wrote the scene. To touch something that Jane touched is almost unimaginable. That is also why many of us try to take the pilgrimage to Bath, Chawton House, or Lyme Regis, so that we can tread where Jane trod…see what she saw with her own eyes.

I still have many letters from special people in my life from over the years – some dating back to when I was a child. I culled them out when I moved a couple of years ago, but I tried to keep those that I knew would remain meaningful. I may not look at them often, but they’re there for when I want to remember, for whatever reason, the people who sent them. Even though the collection doesn’t include letters I wrote, maybe someday readers of my books will value those too. Hey, an author can dream, can’t she?

Posted in Austen Authors, British history, customs and tradiitons, Georgian England, Guest Post | Tagged Georgina Young-Ellis, guest post, Jane Austen, letter writing, traditions | Comments Off

English Drama and the Origins of Censorship

Posted on August 22, 2018 by Regina Jeffers

Of late, on social media we have been bombarded with what is termed “obscenities.” We writers are often accused by “reviewers” of writing obscenities or sexually explicit scenes when in our estimations, we are writing PG scenes. The problem is often in the “view of the beholder,” so to speak. What one person thinks to be too explicit signifies as nothing to another, and so it was with the efforts of early English playwrights.

Our modern concept of “obscenity” is heavily nestled in history—the history of Charles II, to be exact. Charles II was king of England, Scotland and Ireland. He was king of Scotland from 1649 until his deposition in 1651, and king of England, Scotland and Ireland from the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 until his death in February 1685. Before we discuss Charles II’s influence upon English drama, let us have a look at one of Charles II’s close associates, Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet (March 1639 – 20 August 1701), an English noble, dramatist, and politician. Sedley is famous as a patron of literature in the Restoration period, and was the Francophile Lisideius of Dryden’s Essay of Dramatic Poesy. Sedley was reputed as a notorious rake and libertine, part of the “Merry Gang” gang of courtiers which included the Earl of Rochester and Lord Buckhurst. Sedley was principally remembered for his wit and profligacy, or lack thereof in a particular incident that occurred in 1663.

Along with Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset and 1st Earl of Middlesex (Lord Buckhurst), and Sir Thomas Ogle [some accounts say the third member of the group was John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester], Sedley spent a lovely afternoon drinking heavily in a tavern near Covent Garden on Bow Street. Young men being foolish, they began to boast of their sexual prowess. Sedley went so far as to claim that women chased after him because of his stamina in the bedroom. Inebriation drove them to a balcony overlooking a busy street, where they undressed and pantomimed a series of sexual acts. They finished off their performances by urinating in bottles and throwing said bottles at those who had gathered below to gawk at them in amazement. The crowd responded by throwing stones at the fools until the drunkards fled the scene. [Why is it, with this description, that I think of drunken frat parties or college spring break shenanigans?]

Unlike today, self expression at the time was not considered unlawful, no matter how lascivious or pornographic, unless doing so was an act of sedition, heretical, or blasphemous. Sedley, therefore, was arrested, tried and convicted. He was made to pay “2000 mark, committed without bail for a week, and bound to his good behaviour for a year, on his confession of information against him, for shewing himself naked in a balcony, and throwing down bottles (pist in) vi et armis among the people in Covent Garden, contra pacem and to the scandal of the government.” [Nussbaum, Martha C., and Alison L. Lacroix, eds. Subversion and Sympathy: Gender, Law and the British Novel. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2013, page 70] In other words, Sedley was convicted for inciting a riot, not for public nudity and profanity.

According to Samuel Pepys, Sedley `showed his nakedness – and abusing of scripture and as it were from thence preaching a mountebank sermon from the pulpit, saying that there he had to sell such a pouder as should make all the cunts in town run after him, 1000 people standing underneath to see and hear him, and that being done he took a glass of wine and washed his prick in it and then drank it off, and then took another and drank the King’s health.’. This behaviour provoked a riot amongst the onlookers and condemnation in the courts, where the Lord Chief Justice gave his opinion that it was because of wretches like him “that God’s anger and judgement hang over us”.

The first true “obscenity” prosecution occurred in 1708. In a reaction to Puritanical rule, the English theatre had chipped away at what was considered good taste for public performances until the point when the English public out for a form of censorship—”pure” expressive obscenity. At the start of the English Civil War (1642) theatres were closed, and in 1647, a law was passed to punish anyone who participated in or viewed drama. After the war, and during the English Interregnum, the Puritans, under Oliver Cromwell, had control of most of the English government. They placed heavy restrictions on entertainment and entertainment venues that were perceived as being pagan or immoral. In the English Restoration (1660), playwrights reacted against the Puritanical restrictions with much more decadent plays. The plays produced in the Restoration drew comparisons to the great Elizabethan dramas by critics of the day. However, these plays were considered vulgar because they mocked and disrespected marriage, morals, and the clergy. Furthermore, King Charles II allowed women to act on stage; some of the first actresses were of ill-repute.

Therefore, the Lord Chamberlain in 1696 instructed that those overseeing the production of plays to be “very careful in correcting all obscenities and other scandalous matters and such as any ways offend against ye laws of God and good manners or the known statutes of the kingdom.” (Nussbaum and Lacroix, page 70]

Societies for the censorship of immorality were formed, and the Reverend Jeremy Collier took a bold step. Collier was an English theatre critic, non-juror bishop and theologian, who, in the history of English drama, launched an attack on the comedy of the 1690s in his Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage (1698), which draws for its ammunition mostly on the plays of William Congreve, John Vanbrugh, John Dryden, and Thomas D’Urfey. Unfortunately for Collier, his pamphlets rekindled the Puritans’ outcries against the theatres and brought forth a desire to again ban all performances or to return to Restoration drama.

Collier’s work spoke out against what he considered to be profane in the productions of the era. He also addressed what would be called the impact on the moral degeneration of the populace as a whole. His works ranged from general attacks on the morality of Restoration theatre to very specific indictments of playwrights of the day. Collier argued that a venue as influential as the theatre—it was believed then that the theatre should be providing moral instruction—should not have content that is morally detrimental.

A Pamphlet war broke out between Collier and several of the playwrights, especially Vanbrugh. Many of the playwrights responded with equally vehement attacks, but some were so deeply affected, they withdrew from theatre permanently or substantially changed their approach to writing comedies, William Congreve amongst them. Although the theatre styles of the Restoration lasted a while even after Collier’s pamphlets, a new and more restrained theatre began to develop due, in part, to Collier’s critiques. Due to the strict morals of the Puritans, as well as others such as Collier, neoclassicism drama began to emerge even while Restoration drama was still flourishing. During Collier’s time, Societies for the Reformation of Manners dedicated themselves to maintaining honour in playhouses.

Resources:

Freeman, Arthur, ed. (1973). The English Stage: Attack and Defense 1577-1730, Garland Publishing. New York and London.

“Jeremy Collier,” Wikipedia

Linnane, Fergus (2006). The Lives of the English Rakes. London, Portrait: 24-5

Lowerre, Katherine (2014). The Lively Arts of the London Stage 1675-1725. Performance in the Long Eighteenth Century: Studies in Theatre, Music, Dance Series. Taylor and Francis. New York.

Parks, Edd Winfield and Richmond Croom Beatty (1935). The English Drama: An Anthology, 900 -1642. W. W. Norton. New York.

“Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet,” Wikipedia

Westlake, E. J. (2005). Drama: Drama and Religion. Encyclopedia of Religion. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA. pp. 2435–2440.

Posted in Age of Chaucer, British history, Church of England, drama, kings and queens, playwrights, religion | Tagged Charles II, Charles Sackville, John Dryden, John Vanbrugh, Reverend Jeremy Collier, Sir Charles Sedley, Sir Thomas Ogle, Thomas D'Urfey, William Congreve | Comments Off

A Young Man of Good Fortune, Mr. Charles Bingley ~ Guest Post by Nancy Lawrence

Posted on August 17, 2018 by Regina Jeffers

Nancy Lawrence is one of our newest members of Austen Authors, and I so glad she decided to bring her knowledge to our group site. Have a look at a “model tale” for Jane Austen’s “Mr. Bingley.” I am certain you will find it as fascinating as I did. Enjoy!

“A young man of large fortune.” That’s how Mrs. Bennet described Charles Bingley when she learned he had leased a neighboring estate in Jane Austen’s classic novel, Pride and Prejudice.

As the mother of five unmarried daughters, Mrs. Bennet didn’t feel the need to know how Charles came into possession of such a fortune; her only concern was that he marry one of her daughters.

I, on the other hand, want to learn as much as I can about Charles Bingley’s background, because Charles makes an appearance in the JAFF story I’m currently writing. Piecing together Charles’ history (and that of his sisters) will give me insight into how—and why—he will take certain actions in my novel.

Charles Bingley with his sisters, Caroline and Luisa, as depicted in the 1995 BBC production of *Pride and Prejudice*.

Jane Austen gives us some hints about Charles’ origins. The Bingley fortune had been “acquired by trade.” Charles himself had a fortune of £100,000, which gave him an annual income of about £4,000. (In today’s money that’s £186,100 or $241,930 U.S. dollars.)

The Bingleys were “respectable.” They came “from the north of England,” an area of the country where the manufacture of textiles was a booming business at the time the story was written.

Whirring spools of threads and fibers in an old mill.

Given those hints, it’s probable that Charles, Luisa, and Caroline Bingley’s father owned one of the textile mills that sprang up across the north during the Industrial Revolution of the late 18th century. As children, they were most likely raised in a house that was either next door to, or very near, the mill their father owned.

Mule spinning machine at the Quarry Bank Mill.

In most mills of that era, the people who worked there were seen not as people, but as extensions of the machinery. They were given pitiful wages for 12 or 13 hour work days. They lived in unsanitary conditions and worked in unsafe environments. Poet William Blake described the mills of the 19th century as “satanic.”

But considering what we know about the Bingley siblings—particularly Charles, who was described as amiable, lively, unreserved, sensible, and good-humoured—it’s hard for me (looking through my 21st century lens) to imagine they were raised by a father capable of such draconian treatment of the people in his employ.

So I have to wonder . . .

What if, like Charles Bingley, the father had a disposition to be kind and friendly by nature?

What if, like Charles, the elder Mr. Bingley treated everyone respectfully, regardless of their rank or privilege?

And what if the elder Mr. Bingley was among a small group of enlightened mill owners? What if he treated his workers humanely and did what he could to set apart his mill from the dark, grim places we tend to associate with the Regency Era?

I can give you a real-life example of what I mean. In 1784 a man named Samuel Greg founded a mill not far from Manchester, England. He named it Quarry Bank Mill.

The great thing about Quarry Bank Mill is that it’s still in existence. Now owned by England’s National Trust, Quarry Bank Mill stands as a real-life working model of the kind of business I think Charles Bingley’s father would have run.

Originally powered by an enormous iron waterwheel, Quarry Bank Mill boasted five floors of cotton textile production. Those five floors were filled with hundreds of employees ginning and weaving cotton.

Quarry Bank Mill employees outside their homes, circa 1900.

Each of those employees needed a place to live, so, adjacent to the mill, Greg built a village of row-houses and cottages for his workers.

Workers homes at Quarry Bank Mill, as they appear today.

Many of his workers were children—orphans from workhouses and children who previously lived on the streets. He called them “apprentices,” and he built a communal home to house them.

The children attended school and worked in the community garden, which provided fresh vegetables and fruit for their diets.

Greg also built churches for his workers and gave them Sundays off so they could attend services.

Norcliffe Chapel, one of the churches Samuel Greg built for Quarry Bank workers

And when his workers fell ill or were injured, Greg ensured he had a doctor on hand for their care.

Samuel Greg created a community and a way of life for his workers that was superior to any that could be had by farm workers and other laborers of the lower-class. Many of the apprentices who grew up working in his mill stayed on to work at Quarry Bank as adults.

This photo shows the immense size of the mill building. The light yellow building on the left is where the Greg family lived. The white building on the right is Apprentice House.

Mr. Greg operated his mill in a much more humane fashion than his competitors, and doing so earned him a handsome fortune. He built a respectable and well-appointed home next to the mill for his wife and children.

The Greg family home next to Quarry Bank Mill.

Since I first learned about Quarry Bank Mill, I’ve often wondered if Charles Bingley’s father earned his fortune in the same way. I wonder, too, if Charles and his sisters grew up in a fine house within a few yards of the workers’ cottages and mill works, just as Samuel Greg’s children did.

I think it’s possible that, coming into every-day contact with mill workers would explain how Charles learned to be gracious and respectful to everyone he met, regardless of their station in life.

And it would explain why his manner was relaxed and amiable, why he never uttered a critical word about anyone, and why his behavior at the Meryton Assembly earned everyone’s good opinion. As Jane Austen wrote:

There had been no formality, no stiffness; he had soon felt acquainted with all the room.

What do you think? Do you think it’s possible Charles Bingley’s kind disposition and good humor were traits he inherited from his father?

Had Charles elected to follow in his father’s footsteps, what kind of mill owner do you think he would have made?

Charles’ sisters Caroline and Luisa each inherited £20,000 from their father. Would you like to know how much that would be in today’s money?

Click here to visit The U.K.’s National Archives Currency Converter.

Then, select a year: Try 1810, which is close to the year P&P was first published (1813).

Enter the amount: 20,000

Click on the “Show Purchasing Power” button, and you’ll see how much their inheritance was worth in today’s money.

For Americans, don’t forget to multiply the converted amount by 1.3—that’s today’s average rate of exchange rate for British Pound to U.S. Dollar.

You can use this tool to calculate all financial sums mentioned in Jane Austen’s novels—from the Dashwood’s £500 a year to Georgiana Darcy’s £30,000 marriage portion.

Meet Nancy Lawrence:

Nancy Lawrence writes traditional Regency romances, where the heroes are gentlemen, the heroines are ladies, and there’s always a fancy-dress ball to attend. Nancy lives with her family in Aurora, Colorado, “the best city in the world if you can’t live in Bath, England.”

You can learn more about Nancy, her books, and her writing progress at:
http://NancyLawrenceRegency.com

And follow Nancy on social media at: https://austenauthors.net/nancy-lawrence/
http://twitter.com/NLawrenceAuthor
http://www.facebook.com/nancy.lawrence.712

A few of Nancy’s books…

Posted in Austen Authors, British history, commerce, family, Georgian England, Georgian Era, Guest Post, Inheritance, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Vagary | Tagged Austen Authors, Charles Bingley, commerce, guest post, men of trade, Pride and Prejudice, Quarry Bank Mill, Regency Era, variation | 6 Comments

The Early Origins of the Novel

Posted on August 15, 2018 by Regina Jeffers

In the mid to late 1700s, the novel, as a means of literary expression developed to an art form. In many of the Regency-based romances that I read, it speaks of the “novel” being something females might read, rather than a male. However, I doubt that many of my contemporary writer understand how “debased” those early tales were. Most of the stories dealt with fornication, rape, incest, adultery, seduction, polygamy, and voyeurism. Some of the early novels were Defoe’s Moll Flanders (1722), Richardson’s Clarrisa, Fielding’s Tom Jones, and Sterne’s Tristram Shandy.

One of the greatest writers of all times, Jane Austen, read Richardson quite often. According to her nephew, James-Edward Austen-Leigh, her knowledge of Samuel Richardson “was such as no one is likely again to acquire . . . Every circumstance narrated in Sir Charles Grandison, all that was said or done in the cedar parlour, was familiar to her; and the wedding days of [characters like] Lady L. and Lady G. were as well remembered as if they had been living friends.” But what was the context of Richardson’s writing?

Laurel Ann at Austenprose tells us: “Richardson is a literary hero of mine, too, and I always think it’s sad that so few people read him nowadays. Not only because Clarissa, in particular, is one of the great masterpieces of European literature, but because it’s only by reading Richardson that you really understand the tradition Austen was writing in, and where she got some of the inspiration for her books. Pamela is a novel-in-letters, written by a young serving-maid to her parents, in which she describes her master’s attempts to seduce her. But as the subtitle (‘Virtue Rewarded’) suggests, all’s well that ends with a wedding. It sounds pretty standard stuff now, but at the time it was a publishing sensation. There were 5 editions by the end of 1741, with an estimated 20,000 copies sold. It was also the first book to have what we would now call a ‘promotional campaign’. As a printer himself, Richardson employed all the tricks of the book-trade, including newspaper leaders and celebrity endorsement, and may even have encouraged the publication of a pamphlet that denounced the novel as pornographic, which certainly had a predictably healthy effect on sales! But if it was Pamela that was ground-breaking, Richardson’s next novel, Clarissa, is the one that really established a new kind of prose fiction in English. This, like all Richardson’s books, is an epistolary novel, and it’s worth remembering that when Austen first put pen to paper seriously herself, she chose exactly this form – first in Lady Susan, and then in Elinor & Marianne, the first version of Sense & Sensibility. Clarissa is the story of a young woman who’s tricked away from her family by the libertine, Robert Lovelace, and eventually raped. The story evolves through two parallel correspondences – Clarissa’s with her friend Anna, and Lovelace’s with his confidant Belford. The depth and subtlety of the psychological characterization is extraordinary, and you can see immediately why Henry Austen says his sister was such an admirer of ‘Richardson’s power of creating, and preserving, the consistency of his characters.'”

Do you recall the scene in Becoming Jane, a biographical portrait of a pre-fame Jane Austen (portrayed by Anne Hathaway) and her romance with a young Irishman (played by James Mcavoy), where Tom Lefroy’s character tempts Jane by suggesting that she read Tom Jones? His suggestion is more than one of presenting a young lady with a piece of literary greatness. It is part of his romantic “seduction” of Miss Jane Austen.

An awareness of sexuality was never far from the surface in these early novels. One of the major forces of the time was John Cleland, an administrator for the East India Company. Reportedly Cleland made a bet that he could write the “dirtiest book in the English language” without using ANY “dirty words.” His Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (better known as Fanny Hill) provided readers with the story of a country girl who experiences lesbianism, group sex, masturbation, flagellation, etc. For his efforts, Cleland was arraigned before the Privy Council. The Earl of Granville, the president of the Council, suggested that Cleland be awarded a pension of £100 a year, with the guarantee that he would not repeat the exercise. Cleland foolishly sold the copyright of the book to a publisher for a mere £20. The publisher raked in more than £10,000 in book sells.

John Wilkes, a strong political activist, who spoke out regularly against George III and who supported the American colonies’ push for independence, is said to have written Essay on Woman, a parody of Alexander Pope’s Essay on Man. Whether Wilkes actually penned the piece is debatable, but it was the perfect instrument for his political opponents to use against him. It did not help Wilkes’s defense that he was reportedly a member of the Medmenham monks, or Hell-Fire Club, a secret society known to take pleasure in sexual activities. According to The Montague Millennium, “The Hell-Fire Club was sort of a cross between the Dead Poets Society and a risque Playboy club. John Montagu (Lord Sandwich) was a principal, and apparently Lady Mary Wortley Montagu attended. The club formally styled itself the Monks of Medmenham, and originally occupied the caves beneath the ancient Abbey of Medmenham. Its members could reach the Abbey by boat from the river at night and thus not be bothered by `paparazzi’.”

If Wilkes was a member of this group, I find it odd that Lord Sandwich was the one who read the scandalous poem to the House of Lords, which termed the poem as “a gross profanation of many parts of the Holy Scriptures.” Before the House of Lords could have Wilkes arrested, the man escaped to America, never to stand in answer to the charges against him. In absentia, he was fined £300.

According to Nussbaum, Martha C., and Alison L. Lacroix, eds., of Subversion and Sympathy: Gender, Law and the British Novel. [New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2013, pages 78-79], “For more than a century. . . English law yielded nothing at all definitive about the concept of literary obscenity. There was no definition of the concept, no rationale for its regulation, and only sporadic skirmishes over the issue. The historian Peter Wagner has aptly characterized the “Age of Enlightenment” as the “Age of Eros.” The proliferation of writing about sex in the eighteenth century led to ‘a sort of downward osmosis’ through which an upper-class ‘libertine philosophy’ was, at least, for a time, dispersed and then absorbed by a larger culture. By the 1780s, when the United States was contemplating its Constitution, London was awash with all sorts of sexually explicit material, including lewd novels, racy poems, bawdy songs, erotic prints, and licentious newspapers and magazines. Throughout this era, neither influential citizens or public authorities made any serious effort ‘to curb this sexual Eden,’ though occasional prosecutions were brought when individual libel was involved or ‘when there were personal axes to grind, as in the prosecution of Wilkes. It was against this background that the United States enacted the First Amendment.“

Posted in American History, book excerpts, British history, Georgian Era, Great Britain, history, Jane Austen, publishing, reading habits, writing | Tagged American history, British history, Georgian England, novel, origins of the novel, Publishing, reading habits | 3 Comments

A Marriage of Convenience as a Plot Point in Jane Austen’s Novels

Posted on August 13, 2018 by Regina Jeffers

Mr. and Mrs. Collins austenonly.com

What hope was there for the dowerless daughters of the middle class during Jane Austen’s lifetime? Such is a topic Austen explored repeatedly in her novels. Elizabeth and Jane Bennet sought men of a like mind. The Dashwood sisters found their choices limited by their financial situation. Fanny Harville and Captain Benwick could not marry until he earned his future. General Tilney drove Catherine Morland from his home because of the lady’s lack of funds. Charlotte Lucas accepted Mr. Collins as her last opportunity for a respectable match. The intricacies and tedium of high society, particularly of partner selection, and the conflicts of marriage for love and marriage for property are repeated themes.

Marriage provided women with financial security. Henry Tilney in Northanger Abbey explains, “… in both [marriage and a country dance], man has the advantage of choice, woman only the power of refusal: that in both, it is an engagement between man and woman, formed for the advantage of each.” Women of Austen’s gentry class had no legal identity. No matter how clever the woman might be, finding a husband was the only option. A woman could not buy property or write a will without her husband’s approval. If a woman was fortunate, she would bring to her marriage a settlement – money secured for her when she came of age – usually an inheritance from her mother. The oldest son or male heir received the family estate, and the unmarried or widowed females lived on his kindness.

The ladies of Sense and Sensibility have this reality thrust upon them when Uncle Dashwood changes his will and leaves Norland to his grandnephew. In Uncle Dashwood’s thinking, this change will keep Norland in the Dashwood family. However, the four Dashwood ladies suddenly find themselves living in a modest cottage with an income of £500 annually. As such, they have no occasion for visits to London unless someone else assumes the expenses. Their social circle shrinks, and the opportunities to meet eligible suitors becomes nearly non-existent. With dowries of £1000 each, the Dashwood sisters are not likely to attract a man who will improve their lots.

Jane Austen, herself, lived quite modestly. The Austens lived frugally among the country gentry. The Austen sisters were well educated by the standards of the day, but without chances for dowries, Jane and Cassandra possessed limited prospects. Jane met a Mr. Blackall the year Cassandra lost her Mr. Fowle. In a letter, Blackall expressed to Mrs. Lefroy a desire to know Jane better; yet, he confided, “But at present I cannot indulge any expectation of it.” To which, Jane Austen responded, “This is rational enough. There is less love and more sense in it than sometimes appeared before, and I am very well satisfied.” Imperfect opportunities were Jane Austen’s reality. In 1802, Jane Austen accepted an offer of marriage from Harris Bigg-Wither. With this marriage, Jane would have become the mistress of Manydown.

Yet, despite her affection for the family, Austen could not deceive Bigg-Wither. The following morning, she refused the man’s proposal. Whether she thought to some day find another or whether Austen accepted the fact that her refusal doomed her to a life as a spinster, we shall never know. In the “limited” world in which Jane Austen lived, she could not have known her eventual influence on the literary canon.

Austen held personal knowledge of young women seeking husbands in one of the British colonies. Reverend Austen’s sister, Philadelphia, traveled to India in 1752, where she married an English surgeon Tysoe Hancock, a man twenty years her senior. When the Hancocks returned to England a decade later, Reverend Austen traveled to London to greet his sister. However, Philadelphia and Tysoe were not to live “happily ever after.” Unable to support his family in proper English style, Tysoe returned to India to make his living. He never saw his wife and child again. Despite its tragic ending, this “marriage” secured Philadelphia’s future and the lady’s place in Society. Only marriage could offer a woman respectability.

In Jane Austen for Dummies (page 134), Joan Klingel Ray breaks down the financial prospects of the Dashwood sisters. Converting the £500 to a modern equivalent, Ray comes out with a figure of $46,875. For the gentry, supporting four women, two maids, a man servant, paying rent, buying clothes, food, coal, etc., that sum would have meant a poor existence. I find in reading Sense and Sensibility that I am often disappointed with the eventual choices of the Dashwood sisters. Edward Ferras and Colonel Brandon have less of the “glitz and the glamour” that my innate Cinderella syndrome requires in a love match. However, if any affection did exist between the couples, then Marianne and Elinor, under the circumstances and the times, made brilliant matches.

Posted in customs and tradiitons, dancing, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, Living in the UK, marriage customs, Regency era, Uncategorized | Tagged Emma, Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, marriage of convenience, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, plot devices, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility | 5 Comments

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