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The Novels and Letters of Jane Austen

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The Novels and Letters of Jane Austen UJNlVtLKbil'Y 01 CA.UKUKJN1*. UJS ANCtELES 'J-mAUY THE NOVELS AND LETTERS OF JANE AUSTEN Edited by REGINALD BRIMLEY JOHNSON with an Introduction by WILLIAM LYON PHELPS, Ph.D. Complete in Twelve Volumes 4 629 6 STONELEIGH EDITION This Edition of the Novels and Letters of Jane Austen is limited to twelve hundred and fifty numbered and registered copies of which this is Copy No. 1092 THE NOVELS AND LETTE JANE AUST PROF. WILL. PS, Ph. D. Lampson i ature. I With Colored II " C. E. r.- i F. IS ie in Hans Place, Londm, NEW YORK PHILADELPHIA The Old Manor House Sleventon Hants THE NOVELS AND LETTERS OF JANE AUSTEN Edited by R. BRIMLEY JOHNSON with an Introduction by PROF. WILLIAM LYON PHELPS, Ph. D. Lmnpsoti Professor of English Literature, Yale University. LADY^SUSAN THE WATSONS LETTERS OF JANE AUSTEN Part I With Colored Illustrations by C. E. and H. M. BROCK .The House in Hans Place, London. FRANK S. HOLBY NEW YORK PHILADELPHIA MCMVI Prefaces to LaJy Susan and the Watsons Copyrighted 1906 by FRANK S. HOLBY 'J» -. 7 40 3 I V. M ILLUSTRATIONS The Old Manor House Steventon Hants Frontispiece PAGE Jane Austen, after an original family portrait viii Home in Winchester where Jane Austen died, from a photograph by Mrs. Wm. Lyon Philps, September, 1900 108 North Aisle of Winchester Cathedral; Burial Place of Jane Austen 196 PREFACE Jane Austen left two incomplete novels, " Lady Susan" and " The Watsons." Miss Austen did not give " Lady Susan " to the world and would have earnestly deprecated its publication. Be- fore her death she removed from Chawton to Winchester for medical advice, leaving her pa- pers in Chawton, so that she could hardly have had an opportunity in her last moments of de- stroying those papers she did not intend should see the light. " Lady Susan " is a novelette in the form of letters. The date of its having been written is not known, but it is believed to have been a very early production. It is a mere exercise, which, when her taste had improved, was laid aside. It is complete after a fashion. The story, which it briefly and not very clearly tells, is that of a worthless, though clever and fascinating, woman who carries on two love intrigues at once, one with a married man, while in the case of the other she is eventually supplanted in her lover's affections by her own daughter. All this time she is cruelly ill-treating her daughter and trying to force upon her a husband whom she hates. In PREFACE the end her two intrigues clash and are wrecked in the collision. " Lady Susan " ultimately takes herself up by marrying the man she intended her daughter to marry. Her daughter marries the man her mother hoped to secure for herself. The plot is worthy of a French novel. Although the theme is to a degree repulsive, the reader feels that the writer has a moral reason in showing deceit captured in its own snare. The cold- ness of the narrative precludes any imputation against the extreme respectability of the author. Being merely an exercise, the characters are little better than lay figures, but are described with that minute observation, shrewd sagacity and in- sight that the author devotes to all of her sternly practical heroes and heroines. " Sense and Sensibility," like " Lady Susan," was at first composed in the form of letters. Jane Austen was doubtless following the exam- ple of Richardson, whom she regarded with un- bounded admiration. One of the defects of this method, in addition to its awkwardness for nar- ration, is illustrated by " Lady Susan," in which the wicked woman is made to wi'ite letters reveal- ing her own character and designs with an open- ness which, under a paternal government, might get her into trouble. LADY SUSAN Lady Susan I ' Lady Susan Vernon to Mr. Vernon Langford, Dec. MY DEAR BROTHER—I can no longer refuse myself the pleasure of profiting by your kind invitation when we last parted of spending some weeks with with you at Churchhill, and therefore, if quite convenient to you and Mrs. Vernon to receive me at present, I shall hope within a few days to be introduced to a sister whom I have so long desired to be acquainted with. My kind friends here are most affectionately urgent with me to prolong my stay, but their hospitable and cheer- ful dispositions lead them too much into society for my present situation and state of mind; and I impatiently look forward to the hour when I shall be admitted into your delightful retirement. I long to be made known to your dear little children, in whose hearts I shall be very eager to secure an interest. I shall soon have need for [3] LADY SUSAN all my fortitude, as I am on the point of separa- tion from my own daughter. The long illness of her dear father prevented my paying her that attention which duty and affection equally dic- tated, and I have too much reason to fear that the governess to whose care I consigned her was unequal to the charge. I have therefore resolved on placing her at one of the best private schools in town, where I shall have an opportunity of leaving her myself in my way to you. I am de- termined, you see, not to be denied admittance at Churchhill. It would indeed give me most painful sensations to know that it were not in your power to receive me. Your most obliged and affectionate sister, S. Vernon. II JLady Susan Vernon to Mrs. Johnson Lanoford You were mistaken, my dear Alicia, in sup- posing me fixed at this place for the rest of the winter: it grieves me to say how greatly you were mistaken, for I have seldom spent three months more agreeably than those which have just flown away. At present, nothing goes smoothly; the females of the family are united against me. You foretold how it would be when [4] LADY SUSAN I first came to Langford, and Mainwaring is so uncommonly pleasing that I was not without ap- prehensions for myself. I remember saying to myself, as I drove to the house, " I like this man, pray Heaven no harm come of it! " But I was determined to be discreet, to bear in mind my being only four months a widow, and to be as quiet as possible: and I have been so, my dear creature ; I have admitted no one's attentions but Mainwaring's. I have avoided all general flirta- tion whatever; I have distinguished no creature besides, of all the numbers resorting hither, ex- cept Sir James Martin, on whom I bestowed a little notice, in order to detach him from Miss Mainwaring; but if the world could know my motive there they would honour me. I have been called an unkind mother, but it was the sacred impulse of maternal affection, it was the advan- tage of my daughter that led me on ; and if that daughter were not the greatest simpleton on earth, I might have been rewarded for my exer- tions as I ought. Sir James did make proposals to me for Fred- erica ; but Frederica, who was born to be the tor- ment of my life, chose to set herself so violently against the match that I thought it better to lay aside the scheme for the present. I have more than once repented that I did not marry him my- self; and were he but one degree less contempti- [5] LADY SUSAN bly weak, I certainly should: but I must own myself rather romantic in that respect, and that riches only will not satisfy me. The event of all this is very provoking: Sir James is gone, Maria highly incensed, and ]Mrs. Mainwaring insup- portably jealous; so jealous, in short, and so enraged against me, that, in the fury of her temper, I should not be surprised at her appeal- ing to her guardian, if she had the liberty of addressing him: but there your husband stands my friend; and the kindest, most amiable action of his life was his throwing her off forever on her marriage. Keep up his resentment, therefore, I charge you. We are now in a sad state; no house was ever more altered: the whole party are at war, and Mainwaring scarcely dares speak to me. It is time for me to be gone: I have therefore determined on leaving them, and shall spend, I hope, a comfortable day with you in town within this week. If I am as little in favour with Mr. Johnson as ever, you must come to me at 10 Wigmore Street; but I hope this may not be the case, for as Mr. Johnson, with all his faults, is a man to whom that great word " re- spectable " is always given, and I am known to be so intimate with his wife, his slighting me has an awkward look. I take London in my way to that insupport- able spot, a country village; for I am really go- [61 LADY SUSAN ing to Churchhill. Forgive me, my dear friend, it is my last resource. Were there another placr in England open to me, I would prefer it. Charles Vernon is my aversion, and I am afraid of his wife. At Churchhill, however, I must re- main till I have something better in view. ]My young lady accompanies me to town, where I shall deposit her under the care of ]Miss Sum- mers, in Wigmore Street, till she becomes a little more reasonable.
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