Jane Austen (17 page)

Anne encounters Wentworth again in Union Street where the couple:

Anne then makes excuses to Captain Wentworth for the behaviour of Lady Russell, who had erred in the advice she gave to her all those years ago. Yet Lady Russell was, ‘in the place of a parent’, and her (Anne’s) conscience would have suffered had she ignored her ladyship’s advice. Now, it was Anne’s opinion that:

Anne and Captain Wentworth are finally married and their marriage recorded in the ‘
Baronetage
’ by her father Sir Walter Elliot – in his own handwriting.

In
Persuasion
, as is so often the case with Jane’s novels, there are echoes of her own life. For example, a family being obliged to vacate their home (which happened to the Austens on more than one occasion) and an interfering person (Mrs Lefroy) taking it upon herself to destroy the happiness of a young couple in love. The heroine Anne not only reproaches herself for being dictated to by Lady Russell but, most significantly, she attributes her premature loss of youth and bloom to the tragedy which her ladyship created. (This implies that Jane may have attributed the fact of her own fading looks to a failed relationship. The truth, however, was that before she had completed
Persuasion
, she had begun to develop the symptoms and signs of a chronic illness. This will be discussed shortly). Also, Jane’s brother Francis’s adventures are reflected by Jane in her character Admiral Croft who had taken part ‘in the Trafalgar action’ – although, as already mentioned, Francis had narrowly missed the Battle of Trafalgar.

In the debate about love, Anne Elliot is surely echoing Jane’s own thoughts when she says that although her heart had previously been broken (in Jane’s case by both Tom Lefroy and probably by Samuel Blackall), she still loved, even when all hope was gone. Unlike Jane, however, Anne Elliot achieves a happy ending to her story.

Jane’s brothers were never far from her thoughts. For instance, she speaks of the many people ‘whom Edward’s charity has reached’. She also takes a lively interest in his activities, as in
her mention of ‘some very fine chestnuts [trees]’ which he had selected for planting at Godmersham Park.

Her other brother Henry’s physician, Dr Matthew Baillie, was also physician to the Prince Regent. Not only did Baillie inform Jane that the Prince was a great admirer of her novels, but a request was subsequently made to Jane that she dedicate her novel
Emma
to the Prince – which, of course, she did. It was published in December 1815.

In 1816 Henry’s banking house of Austen, Maunde and Tilson collapsed, and on 15 March he was declared bankrupt. He then took holy orders, whereupon his brother Edward presented him with the gift of a curacy at Bentley, near Chawton. (Henry subsequently became Rector of Steventon).

Jane was by now aged 40 and still a single woman – as was her sister Cassandra. Meanwhile, of her six brothers, five had married (but not George), and four had children. And yet, there was no jealousy on Jane’s part – only regret, that thus far she had been unfortunate enough not to find a partner. Instead, she rejoiced at the happiness of her married brothers, together with that of her nephews and nieces (with the possible exception of James and his family, whom she considered to be money-grabbing). She also had to bear the brunt of looking after her ageing mother – who suffered from chronic ill health – and did occasionally complain when she believed one or other of her siblings were not pulling their weight in family matters.

By almost all accounts Jane Austen, in her prime, was an attractive and vivacious woman who took a pride in her appearance, loved children (provided, of course, that they were well behaved) and loved to dance. Jane’s niece Caroline Austen, born in 1805 and daughter of her brother James, said this about her aunt:

Caroline also said that Jane’s ‘charm to children was great sweetness of manner – she seemed to love you, and you loved her naturally in return’.

Kathryn Sutherland, editor of James E. Austen-Leigh’s
A
Memoir of Jane Austen
, describes a ‘lightly executed pencil-and-watercolour portrait’ of Jane, made by Cassandra and dated around 1810 as, ‘the only authentic representation known to exist’.
2
In it, she is depicted unsmiling with chubby cheeks, brown curls, and wearing a bonnet. However, R.W. Chapman describes another
portrait, which is also believed to be of Jane and also in watercolour. This time, she is depicted side on, in an outfit of blue and white, with overskirt, petticoat and bonnet with white ribbon. The portrait is signed and dated by Cassandra ‘C.E.A. 1804’.
3

In late October 1798 Jane wrote humorously to Cassandra:

In late December she told Cassandra that she had attended a ball and had danced twenty dances

On 2 June 1799, writing from Bath, Jane told Cassandra that she looked forward, with pleasure, to a grand gala to be held shortly in Sydney Gardens where there was to be a concert with illuminations and fireworks.
6
And in January 1801 she told Cassandra that she ‘shall want two new coloured gowns for the summer’.
7

Ten years later, in late April 1811, Jane wrote to Cassandra to say that she had been described by the Revd Dr Wyndham Knatchbull (son of Sir Edward Knatchbull by his second wife Frances), as ‘a pleasing looking young woman’. She said, ‘That must do; – one cannot pretend to anything better now – [I am] thankful to have it continued a few years longer!’
8
Alas, for Jane it would only be for a few years.

Jane told Cassandra, in March 1814, that she was still concerned about her attire:

Early in 1816 it was clear that all was not well with Jane Austen. In
A Biographical Notice of the Author
, published in 1818, her brother Henry stated that, ‘The symptoms of a decay, deep and incurable, began to shew themselves …’
10
Jane’s niece Caroline said, ‘I believe Aunt Jane’s health began to fail some time before we knew she was really ill’.
11

On 8–9 September that year Jane wrote to Cassandra, who had recently paid her a visit, saying:

Three months later, Jane refused an invitation to dinner. She said, ‘I was forced to decline it, the walk is beyond my strength (though I am otherwise very well)’.
13

On 24 January 1817 Jane wrote to her friend Alethea Bigg as follows:

Bile is a bitter, greenish-brown alkaline fluid which is produced by the liver, stored in the gall bladder, and secreted into the gut. It contains waste products and also enzymes, which break down fat and aid digestion. A bilious attack, which Jane appears to have suffered from at least one of, indicates vomiting of such severity as to cause the contents, not only of the
stomach but also of its exit passage the duodenum, to reflux up into the oesophagus and mouth.

Little information is available for the month of February 1817, apart from the fact that Jane had pain in one knee which she wrapped in flannel. However, a letter of hers dated 23/25 March, and written to her favourite niece Fanny Knight, contains important information:

Jane was evidently distressed by her changing facial appearance, yet she resigned herself to it in her typically courageous way.

At the beginning of April 1817 Jane’s niece Caroline went to stay for a few days at Wyards, a mile north of Chawton, which was the home of her half-sister Anna and Anna’s husband Ben Lefroy. From here, she visited Jane and reported as follows:

In a letter to her brother Charles of 6 April 1817, Jane tells of further problems with her health:

The attacks, or crises, were becoming more severe, making Jane feel apprehensive at her rapid deterioration. Jane wrote a despairing letter to her friend Anne Sharp; it contains several more important clues as to from what she was suffering:

She told Anne that she had arranged to go to Winchester so as to be under the care of a well-known surgeon there, Mr. Lyford.
18
This was Giles King Lyford, Surgeon-in-Ordinary at the County Hospital. (It will be remembered that Giles’s uncle, John Lyford, surgeon of Basingstoke, had previously attended Jane’s mother Mrs Austen).

Shortly afterwards Jane wrote to her nephew James E. Austen-Leigh, and said that her appearance was still distressing to her:

She also told James that she was eating her meals in a rational way and was employing herself, though lying on the sofa most of the day.
19

James E. Austen-Leigh describes how, during what was to be Jane’s final illness, ‘two of her brothers, who were clergymen [i.e. James and Henry], lived near enough to Winchester to be in frequent attendance’.
20

Nowhere are Jane’s loving feelings towards Cassandra made clearer than in a letter that she wrote in May 1817 to Frances, daughter of James Tilson (who was a partner in her brother Henry’s former London bank), when she was seriously ill. Whatever their past differences may have been, all was now forgiven and forgotten. Jane wrote:

In
Persuasion
, the heroine Anne Elliot attributed the fact that she had become prematurely ‘faded’, ‘thin’, and ‘haggard’, to a failed romance. This implies that Jane may well have done the same. In fact, the real cause of Jane’s debility lay elsewhere, as will soon be seen. As for Anne, her bloom returned once more when she was assured of the true love of Captain Wentworth.