The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen (51 page)

“A good man, that Stephen.”

“Yes. He is.”

“I’m glad you’ll be here for a while. It will give us time to become better acquainted—to discover if we have anything in common other than a profound respect for Jane Austen.”

I laughed. “Sounds good to me, Mr. Whitaker.”

He gave me a warm smile. “Did I ever tell you how much I enjoyed the time we spent together, finding and reading that manuscript?”

“I believe you might have mentioned it…once.”

“It was the best day of my life.”

“Mine, too.”

“All these months, I couldn’t get you out of my mind. According to Jane, it’s the imperfect gentleman, the one who proves he can grow and change, who is deemed worthy of the heroine’s affections.” He stopped and faced me, gently taking my hand in his. “I’d like to tell myself that I stopped the auction for Jane and her readers, but the truth is, Samantha…I did it for you.”

At the touch of his strong fingers against mine, and the affectionate look in his blue eyes, a shiver danced through me. All rational thought danced out of my head. This time, I followed my impulse. I wrapped my arms around him and drew him close.

“Thank you,” I whispered. Then I kissed him.

It was an absolutely exquisite kiss.

“By the way,” he said afterward, his voice soft and deep, “you overlooked something when you invented that ‘W Club.’”

“Did I?”

“Not every member is a scoundrel. Case in point:
Persuasion
.”

I gave a little gasp. “Captain Wentworth!”

Anthony nodded. With charm and grace, and a dashing smile, he turned and offered me his arm. I took it. As we strolled on, taking in the rare beauty of the day, I knew there was nowhere else I’d rather be.

According to Hints from Various Quarters

BY J
ANE
A
USTEN

Scene to be in the Country, Heroine the Daughter of a Clergyman,
¹
one who after having lived much in the World had retired from it and settled in a Curacy, with a very small fortune of his own.—He, the most excellent Man that can be imagined, perfect in Character, Temper, & Manners—without the smallest drawback or peculiarity to prevent his being the most delightful companion to his Daughter from one year’s end to the other.

Heroine,
²
a faultless Character herself—perfectly good, with much tenderness & sentiment, & not the least Wit
³
—very highly accomplished,
⁴
understanding modern Languages & (generally speaking) everything that the most
accomplished young Women learn, but particularly excelling in Music—her favourite pursuit—and playing equally well on the Piano Forte & Harp—& singing in the first stile. Her Person quite beautiful
⁵
—dark eyes and plump cheeks.

Book to open with the description of Father & Daughter—who are to converse in long speeches, elegant Language—& a tone of high serious sentiment.—The Father to be induced, at his Daughter’s earnest request, to relate to her the past events of his Life. This Narrative will reach through the greatest part of the 1st vol.—as besides all the circumstances of his attachment to her Mother & their Marriage, it will comprehend his going to sea as Chaplain
⁶
to a distinguished Naval Character about the Court, his going afterwards to Court himself, which introduced him to a great variety of Characters and involved him in many interesting situations, concluding with his opinions on the Benefits to result from Tythes being done away, & his having buried his own Mother (Heroine’s lamented Grandmother) in consequence of the High Priest of the Parish in which she died, refusing to pay her Remains the respect due to them.

The Father to be of a very literary turn, an Enthusiast in Literature, nobody’s Enemy but his own—at the same time most zealous in discharge of his Pastoral Duties, the model of an exemplary Parish Priest.
⁷
The heroine’s friendship to be sought after by a young woman in the same Neighbourhood, of Talents and Shrewdness, with light eyes and a fair skin,
but having a considerable degree of Wit,
⁸
Heroine shall shrink from the acquaintance.

From this outset, the Story will proceed, and contain a striking variety of adventures. Heroine & her Father never above a fortnight together in one place,
⁹
he
being driven from his Curacy by the vile arts of some totally unprincipled and heartless young Man, desperately in love with the Heroine, and pursuing her with unrelenting passion—no sooner settled in one Country of Europe than they are necessitated to quit it and retire to another—always making new acquaintance, & always obliged to leave them.—This will of course exhibit a wide variety of Characters—but there will be no mixture; the scene will be for ever shifting from one Set of People to another—but All the Good
¹⁰
will be unexceptionable in every respect—and there will be no foibles or weaknesses but with the Wicked, who will be completely depraved & infamous, hardly a resemblance of humanity left in them.

Early in her career, in the progress of her first removals, Heroine must meet with the Hero
¹¹
—all perfection of course—& only prevented from paying his addresses to her, by some excess of refinement.—Wherever she goes, somebody falls in love with her, & she receives repeated offers of Marriage—which she refers wholly to her Father, exceedingly angry that he
¹²
should not be first applied to.—Often carried away by the anti-hero, but rescued either by her
Father or by the Hero—often reduced to support herself & her Father by her Talents, & work for her Bread; continually cheated & defrauded of her hire, worn down to a Skeleton, & now & then starved to death.

At last, hunted out of civilized Society, denied the poor Shelter of the humblest Cottage, they are compelled to retreat into Kamschatka where the poor Father, quite worn down, finding his end approaching, throws himself on the Ground, and after 4 or 5 hours of tender advice & parental Admonition to his miserable Child, expires in a fine burst of Literary Enthusiasm, intermingled with Invectives against Holders of Tythes.

Heroine inconsolable for some time—but afterwards crawls back towards her former Country—having at least 20 narrow escapes from falling into the hands of the Anti-hero—& at last in the very nick of time, turning a corner to avoid him, runs into the arms of the Hero himself, who having just shaken off the scruples which fetter’d him before, was at the very moment setting off in pursuit of her.—The Tenderest & completest Eclaircissement takes place, & they are happily united.—Throughout the whole work, Heroine to be in the most elegant Society
¹³
& living in high style. The name of the work
not
to be
Emma
,
¹⁴
Mrs. Craven but of the same sort as S. & S. and P. & P.
¹⁵

1.
Mr. Gifford

2.
Fanny Knight

3.
Mary Cooke

4.
Fanny Knight

5.
Mary Cooke

6.
Mr. Clarke

7.
Mr. Sherer

8.
Mary Cooke

9.
Many critics

10.
Mary Cooke

11.
Fanny Knight

12.
Mrs. Pearse of Chilton Lodge

13.
Fanny Knight

14.
Mrs. Craven

15.
Mr. H. Sanford

I am indebted to the following people for their assistance in bringing this novel to fruition:

My husband, Bill, for being my rock, my best friend, my source of inspiration, and my lifelong love. Thank you for your endless support on this wonderful journey we are sharing together, and for always being the one to read the first draft.

My agent, Tamar Rydzinski, for encouraging me to write it, and for being such an amazing and invaluable source of information, guidance, and support. I am so grateful.

My editor, Jackie Cantor, for enthusiastically championing the book and for giving me such incredibly smart notes…and the whole team at The Berkley Publishing Group. Thank you! I love working with you.

Laurel Ann Nattress, Austen aficionado extraordinaire, for reading two early drafts, and (while snowed in for several days) pondering the story line and offering wisdom and advice as to how to make it better. You are a brilliant woman, and I am so glad to be your friend.

Diana Birchall, Austen expert and fellow author, for her extremely insightful feedback on the Austen portion of the manuscript. The book is better because of you.

Christine Megowan, Special Collections Librarian at LMU, for generously giving of her time and expertise, and particularly for her explanation of the way books were originally bound.

Dr. Linda Hall, English professor at Chapman University, for sharing her personal and professional insights and experiences. Your love of literature and teaching is an inspiration.

Michelle Drew, a remarkable woman who, after a two-minute meeting at a book signing, became a valued friend and factual advisor, despite living all the way across the pond. Thank you for the research about all things British, including such obscure details as nineteenth-century bell forging and clerical stipends.

Michelle Shuffett, M.D., for her help with the modern-day medical stuff. You have been there for me over the years for every single book and screenplay, and I am most appreciative.

Ryan James, my very smart son, for his usual round of excellent feedback. I always think the manuscript is perfect when I give it to you, and of course it never is.

1.  
The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen
is a novel within a novel. Did you enjoy reading both the present-day story of Samantha and Anthony, and the nineteenth-century story of Rebecca Stanhope? Were you equally invested in each story, or did you prefer one over the other? Would the book have been equally effective if
The Stanhopes
had been a stand-alone novel?

2.  Jane Austen wrote that “pictures of perfection make me sick and wicked,” and her main characters usually must acknowledge and learn from their mistakes before they can find hap piness. How do Rebecca and Mr. Clifton earn their happy ending? What are their respective outlooks on life at the beginning of the novel? How do they each grow and chang001e? How do the lessons they learn affect Samantha and Anthony—and help them earn
their
happy ending?

3.  The author uses Austen’s
Plan of a Novel
as a plot device for
The Stanhopes.
Why do you think she made this decision? Compare
The Stanhopes
with Austen’s
Plan.
Why do you think the author chose to mirror some elements but not others?

4.  Were you surprised when you learned the truth about Dr. Jack Watkins, Mr. Clifton, and Amelia Davenport? How does Jane Austen similarly misrepresent the true personalities of characters such as Mr. Darcy, Mr. Wickham, and Isabella Thorpe, who appear in her novels?