castle square, tuesday (december 27).

my dear cassandra,—i can now write at leisure and make the most of my subjects, which is lucky, as they are not numerous this week.

our house was cleared by half-past eleven on saturday, and we had the satisfaction of hearing yesterday that the party reached home in safety soon after five.

i was very glad of your letter this morning; for, my mother taking medicine, eliza keeping her bed with a cold, and choles not coming, made us rather dull and dependent on the post. you tell me much that gives me pleasure, but i think not much to answer. i wish i could help you in your needlework. i have two hands and a new thimble that lead a very easy life.

lady sondes' match surprises, but does not offend me; had her first marriage been of affection, or had there been a grown-up single daughter, i should not have forgiven her; but i consider everybody as having a right to marry once in their lives for love, if they can, and provided she will now leave off having bad headaches and being pathetic, i can allow her, i can wish her, to be happy.

do not imagine that your picture of your tête-à-tête with sir b. makes any change in our expectations here; he could not be really reading,[128] though he held the newspaper in his hand; he was making up his mind to the deed, and the manner of it. i think you will have a letter from him soon.

i heard from portsmouth yesterday, and as i am to send them more clothes, they cannot be expecting a very early return to us. mary's face is pretty well, but she must have suffered a great deal with it; an abscess was formed and opened.

our evening party on thursday produced nothing more remarkable than miss murden's coming too, though she had declined it absolutely in the morning, and sitting very ungracious and very silent with us from seven o'clock till half after eleven, for so late was it, owing to the chairmen, before we got rid of them.

the last hour, spent in yawning and shivering in a wide circle round the fire, was dull enough, but the tray had admirable success. the widgeon and the preserved ginger were as delicious as one could wish. but as to our black butter, do not decoy anybody to southampton by such a lure, for it is all gone. the first pot was opened when frank and mary were here, and proved not at all what it ought to be; it was neither solid nor entirely sweet, and on seeing it, eliza remembered that miss austen had said she did not think it had been boiled enough. it was made, you know, when we were absent. such being the event of[129] the first pot, i would not save the second, and we therefore ate it in unpretending privacy; and though not what it ought to be, part of it was very good.

james means to keep three horses on this increase of income; at present he has but one. mary wishes the other two to be fit to carry women, and in the purchase of one edward will probably be called upon to fulfil his promise to his godson. we have now pretty well ascertained james's income to be eleven hundred pounds, curate paid, which makes us very happy,—the ascertainment as well as the income.

mary does not talk of the garden; it may well be a disagreeable subject to her, but her husband is persuaded that nothing is wanting to make the first new one good but trenching, which is to be done by his own servants and john bond, by degrees, not at the expense which trenching the other amounted to.

i was happy to hear, chiefly for anna's sake, that a ball at manydown was once more in agitation; it is called a child's ball, and given by mrs. heathcote to wm. such was its beginning at least, but it will probably swell into something more. edward was invited during his stay at manydown, and it is to take place between this and twelfth-day. mrs. hulbert has taken anna a pair of white shoes on the occasion.

[130]

i forgot in my last to tell you that we hear, by way of kintbury and the palmers, that they were all well at bermuda in the beginning of nov.

wednesday.—yesterday must have been a day of sad remembrance at gm.[10] i am glad it is over. we spent friday evening with our friends at the boarding-house, and our curiosity was gratified by the sight of their fellow-inmates, mrs. drew and miss hook, mr. wynne and mr. fitzhugh; the latter is brother to mrs. lance, and very much the gentleman. he has lived in that house more than twenty years, and, poor man! is so totally deaf that they say he could not hear a cannon, were it fired close to him; having no cannon at hand to make the experiment, i took it for granted, and talked to him a little with my fingers, which was funny enough. i recommended him to read "corinna."

miss hook is a well-behaved, genteelish woman; mrs. drew well behaved, without being at all genteel. mr. wynne seems a chatty and rather familiar young man. miss murden was quite a different creature this last evening from what she had been before, owing to her having with martha's help found a situation in the morning, which bids very fair for comfort. when she leaves steventon, she comes to board and lodge with mrs. hookey, the chemist—for there is no mr. hookey.[131] i cannot say that i am in any hurry for the conclusion of her present visit, but i was truly glad to see her comfortable in mind and spirits; at her age, perhaps, one may be as friendless oneself, and in similar circumstances quite as captious.

my mother has been lately adding to her possessions in plate,—a whole tablespoon and a whole dessert-spoon, and six whole teaspoons,—which makes our sideboard border on the magnificent. they were mostly the produce of old or useless silver. i have turned the 11s. in the list into 12s., and the card looks all the better; a silver tea-ladle is also added, which will at least answer the purpose of making us sometimes think of john warren.

i have laid lady sondes' case before martha, who does not make the least objection to it, and is particularly pleased with the name of montresor. i do not agree with her there, but i like his rank very much, and always affix the ideas of strong sense and highly elegant manners to a general.

i must write to charles next week. you may guess in what extravagant terms of praise earle harwood speaks of him. he is looked up to by everybody in all america.

i shall not tell you anything more of wm. digweed's china, as your silence on the subject makes you unworthy of it. mrs. h. digweed looks forward with great satisfaction to our being her[132] neighbors. i would have her enjoy the idea to the utmost, as i suspect there will not be much in the reality. with equal pleasure we anticipate an intimacy with her husband's bailiff and his wife, who live close by us, and are said to be remarkably good sort of people.

yes, yes, we will have a pianoforte, as good a one as can be got for thirty guineas, and i will practise country dances, that we may have some amusement for our nephews and nieces, when we have the pleasure of their company.

martha sends her love to henry, and tells him that he will soon have a bill of miss chaplin's, about 14l., to pay on her account; but the bill shall not be sent in till his return to town. i hope he comes to you in good health, and in spirits as good as a first return to godmersham can allow. with his nephews he will force himself to be cheerful, till he really is so. send me some intelligence of eliza; it is a long while since i have heard of her.

we have had snow on the ground here almost a week; it is now going, but southampton must boast no longer. we all send our love to edward junior and his brothers, and i hope speculation is generally liked.

fare you well.

yours affectionately,

j. austen.

[133]

my mother has not been out of doors this week, but she keeps pretty well. we have received through bookham an indifferent account of your godmother.

miss austen, edward austen's, esq.,

godmersham park, faversham, kent.