Jane Austen Stole My Boyfriend (17 page)

After about ten minutes I said to Jane that I was perhaps making a fuss about nothing and that I didn’t want to spoil their enjoyment. Perhaps we should just concentrate on searching for
the Merlin swing in the centre of the labyrinth.

‘No, we should go on looking for her, because once we get to Merlin’s swing we’ll have to go out,’ said Jane, but the way her face lit up and then fell when I mentioned
Merlin’s swing was enough. I knew that she was dying to try it out. Harry looked from one to the other of us.

‘No, let’s go,’ I insisted. ‘Can you see it, Harry?’

‘I can see it,’ he said. ‘This way.’

Even from inside the hedged paths, Merlin’s swing was easily visible to everyone who was not as small as I was. To make it even easier to find, a man stood on it when it was not occupied
and shouted encouragement to couples who looked as though they were getting desperate – though many, snuggled into benches in leafy alcoves, seemed happy to be lost forever!!!

It wasn’t easy to find though as the paths threaded in and out and turned direction in a most confusing way. Harry, however, was a man who was used to finding his way through dense
woodland. At every corner where men and girls were debating which way to turn, he made an instant and decisive choice, and within a few minutes we were at the centre of the labyrinth, being
congratulated by the attendant.

‘Don’t look so worried, Miss Jenny,’ whispered Harry as the attendant assisted Jane to climb into the boat-like swing. ‘I’ve just thought that we might be able to
see your friend from the swing. You’re very high up in that. We should be able to see the whole of the maze from up there.’

I thanked him. Harry is becoming more and more impressive, I think.

‘In you go, young lady,’ said the attendant. ‘Don’t worry – it’s as safe as houses.’

The Merlin swing was more like a boat than a swing. It hung from a bar between two twenty-foot-tall posts. By pulling the ropes alternately the boat goes higher and higher. It was so exciting
that I screamed at one stage, but Jane only laughed and pulled her rope harder. Then she stood up, and Harry stood up and the boat really flew through the air. We could see everything – all
over the gardens!

And then I remembered Elinor. I stood up too, pulling hard on the rope. I should have been scared, but I was concentrating too hard to be frightened.

There was a small grotto – very romantic-looking, filled with moss and tiny white flowers – at the end of one of those passages in the maze that led to nowhere. There were two
figures in it – very closely entwined. The lights were bright though and I could see the purple gown and the pale blue coat. It was definitely Elinor and Sir Walter.

‘Harry, there she is,’ I said, and I pointed. He nodded grimly and at once began to slow the swing. Jane did not protest. This was a situation after her own heart: the dastardly
baronet and the innocent young girl. It could have come straight out of
Clarissa
!

‘Thank you, sir,’ said the attendant. He was probably used to groups swinging for as long as they possibly could and was grateful we had stopped so quickly of our own accord.
‘This is the way out, sir; you’ll get straight back to the main pathway if you go through that gate just there.’

I wondered what Harry would do. Obviously the man wouldn’t allow people to go back into the labyrinth from here. I could see him looking puzzled, running his hand over his blond hair, his
blue eyes unsure and anxious. It was left to Jane, of course, to deal with the situation.

‘Oh no!’ She gave an artistic little scream as she felt at her neck. ‘Oh, Jenny, I’ve lost the miniature of my great-uncle! Do you remember that I was showing it to you
when we were sitting in that grotto? I wonder whether I left it there. Oh, what will I do?’

She gazed at the attendant with the distraught expression of a devoted great-niece who has lost what she values the most.

‘Don’t you worry, miss,’ he said reassuringly. ‘I’ll just slip you out here. I’ll show the gentleman where to go too. It’s just next to the entrance.
You’ll go back out that way when you find it though, won’t you? I’d get into trouble if you came to have a second chance of Merlin’s swing.’

‘We’ll certainly do that; it’s really very kind of you,’ said Jane with one of her most charming smiles, and Harry and I murmured our thanks.

Once out, Harry was back in control again and he strode along the pathways looking determined.

‘Shame I don’t have my gun,’ he said to Jane with his attractive lopsided grin.

‘Duelling pistols would be more appropriate to a hero,’ said Jane primly, and Harry laughed.

‘In here,’ he said after a few minutes and we turned down a short avenue between two hedges. At the top of it was the grotto that I had seen from high on Merlin’s swing.

There were still two figures there. But they were entwined. The blue coat enclosed the purple gown; the baronet was kissing the lady!

And the lady was not struggling.

Not pulling back.

Not trying to scream.

Just there, in his arms.

Perhaps Elinor does love this Sir Walter????

After all, I suppose brothers aren’t always aware what is in their sisters’ heads – I should know!

I’ve just stopped writing to ask Jane how she felt at the moment when we realized that Elinor was kissing Sir Walter.

Jane has been thinking about this question and this is her answer. She counted her feelings out on her fingers:

‘Firstly, I felt embarrassed.

‘Secondly, I felt that it wasn’t a real love scene.

‘And then,‘ she went on, ‘I began to look at her carefully when they stopped kissing, and this is what I thought . . .

‘
I thought she looked frightened.

‘I thought that, although she looked excited and sort of thrilled, she looked ashamed at the same time.

‘I thought she didn’t look happy.’

We went on discussing love for quite a while.

‘You should know all about this, Jenny,’ said Jane, in the severe tones of a schoolmistress. ‘You are the one in love. Pray tell me, dear girl, what does being in love make you
feel like?’

‘I’m not sure . . .’ I hesitated and Jane cut in immediately.

‘Come, come, my dear, you can do better than that. Think hard!’

‘It’s a bit like sitting in front of a blazing fire, drinking hot spiced wine and knowing that something very exciting is going to happen,’ I said eventually.

‘Excellent!’ said Jane in a mock-patronizing tone. ‘You are doing well, Jenny dear. Now tell me – do you ever feel sad about loving Thomas?’

‘Never!’ I exclaimed.

‘And how do you know that he is the right man for you?’

‘Because I never have any doubts.’

‘You answered that nice and quickly,’ said Jane approvingly. Excited, happy and certain. I must remember that for my novels. And, of course, for that wonderful moment when I too meet
my hero.’

I smiled. ‘Do you know who I think acted like a hero in Sydney Gardens?’

‘Dear Harry,’ mused Jane. ‘Yes, he was rather splendid, wasn’t he?’

Here are some of our comments about Harry.

‘I liked the way he said so calmly, “Miss Williams, your governess sent us to find you.” This was mine.

‘I liked the way that he casually slipped his hand into his pocket as if he had one of a pair of pistols there.’ This was Jane’s.

‘And the way that he looked at Sir Walter and didn’t look at Elinor.’ I had thought that very sensitive of him because once Elinor had seen us she burst into tears.

‘The best bit was where he said, “Please take my arm, Miss Williams,” and he just waited even though she was in tears. I couldn’t believe it, with Sir Walter blustering
and shouting, “I’m having a private conversation with this lady, young man. You are an ill-mannered puppy, sir!” but Harry just took no notice, held out his arm to Elinor with a
lovely smile and acted as though Sir Walter wasn’t even there. And Elinor clung to his arm as though he were her brother.’ Jane keeps laughing so much that she is jogging my elbow.
That’s why this handwriting is so bad!

‘And then when Sir Walter shouted after us, “You’ll hear from my friends, sir!” and Harry just said, “That’ll be good. I miss my daily session of shooting
rats and such-like vermin in Hampshire.” And he said it without even turning his head. That was the best bit, I think.’ I laughed when I said this, but Jane just looked thoughtful.

‘Dear, dear Harry! I never saw him stand up to someone before now. He was always such a gentle boy. All his brothers bullied him, and so did my brothers – all except Frank.’
Jane looked so serious when she said these words that I decided not to discuss Elinor any more. Jane needs time to think about the men in her life to sort out what she really feels for Harry.
Elinor is my responsibility, not hers.

I feel worried about Elinor. Jane is right. She didn’t look like a girl in love.

So why was she allowing Sir Walter to kiss her?

Did she feel that she had to obey her uncle? Obviously he wants Sir Walter to marry her and perhaps Elinor thought that was the right way to engage his affections.

Or was it that no one gives her much love and affection? That governess looks dreary and worn out. And Thomas is away so much that she can see very little of him. Perhaps she found it comforting
to be shown affection by Sir Walter because she receives very little from anyone else.

And the admiral is rather terrifying.

This morning, Jane and I shall call on her.

We called in at the lodgings in York Street, down near the Pump Room, just after lunch but we couldn’t persuade Elinor to be friends. We couldn’t even get her to
speak to us.

It’s difficult to talk to someone who makes it plain that they dislike you – I realize that Thomas is her hero and she can’t forgive me for taking him away from her but, to be
honest, I don’t think that she likes Jane either. It was like talking to a ghost or someone who was scared stiff. Unfortunately the admiral was there. Every time that either Jane or I asked
Elinor a question, she hesitated and then the admiral jumped in and answered it for her – just putting in, ‘Is that not so, Elinor?’ at the end of each reply.

And Elinor would say, ‘Yes, Uncle,’ in a very small, quiet voice.

Sometimes the governess spoke for her and then she would say, ‘Yes, Miss Taylor,’ in the same tone.

An invitation to walk up Milsom Street and look into the shop windows was firmly refused by the admiral on the grounds that it might rain.

Elinor didn’t look disappointed. Or even interested. Just went on staring at the floor.

She was dressed in yet another purple gown – it was silk, but a harsh colour, more like something that an elderly lady would wear than a proper gown for a girl of our age.

‘What does Sir Walter Montmorency see in her?’ asked Jane in a puzzled voice when we were walking away from the house. ‘I would have thought he would look for something more
sophisticated. She’s not really even pretty. She’s too washed-out looking.’

I told Jane that I thought it was the purple gown that made Elinor look so pale.

‘Why does she wear that awful colour? It looks dreadful on her.’

‘It’s a pity she wouldn’t come out with us,’ I said. ‘We could have taken her to that lovely shop and shown her some muslins; the admiral is very, very rich, you
know, and Thomas told me that he is giving Elinor a large dowry. He wants her to make an excellent match.’

And then Jane stopped, dead in the middle of the pavement, earning herself an annoyed glance from an elderly gentleman with a stick who had almost bumped into her.

‘I know what it is,’ she said in a loud, clear voice. ‘I know what the dastardly baronet is up to.’

‘Shh,’ I whispered. ‘Everyone will hear you. Quick, come in here, into the abbey. We can talk quietly there.’

Giggling together we ran along York Street and rushed into the abbey.

Many of the people examining the wonderful carvings and admiring the stained-glass windows turned round when we came rushing in. We crept to the back of the church, to a dark corner where there
didn’t seem to be anything of interest, and we fell on our knees with our bonnets touching.

‘What?’ I hissed.

‘He’s after her fortune, that’s it,’ said Jane. Her dark hazel eyes were sparkling with excitement. ‘Do you remember we saw him gambling – in the card room?
He may have lost all his own money – just like that Duchess of Devonshire. What sort of fortune will the admiral give Elinor?’

I told her I wasn’t sure but thought it would be quite large eventually, and even now he had settled fifty thousand pounds on her.

‘Well, that would be two thousand, five hundred pounds a year for a start,’ whispered Jane, who was good at arithmetic. ‘Imagine! My father only has five hundred pounds a
year.’

‘And my fortune is fifty pounds a year!’ I felt a bit sorry that I was not worth more to Thomas, but then I didn’t think he was the sort of man to want to marry a girl for her
fortune. He was too independent. He was certain that he would make his own fortune in the navy.

‘But, Jane,’ I said after a minute, ‘I suppose even if that is true, if Elinor likes him, then there is no reason why we should interfere. Let him ask for her hand from the
admiral, like an honourable man.’ And then I giggled a little because that did sound like something out of one of Mrs Radcliffe’s novels.

Jane shook her head wisely. ‘Jenny, you and I know that is not the way things are. Do you know what Harry was muttering when you were talking to Miss Taylor? Well, he was saying no
honourable man would take advantage of a young girl like that. Wasn’t that splendid?’

I agreed that it was splendid, but it troubled me. There was something very wrong about the situation between Elinor and Sir Walter Montmorency.

Oh, Thomas, I will do my best for your sister. Jane’s probably right; there is something wrong.

Tuesday evening, 26 April

This afternoon we had some luck, because as we went down towards Sydney Gardens we met Elinor and her governess.

We asked permission to accompany them and Jane suggested going into the gardens. Miss Taylor agreed enthusiastically, but just as she was in the middle of her sentence Elinor interrupted her and
said that she didn’t want to go – that she hated the place. She sounded quite rude and I was surprised.