Read The Jane Austen Handbook Online
Authors: Margaret C. Sullivan
The Jane Austen Handbook (5 page)
Fig. C
4. Turn the paper 90 degrees in either direction. Continue writing at a right angle across the lines you have already written
(
Fig. A
)
.
Fig. D
5. Fold the paper into its own envelope. With the blank side
underneath
(
Fig. B
)
, fold in each long side to meet in the middle
(
Fig. C
)
. (If you have more to say, you can write on the blank flaps as well, but they might be visible to anyone who handles the letter.) Fold the letter up on itself into three or four sections, leaving a little room between the top edge and the uppermost fold
(
Fig. D
)
. Tuck the bottom flap into the sides of the top flap to make a little package
(
Fig. E
)
.
Fig. E
6. Seal the letter. Heat a stick of wax over a candle and place a few drops on the flap, pressing down with an embossed seal for a pretty touch
(
Fig. F
)
. If you find that method too messy, use a wafer made of flour and gum backed with paper. The waxy side becomes sticky when moistened and makes an excellent seal that will not melt in hot weather.
Fig. F
7. Direct the letter. On the unsealed side, write out the direction (address)—the person’s name (the eldest unmarried daughter’s address is simply Miss Bennet; younger daughters are addressed as Miss Elizabeth Bennet), village, and county
(
Fig. G
)
. If the address is in London, add the street address, as letters are delivered to one’s house there; in the country one must pick up one’s letters at the village post office. If your letter is being franked (see “Franking,” opposite), leave it blank in case the person doing the franking is particular about directing it himself.
Fig. G
8. Deliver the letter to the post office. Have a servant run the errand, or do it yourself if this is a private communication.
NOTE:
For invitations and other short notes that will be hand-carried by a servant, an elegant little sheet of hot-pressed paper will serve nicely; simply wrap it in a plain sheet of the same paper and seal it.
•
Add extra pages if it will not increase the recipient’s cost
. If a kind neighbor offers to carry a letter to a distant friend, take him up on it, because then you can write as much as you like.
•
Always write when news is expected, whether it is good or bad
. It is unkind to leave friends in suspense, and when they have no news to impart to the neighborhood, the neighborhood may make up unkind news to fill the void.
•
Send a half crown under the seal
. This will help the recipient defray the cost of postage when a letter is not franked.
•
Have a care with the direction
. You would not want your friends to miss important news. Even if you are upset, take the time to write carefully!
•
Write bad news only when it is definite
. Do not make conjectures that will alarm your family with premature apprehension.
•
Speak of more than just money
. Do not make an application for financial assistance the obvious point of the letter. Ask after the folks back home, and tell them a little bit about what’s going on in your life.
•
Bear in mind the consequences of your words
. Do not write anything unflattering about someone you may want to impress later—such letters can be saved and produced at inconvenient times.
•
Do not end a courtship via letter
. No one ever looks good doing so.
FRANKING
If you were so fortunate as to have a member of either house of Parliament handy, he could “frank” your letters so the recipient would not have to pay for postage. The person franking the letter was supposed to sign the front of the letter in addition to writing the recipient’s name and direction, but in many cases he simply signed his name to a letter that already had been directed.
OF BILLETS-DOUX
It was exceedingly improper for unmarried, unrelated persons of the opposite sex to correspond. Nonetheless, there are examples of such correspondence in almost all of Jane Austen’s novels.
• In
Sense and Sensibility
, Marianne Dashwood wrote several letters to Willoughby, and her acquaintances therefore assumed they were engaged. Even Elinor, whom one would expect to know her sister’s secrets, began to think so.
•
Pride and Prejudice
’s Mr. Darcy writes a letter to Elizabeth Bennet to correct her misapprehensions about him. He seeks her out at a time when he knows she will be alone and hands her the letter, though he is uncomfortable seeing her, rather than sending a servant who might spread gossip.
• Edmund Bertram writes to Fanny Price in
Mansfield Park
, but she is his
cousin
, and he is in love with Mary Crawford at the time in any event.
• Jane Austen hints that
Northanger Abbey
’s Henry Tilney and Catherine Morland exchanged letters while they waited for General Tilney to change his mind about giving his blessing to their marriage. Catherine’s parents “looked the other way” because they knew that Henry and Catherine considered themselves as good as engaged and trusted that the general would change his mind eventually.
• In
Persuasion
, Captain Wentworth pours out his heart to Anne Elliot in a letter, which he cannot hand to her openly, but with true naval fervor he finds a way to get it to her nonetheless.
“Well, my dear,” said Mrs. Jennings, “and how did you travel?”
“Not in the stage, I assure you,” replied Miss Steele, with quick exultation; “we came post all the way, and had a very smart beau to attend us. Dr. Davies was coming to town, and so we thought we’d join him in a post-chaise; and he behaved very genteelly, and paid ten or twelve shillings more than we did.” —
S
ENSE AND
S
ENSIBILITY
Getting from place to place is fraught with anxiety for ladies, since motorized transportation won’t be an option until the twentieth century. Travel over long distances requires horse-power—literally. The level of comfort provided in the travel accommodations is determined by the amount a person can pay. Here’s a rundown of your options for moving about the country, in journeys short and long.
•
Walk
. If you are so fortunate as to live near a village that boasts shops and neighbors to visit, take advantage of your situation. The exercise will bring a glow to your complexion and a sparkle to your eyes that gentlemen will notice far more than the mud on your petticoat.
•
Ride on horseback
. If walking is too fatiguing, horseback riding is excellent exercise and will get you out in the fresh air without overtiring you. (See “
How to Ride Sidesaddle
”.)
•
Hire a sedan chair
. The chair consists of a closed box with a seat, an opening in the front, and poles along each side. Two chairmen use the poles to carry the chair through city streets. Sedan chairs are very popular in Bath because of the confluence of elderly and ill people, steep hills, and the expense and difficulty of maintaining one’s own carriage. Even the young and healthy use them to get home from evening engagements. They are not unknown in London but are rarely seen in the country.
•
Drive a donkey cart
. If your personal situation does not permit keeping a carriage, a donkey cart—a plain wooden cart drawn by a single donkey—is ideal for travel in good weather in the country, especially for older ladies. Donkeys are easier to control than horses and cheaper to maintain; just hope that the stubborn little beast doesn’t stand in the middle of the road and refuse to move.
