Letter #10, Post #12

Thursday 3 May 2012
To Cassandra, from Steventon, "-I hear that Martha is in better looks & Spirits than she has enjoyed for a long time; & I flatter myself she will now be able to jest openly about Mr W."-Jane Austen, Saturday 27-Sunday 28 October 1798

Martha Lloyd was a close friend to Jane Austen. Even though she was ten years older than Jane they got along quite well.

Mr. W, humm, Willoughby, Wickham...?

In an article from The Jane Austen Society of Australia

http://www.jasa.net.au/japeople/marthalloyd.htm

The people in Jane Austen's life - The best friend: Martha Lloyd by Lorraine Lock, she quotes Park Honan, the writer of Jane Austen Her Life: 

"Park Honan does provide some insights into Martha’s romance and possible faults: …"

'once she had suffered in a broken romance, and recovered slowly: ‘I hear Martha.’ Jane had told her sister, ‘is in better looks and spirits than she has enjoyed for a long time & I flatter myself she will now be able to jest openly about Mr W’. But it seems Mr W had left a mark and Martha had become more receptive and self-effacing. Her one fault lay in her goodness or in a slavish running off to those in need, such as to Mrs Dundas, her invalid friend at Barton Court in Kintbury … She took cues in humour from Jane while meeting Mrs Austen’s standards, so seemed an ideal companion. ‘With Martha Lloyd’ Jane once wrote, ‘who will be so happy as we?’"

                        A Daguerreotype of Martha in old age on show at the Museum

http://janeaustenshousemuseumblog.com/2012/03/25/martha-lloyds-household-book/

                This is a clearer picture, but it does not show the framed case of the original.

Maybe Martha was like many of us. Jane wrote a letter to Cassandra on Tuesday 11 June 1799 and jokingly wrote, "I would not let Martha read First Impressions again upon any account, & am very glad that I did not leave it in your power.-She is very cunning, but I see through her design;-she means to publish it from Memory, & one more perusal must enable her to do it."

How many times have you read Pride and Prejudice (First Impressions became Pride and Prejudice) and still enjoyed it as much as you did the first time? Have you ever seen Lost In Austen? I recommend it. It is worth your time.

I hope you enjoyed your day today!
Terrie