There are several letters missing between letter thirteen, written Tuesday 18-Wednesday 19 December 1798, and letter fourteen, which was written Saturday 1-Sunday 2 December 1798. Jane Austen had celebrated her twenty-third birthday on 16 December 1798. I am sure Cassandra would have written to her to wish her happy.
Letter 14 was given by Cassandra to their niece Fanny, Lady Knatchbull, in 1845. Lord Brabourne inherited it in 1882; it went to Sotheby's 11-14 May 1891; then to Alfred Morrison; then back to Sotheby's on 10 December 1918; to J.P. Morgan in 1920; and finally to the Pierpoint Library in New York. How fortunate that we still have it with us.
Letter #14, To Cassandra, from Steventon, "My dear Cassandra, Your letter came quite as soon as I expected, and so your letters will always do, because I have made it a rule not to expect them till they come, in which I think I consult the ease of us both. - It is a great satisfaction to us to hear that your Business is in a way to be settled, & so settled as to give you as little inconvenience as possible.-You are very welcome to my father's name, & [as] to his Services if they are ever required in it. -I shall keep my ten pounds too to wrap myself up in next winter." - Jane Austen, Tuesday 18-Wednesday 19 December 1798
The notes in the back of the book say that Cassandra's business could have been concerning the inheritance she received from her fiance Tom Fowle.
The [as] was cancelled by Jane Austen.
Jane Austen's ten pounds might have been a Christmas present from Reverend Austen or perhaps a present from Mrs. Knight. Jane Austen was very careful with her money. She mentions money quite a bit in her letters; that is not to say she was stingy. She was not. She also mentions wanting to give and help.
I hope you enjoyed your day today!
Terrie
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