] I have been searching for the answer to my question about "a safe conveyance" and how JF & FC could send their letters secretly. I haven't found the answer yet but did come across some very interesting & informative sites on British postal history, listed below for those who are interested.
] I found numerous pages linking to a site called "Going Postal with Jane Austen." Unfortunately every page I checked had an invalid (outdated) URL. I did finally figure out the correct URL; it is:
] http://chuma.cas.usf.edu/~runge/GamelinPost1.html
] (If any of you own pages that link to this site, you might want to check whether you have the correct URL and update if you don't.)
] Here are a couple of interesting tidbits:
] 1. from "Letter Writing, Road Transport & the Mail in the extended 'Regency' period. 1800-1835" by Eunice Shanahan
] http://www.geocities.com/leisurewrite/regent.html
] http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~awoodley/Regency.html#post:
] "All members of the House of Lords, (including the Clergy) and the House of Commons, were entitled to the privilege - but only for their own use, not for private letters." "...to be free from postage the letters were supposed to be on government business." This means the upstanding Sir Thomas B was actually breaking the law by franking Fanny's letters to her brother - scandalous!
] 2. from Going Postal with Jane Austen:
] "Special items of value, such as coins, rings, and other jewelry, could be mailed but cost double postage." This would suggest Jane COULD have sent back the packet of Frank's letters by post, though it doesn't explain the "safe conveyance."
] OTHER POSTAL HISTORY SITES:
] www.bathpostalmuseum.org
] www.bl.uk/collections/philatelic
] www.consignia.com/heritage/flash_fset.htm
] Whatever there might have been on this subject in the L&T archives, I couldn't find it. Sparksnotes.com lit section was temporarily out of service, so I'll check back later.
] Back to the drawing board.