This is another parodic-humorous piece from Jane Austen's
Juvenilia (like
Frederic & Elfrida,
Jack & Alice, or
Love and Freindship). From the dates
given to the letters, Lesley Castle was probably written in early
1792 (when she was 16). It contains some amusing bits, but may be
slightly confusing overall, since Jane Austen introduces a number of separate
sub-plots and supporting characters. For this reason, I wasn't motivated
enough to scan in the whole thing, but only certain selected portions (cutting
away a few of the sub-plots but retaining most of the funnier parts).
LESLEY CASTLE
an unfinished Novel in Letters
To Henry Thomas Austen Esqre.
Sir
I am now availing myself of the Liberty you have frequently
honoured me with, of dedicating one of my Novels to you. That it is
unfinished, I greive, yet fear that from me, it will always remain so;
that as far as it is carried, it Should be so trifling and so unworthy
of you, is another concern to your obliged humble
Servant
The Author
Messrs Demand & Co -- please to pay Jane Austen, Spinster, the
sum of one hundred guineas on account of your Humbl. Servant.
H T Austen.
£105. 0. 0
Letter The first is from
Miss Margaret Lesley to Miss Charlotte
Lutterell.
Lesley-Castle Janry 3d -- 1792.
MY Brother has just left us. "Matilda" (said he at parting) "you and
Margaret will, I am certain, take all the care of my dear little one, that she
might have received from an indulgent, an affectionate, an amiable Mother."
Tears rolled down his cheeks as he spoke these words -- the remembrance of
her, who had so wantonly disgraced the Maternal character and so openly
violated the conjugal Duties, prevented his adding anything farther; he
embraced his sweet Child and after saluting Matilda & Me, hastily broke
from us and seating himself in his Chaise, pursued the road to Aberdeen.
Never was there a better young Man! Ah! how little did he deserve the
misfortunes he has experienced in the Marriage state. So good a Husband to so
bad a Wife! for you know, my dear Charlotte, that the Worthless Louisa left
him, her Child & reputation a few weeks ago in company with Danvers &
dishonour.* Never was there a sweeter face, a finer form,
or a less amiable Heart than Louisa owned! Her child already possesses the
personal charms of her unhappy Mother! May she inherit from her Father all
his mental ones! Lesley is at present but five and twenty, and has already
given himself up to melancholy and Despair.
...Matilda and I continue secluded from Mankind in our old and Mouldering
Castle, which is situated two miles from Perth on a bold projecting Rock, and
commands an extensive view of the Town and its delightful Environs. But tho'
retired from almost all the World (for we visit no one but the M'Leods, the
M'Kenzies, the M'Phersons, the M'Cartneys, the M'donalds, The M'Kinnons, the
M'lellans, the M'Kays, the Macbeths and the Macduffs), we are neither dull nor
unhappy; on the contrary there never were two more lively, more agreable, or
more witty Girls than we are; not an hour in the Day hangs heavy on our hands.
We read, we work, we walk and when fatigued with these Employments releive our
spirits, either by a lively song, a graceful Dance, or by some smart bon-mot,
and witty repartée. We are handsome, my dear Charlotte, very handsome
and the greatest of our Perfections is, that we are entirely insensible of
them ourselves. But why do I thus dwell on myself? Let me rather repeat the
praise of our dear little Neice, the innocent Louisa, who is at present
sweetly smiling in a gentle Nap, as she reposes on the Sofa. The dear
Creature is just turned of two years old; as handsome as tho' 2 & 20, as
sensible as tho' 2 & 30, and as prudent as tho' 2 & 40. To convince
you of this, I must inform you that she has a very fine complexion and very
pretty features, that she already knows the two first letters in the Alphabet,
and that she never tears her frocks. -- If I have not now convinced you of her
Beauty, Sense, & Prudence, I have nothing more to urge in support of my
assertion, and you will therefore have no way of deciding the Affair but by
coming to Lesley Castle, and by a personal acquaintance with Louisa, determine
for yourself. Ah! my dear Freind, how happy should I be to see you within
these venerable Walls! It is now four years since my removal from School has
separated me from you; that two such tender Hearts, so closely linked together
by the ties of simpathy and Freindship, should be so widely removed from each
other, is vastly moving. I live in Perthshire, You in Sussex. We might meet
in London, were my Father disposed to carry me there, and were your Mother to
be there at the same time. We might meet at Bath, at Tunbridge, or anywhere
else indeed, could we but be at the same place together. We have only to hope
that such a period may arrive. My Father does not return to us till Autumn;
my Brother will leave Scotland in a few Days; he is impatient to travel.
Mistaken Youth! He vainly flatters himself that change of Air will heal the
Wounds of a broken Heart! You will join with me, I am certain my dear
Charlotte, in prayers for the recovery of the unhappy Lesley's peace of Mind,
which must ever be essential to that of your sincere freind
M. Lesley.
Letter the second
From Miss C. Lutterell to Miss M. Lesley in answer
Glenford Feb:ry 12
I HAVE a thousand excuses to beg for having so long delayed thanking you,
my dear Peggy, for your agreable Letter, which beleive me I should not have
deferred doing, had not every moment of my time during the last five weeks
been so fully employed in the necessary arrangements for my sister's Wedding,
as to allow me no time to devote either to you or myself. And now what
provokes me more than anything else is that the Match is broke off, and all my
Labour thrown away. Imagine how great the Dissapointment must be to me, when
you consider that after having laboured both by Night and Day, in order to get
the Wedding dinner ready by the time appointed, after having roasted Beef,
Broiled Mutton, and Stewed Soup enough to last the new-married Couple through
the Honey-moon, I had the mortification of finding that I had been Roasting,
Broiling and Stewing both the Meat and Myself to no purpose. Indeed, my dear
Freind, I never remember suffering any vexation equal to what I experienced on
last Monday when my Sister came running to me in the Store-room with her face
as White as a Whipt syllabub, and told me that Hervey had been thrown from his
Horse, had fractured his Scull and was pronounced by his Surgeon to be in the
most emminent Danger. "Good God!" (said I) "you don't say so? Why what in the
name of Heaven will become of all the Victuals? We shall never be able to eat
it while it is good. However, we'll call in the Surgeon to help us. -- I
shall be able to manage the Sir-loin myself; my Mother will eat the Soup, and
You and the Doctor must finish the rest." Here I was interrupted, by seeing
my poor Sister fall down, to appearance Lifeless, upon one of the Chests, where
we keep our Table linen. I immediately called my Mother and the Maids, and at
last we brought her to herself again; as soon as ever she was sensible, she
expressed a determination of going instantly to Henry, and was so wildly bent
on this Scheme, that we had the greatest Difficulty in the World to prevent
her putting it in execution; at last however more by Force than Entreaty we
prevailed on her to go into her room; we laid her upon the Bed, and she
continued for some Hours in the most dreadful Convulsions. My Mother and I
continued in the room with her, and when any intervals of tolerable Composure
in Eloisa would allow us, we joined in heartfelt lamentations on the dreadful
Waste in our provisions which this Event must occasion, and in concerting some
plan for getting rid of them. We agreed that the best thing we could do was
to begin eating them immediately, and accordingly we ordered up the cold Ham
and Fowls, and instantly began our Devouring Plan on them with great Alacrity.
We would have persuaded Eloisa to have taken a Wing of a Chicken, but she
would not be persuaded. She was however much quieter than she had been; the
Convulsions she had before suffered having given way to an almost perfect
Insensibility. We endeavoured to rouse her by every means in our power, but
to no purpose. I talked to her of Henry. "Dear Eloisa" (said I) "there's no
occasion for your crying so much about such a trifle." (for I was willing to
make light of it in order to comfort her) "I beg you would not mind it. -- You
see it does not vex me in the least; though perhaps I may suffer most from it
after all; for I shall not only be obliged to eat up all the Victuals I have
dressed already, but must if Hervey should recover (which however is not very
likely) dress as much for you again; or should he die (as I suppose he will) I
shall still have to prepare a Dinner for you whenever you marry any one else.
So you see that tho' perhaps for the present it may afflict you to think of
Henry's sufferings, Yet I dare say he'll die soon, and then his pain will be
over and you will be easy, whereas my Trouble will last much longer, for work
hard as I may, I am certain that the pantry cannot be cleared in less than a
fortnight." Thus I did all in my power to console her, but without any
effect, and at last as I saw that she did not seem to listen to me, I said no
more, but leaving her with my Mother I took down the remains of The Ham &
Chicken, and sent William to ask how Hervey did. He was not expected to live
many Hours; he died the same day. We took all possible care to break the
Melancholy Event to Eloisa in the tenderest manner; yet in spite of every
precaution, her Sufferings on hearing it were too violent for her reason, and
she continued for many hours in a high Delirium. She is still extremely ill,
and her Physicians are greatly afraid of her going into a Decline. We are
therefore preparing for Bristol, where we mean to be in the course of the next
week. And now, my dear Margaret, let me talk a little of your affairs; I
think your Brother is extremely right in the resolution he has taken of
travelling, as it will perhaps contribute to obliterate from his remembrance
those disagreable Events, which have lately so much afflicted him -- I am
happy to find that tho' secluded from all the World, neither you nor Matilda
are dull or unhappy -- that you may never know what it is to be either is the
wish of your sincerely Affectionate
C.L.
Letter the third
From Miss Margaret Lesley to Miss C.
Lutterell
...My Brother is already in Paris. I beleive you never yet heard the
particulars of his first acquaintance with her. Louisa Burton was naturally
ill-tempered and Cunning; but she had been taught to disguise her real
Disposition, under the appearance of insinuating Sweetness, by a father who but
too well knew that to be married would be the only chance she would have of
not being starved, and who flattered himself that with such an extraordinary
share of personal beauty, joined to a gentleness of Manners, and an engaging
address, she might stand a good chance of pleasing some young Man who might
afford to marry a Girl without a Shilling. Louisa perfectly entered into her
father's schemes and was determined to forward them with all her care &
attention. By dint of Perseverance and Application, she had at length so
thoroughly disguised her natural disposition under the mask of Innocence and
Softness, as to impose upon every one who had not by a long and constant
intimacy with her discovered her real Character. Such was Louisa when the
hapless Lesley first beheld her at Drummond-house. His heart, which (to use
your favourite comparison) was as delicate as sweet and as tender as a
Whipt-syllabub, could not resist her attractions...
Letter the fourth
From Miss C. Lutterell to Miss M. Lesley
Bristol February 27th
MY DEAR PEGGY
I HAVE but just received your letter, which being directed to
Sussex while I was at Bristol, was obliged to be forwarded to me here,
& from some unaccountable Delay has but this instant reached me.
-- I return you many thanks for the account it contains of Lesley's
acquaintance, Love, & Marriage with Louisa, which has not the less
entertained me for having often been repeated to me before.
I have the satisfaction of informing you that we have every reason
to imagine our pantry is by this time nearly cleared, as we left
particular orders with the Servants to eat as hard as they possibly
could, and to call in a couple of Chairwomen to assist them. We
brought a cold Pigeon pye, a cold turkey, a cold tongue, and half a
dozen Jellies with us, which we were lucky enough with the help of our
Landlady, her husband, and their three children, to get rid of in
less than two days after our arrival. Poor Eloisa is still so very
indifferent both in Health & Spirits, that I very much fear the
air of the Bristol downs, healthy as it is, has not been able to drive
poor Henry from her remembrance.
...Perhaps you may flatter me so far as to be surprised that one of whom I
speak with so little affection should be my particular freind; but to tell you
the truth, our freindship arose rather from Caprice on her side than Esteem on
mine. We spent two or three days together with a Lady in Berkshire with whom
we both happened to be connected. -- During our visit, the Weather being
remarkably bad, and our party particularly stupid, she was so good as to
conceive a violent partiality for me, which very soon settled in a downright
Freindship, and ended in an established correspondence. She is probably by
this time as tired of me, as I am of her; but as she is too polite and I am
too civil to say so, our letters are still as frequent and affectionate as
ever, and our Attachment as firm and sincere as when it first commenced. --
...Eloisa's indisposition has brought us to Bristol at so unfashionable a
season of the year, that we have actually seen but one genteel family since we
came. Mr. & Mrs. Marlowe are very agreable people; the ill health
of their little boy occasioned their arrival here; you may imagine that being
the only family with whom we can converse, we are of course on a footing of
intimacy with them; we see them indeed almost every day, and dined with them
yesterday. We spent a very pleasant Day, and had a very good Dinner, tho' to
be sure the Veal was terribly underdone, and the Curry had no seasoning. I
could not help wishing all dinner-time that I had been at the dressing it. --
A brother of Mrs. Marlowe, Mr. Cleveland, is with them at present; he
is a good-looking young Man, and seems to have a good deal to say for himself.
I tell Eloisa that she should set her cap at him, but she does not at all seem
to relish the proposal. I should like to see the girl married and Cleveland
has a very good estate. Perhaps you may wonder that I do not consider myself
as well as my Sister in my matrimonial Projects; but to tell you the truth, I
never wish to act a more principal part at a Wedding than the superintending
and directing the Dinner, and therefore while I can get any of my acquaintance
to marry for me, I shall never think of doing it myself, as I very much
suspect that I should not have so much time for dressing my own
Wedding-dinner, as for dressing that of my freinds.
Yrs sincerely
CL.
Letter the seventh
From Miss C. Lutterell to Miss M. Lesley
Bristol the 27th of March.
...I suppose this Letter must be directed to Portman Square, where probably
(great as is your affection for Lesley Castle) you will not be sorry to find
yourself. In spite of all that People may say about Green fields and the
Country, I was always of the opinion that London and its Amusements must be
very agreable for a while, and should be very happy could my Mother's income
allow her to jockey us into its Public-places during Winter. I always longed
particularly to go to Vaux-hall, to see whether the cold Beef there is cut so
thin as it is reported, for I have a sly suspicion that few people understand
the art of cutting a slice of cold Beef so well as I do: nay, it would be hard
if I did not know something of the Matter, for it was a part of my Education
that I took by far the most pains with. Mama always found me her
best Scholar, tho' when Papa was alive Eloisa was his. Never, to be
sure, were there two more different Dispositions in the World. We both loved
Reading. She preferred Histories, & I
Receipts. She loved drawing Pictures, and I drawing
Pullets. No one could sing a better Song than She, and no one make a better
Pye than I. -- And so it has always continued since we have been no longer
Children. The only difference is that all disputes on the superior excellence
of our Employments then so frequent are now no more. We have for
many years entered into an agreement always to admire each other's works; I
never fail listening to her Music, & she is as constant in eating
my pies. Such at least was the case till Henry Hervey made his
appearance in Sussex. Before the arrival of his Aunt in our neighbourhood,
where she established herself, you know, about a twelvemonth ago, his visits to
her had been at stated times, and of equal & settled Duration; but on her
removal to the Hall which is within a walk from our House, they became both
more frequent & longer. This, as you may suppose, could not be pleasing
to Mrs. Diana who is a professed Enemy to everything which is not directed
by Decorum and Formality, or which bears the least resemblance to Ease and
Good-breeding. Nay, so great was her aversion to her Nephew's behaviour that
I have often heard her give such hints of it before his face that, had not
Henry at such times been engaged in conversation with Eloisa, they must have
caught his Attention and have very much distressed him. The alteration in my
Sister's behaviour which I have before hinted at, now took place. The
Agreement we had entered into of admiring each others productions she no
longer seemed to regard, & tho' I constantly applauded even every
Country-dance She play'd, yet not even a pidgeon-pye of my making could obtain
from her a single word of approbation. This was certainly enough to put any
one in a Passion; however, I was as cool as a Cream-cheese and having formed
my plan & concerted a scheme of Revenge; I was determined to let her have
her own way & not even to make her a single reproach. My Scheme was to
treat her as she treated me, and tho' she might even draw my own Picture or
play Malbrook (which is the only tune I ever really like) not to say so much
as "Thank you Eloisa"; tho' I had for many years constantly hollowed whenever
she played, Bravo, Bravissimo, Encora, Da
Capo, allegretto, con expressione, and Poco
presto with many other such outlandish words, all of them, as Eloisa told
me, expressive of my Admiration; and so indeed I suppose they are, as I see
some of them in every Page of every Music book, being the Sentiments, I
imagine, of the Composer.
I executed my Plan with great Punctuality; I can not say success, for Alas!
my silence while she played seemed not in the least to displease her; on the
contrary, she actually said to me one day "Well Charlotte, I am very glad to
find that you have at last left off that ridiculous custom of applauding my
Execution on the Harpsichord till you made my head ake, &
yourself hoarse. I feel very much obliged to you for keeping your Admiration
to yourself." I never shall forget the very witty answer I made to this
speech. "Eloisa" (said I) "I beg you would be quite at your Ease with respect
to all such fears in future, for be assured that I shall always keep my
Admiration to myself & my own pursuits, & never extend it to yours."
This was the only very severe thing I ever said in my Life; not but that I
have often felt myself extremely satirical, but it was the only time I ever
made my feelings public.
I suppose there never were two young people who had a greater affection for
each other than Henry & Eloisa; no, the Love of your Brother for Miss
Burton could not be so strong tho' it might be more violent. You may imagine
therefore how provoked my Sister must have been to have him play her such a
trick. Poor Girl! she still laments his Death with undiminished Constancy,
notwithstanding he has been dead more than six weeks; but some people mind
such things more than others. The ill state of Health into which his Loss has
thrown her makes her so weak, & so unable to support the least exertion,
that she has been in tears all this Morning merely from having taken Leave of
Mrs. Marlowe, who with Her husband, Brother, and Child are to leave
Bristol this Morning. I am sorry to have them go, because they are the only
family with whom we have here any acquaintance, but I never thought of crying;
to be sure Eloisa & Mrs. Marlowe have always been more together than
with me, and have therefore contracted a kind of affection for each other,
which does not make Tears so inexcusable in them as they would be in me. The
Marlowes are going to Town; Cleveland accompanies them, as neither Eloisa nor
I could catch him; I hope you or Matilda may have better Luck. I know not when
we shall leave Bristol; Eloisa's Spirits are so low that she is very averse to
moving, and yet is certainly by no means mended by her residence here. A week
or two will I hope determine our Measures -- in the mean time believe me
&c -- &c -- Charlotte Lutterell
Letter the Tenth
From Miss Margaret Lesley to Miss Charlotte Lutterell
Portman Square April 13th
MY DEAR CHARLOTTE
WE left Lesley-Castle on the 28th of Last Month, and arrived Safely in
London after a Journey of seven Days; I had the pleasure of finding
your Letter here waiting my Arrival, for which you have my grateful
Thanks. Ah! my dear Freind, I every day more regret the serene and
tranquil Pleasures of the Castle we have left, in exchange for the
uncertain & unequal Amusements of this vaunted City. Not that I will
pretend to assert that these uncertain and unequal Amusements are in
the least Degree unpleasing to me; on the contrary, I enjoy them
extremely and should enjoy them even more, were I not certain that
every appearance I make in Public but rivetts the Chains of those
unhappy Beings whose Passion it is impossible not to pity, tho' it is
out of my power to return. In short, my Dear Charlotte, it is my
sensibility for the sufferings
of so many amiable Young Men, my Dislike of the extreme Admiration I
meet with, and my Aversion to being so celebrated both in Public, in
Private, in Papers, & in Printshops, that are the reasons why I cannot
more fully enjoy the Amusements, so various and pleasing, of London.
How often have I wished that I possessed as little personal Beauty as
you do; that my figure were as inelegant; my face as unlovely; and my
Appearance as unpleasing as yours! But ah! what little chance is
there of so desirable an Event; I have had the Small-pox, and must
therefore submit to my unhappy fate.
I am now going to intrust you, my dear Charlotte, with a secret
which has long disturbed the tranquillity of my days, and which is of
a kind to require the most inviolable Secrecy from you. Last Monday
se'night, Matilda & I accompanied Lady Lesley to a Rout at the
Honourable Mrs. Kickabout's; we were escorted by Mr. Fitzgerald who is a
very amiable Young Man in the main, tho' perhaps a little singular in
his Taste -- He is in love with Matilda. -- We had scarcely paid our
Compliments to the Lady of the House and curtseyed to half a Score
different people when my Attention was attracted by the appearance of
a Young Man, the most lovely of his Sex, who at that moment entered
the Room with another Gentleman & Lady. From the first moment I
beheld him, I was certain that on him depended the future Happiness of
my Life. Imagine my surprise when he was introduced to me by the name
of Cleveland -- I instantly recognised him as the Brother of
Mrs Marlowe, and the acquaintance of my Charlotte at Bristol. Mr. and
Mrs. M. were the gentleman & Lady who accompanied him. (You do not think
Mrs. Marlowe handsome?) The elegant address of Mr. Cleveland, his
polished Manners and Delightful Bow, at once confirmed my attachment.
He did not speak; but I can imagine every thing he would have said,
had he opened his Mouth. I can picture to myself the cultivated
Understanding, the Noble Sentiments, & elegant Language which would
have shone so conspicuous in the conversation of Mr. Cleveland. The
approach of Sir James Gower (one of my too numerous Admirers)
prevented the Discovery of any such Powers, by putting an end to a
conversation we had never commenced, and by attracting my attention to
himself. But oh! how inferior are the accomplishments of Sir James to
those of his so greatly envied Rival! Sir James is one of the most
frequent of our Visitors, & is almost always of our Parties. We have
since often met Mr. & Mrs. Marlowe, but no Cleveland -- he is always
engaged some where else. Mrs. Marlowe fatigues me to Death every time
I see her by her tiresome conversations about You & Eloisa. She is so
Stupid! I live in the hope of seeing her irresistable Brother to
night, as we are going to Lady Flambeau's, who is I know intimate with
the Marlowes...
Adeiu, my Dear Charlotte --
Yr. faithful Margaret Lesley
Notes
- "£105. 0. 0":
- Since there were 20 shillings to the pound and 21 shillings to the
guinea, her brother's fictitious payment of one hundred guineas is equal to
105 pounds (and zero shillings, zero pence). This sum is the equivalent of at
least several thousand dollars of 1996 US currency, no matter how one
calculates the conversion.
- "With Danvers and dishonour":
- Jane Austen's footnote here:
``* Rakehelly Dishonour Esqre.''
- "Syllabub":
- Curdled milk, often sweetened and flavored.
- "Receipt":
- Could also mean "recipe".
- Malbrook;
- A song sung to almost the same melody as "For he's a jolly good fellow" (the word "Malbrouk" is a French corruption of the Duke of Marlborough's title); you can find more info on "Malbrouk" at this page.
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