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Frederic & Elfrida, by Jane Austen,
Juliet McMaster (Illustrator), Victoria Kortes-Papp (Editor),
Sylvia Hunt (Editor).
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Jane Austen wrote these bits to amuse her family, and quite amusing they certainly are, from chuckle to hilarious through the collection termed juvenilia.
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"Dedication
"To Miss Lloyd
"My Dear Martha
"As a small testimony of the gratitude I feel for your late generosity to me in finishing my muslin cloak, I beg leave to offer you this little production of your sincere friend.
"The Author
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"The uncle of Elfrida was the father of Frederic; in other words, they were first cousins by the father's side."
"The uncle of Elfrida was the father of Frederic; in other words, they were first cousins by the father's side."
Not always correct; the first part might be about Elfrieda's mother's brother, or an uncle by marriage, in which the latter case they wouldn't be related at all.
"They were exceedingly handsome and so much alike, that it was not everyone who knew them apart. Nay, even their most intimate friends had nothing to distinguish them by, but the shape of the face, the colour of the eye, the length of the nose, and the difference of the complexion."
Didn't people dress very differently those days, across gender gap? Or was cross dressing common?
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"On being shown into an elegant dressing room, ornamented with festoons of artificial flowers, they were struck with the engaging exterior and beautiful outside of Jezalinda, the eldest of the young ladies; but e'er they had been many minutes seated, the wit and charms which shone resplendent in the conversation of the amiable Rebecca enchanted them so much, that they all with one accord jumped up and exclaimed:
""Lovely and too charming fair one, not withstanding your forbidding squint, your greasy tresses and your swelling back, which are more frightful than imagination can paint or pen describe, I cannot refrain from expressing my raptures, at the engaging qualities of your mind, which so amply atone for the horror with which your first appearance must ever inspire the unwary visitor."
""Your sentiments so nobly expressed on the different excellencies of Indian and English muslins, and the judicious preference you give the former, have excited in me an admiration of which I can alone give an adequate idea, by assuring you it is nearly equal to what I feel for myself.""
How did "that they all with one accord jumped up and exclaimed" quite so much?
"From this period, the intimacy between the families of Fitzroy, Drummond, and Falknor daily increased, till at length it grew to such a pitch, that they did not scruple to kick one another out of the window on the slightest provocation."
"From this period, the intimacy between the families of Fitzroy, Drummond, and Falknor daily increased, till at length it grew to such a pitch, that they did not scruple to kick one another out of the window on the slightest provocation.
"During this happy state of harmony, the eldest Miss Fitzroy ran off with the coachman and the amiable Rebecca was asked in marriage by Captain Roger of Buckinghamshire.
"Mrs. Fitzroy did not approve of the match on account of the tender years of the young couple, Rebecca being but thirty six and Captain Roger little more than sixty three. To remedy this objection, it was agreed that they should wait a little while till they were a good deal older."
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"Scarcely were they seated as usual, in the most affectionate manner in one chair, than the door suddenly opened and an aged gentleman with a sallow face and old pink coat, partly by intention and partly thro' weakness was at the feet of the lovely Charlotte, declaring his attachment to her and beseeching her pity in the most moving manner.
"Scarcely were they seated as usual, in the most affectionate manner in one chair, than the door suddenly opened and an aged gentleman with a sallow face and old pink coat, partly by intention and partly thro' weakness was at the feet of the lovely Charlotte, declaring his attachment to her and beseeching her pity in the most moving manner.
"Not being able to resolve to make anyone miserable, she consented to become his wife; where upon the gentleman left the room and all was quiet.
"Their quiet however continued but a short time, for on a second opening of the door a young and handsome gentleman with a new blue coat entered and entreated from the lovely Charlotte, permission to pay to her his addresses.
"There was a something in the appearance of the second stranger, that influenced Charlotte in his favour, to the full as much as the appearance of the first: she could not account for it, but so it was.
"Having therefore, agreeable to that and the natural turn of her mind to make everyone happy, promised to become his wife the next morning, he took his leave and the two ladies sat down to supper on a young leveret, a brace of partridges, a leash of pheasants and a dozen of pigeons.
"It was not till the next morning that Charlotte recollected the double engagement she had entered into; but when she did, the reflection of her past folly operated so strongly on her mind, that she resolved to be guilty of a greater, and to that end threw herself into a deep stream which ran thro her aunt's pleasure grounds in Portland Place.
"She floated to Crankhumdunberry where she was picked up and buried; the following epitaph, composed by Frederic, Elfrida, and Rebecca, was placed on her tomb."
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August 17, 2021 - August 17, 2021.
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