A Memoir of Jane Austen

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Persuasion
that grandmamma begs him to make Joseph Hall° pay his rent, if
he can.
‘You must not be tired of reading the word uncle, for I have not
done with it. Uncle Charles thanks your mother for her letter; it
was a great pleasure to him to know that the parcel was received
and gave so much satisfaction, and he begs her to be so good as to
give three shillings for him to Dame Staples,° which shall be
allowed for in the payment of her debt here.
‘Adieu, Amiable! I hope Caroline behaves well to you.
‘Yours affec ly ,
‘J. AUSTEN.’
I cannot tell how soon she was aware of the serious nature of
her malady. By God’s mercy it was not attended with much
suffering; so that she was able to tell her friends as in the foregoing
letter, and perhaps sometimes to persuade herself that,
excepting want of strength, she was ‘otherwise very well;’ but the
progress of the disease became more and more manifest as the
year advanced. The usual walk was at first shortened, and then
discontinued; and air was sought in a donkey-carriage. Gradually,
too, her habits of activity within the house ceased, and she
was obliged to lie down much. The sitting-room contained only
one sofa, which was frequently occupied by her mother, who was
more than seventy years old. Jane would never use it, even in her
mother’s absence; but she contrived a sort of couch for herself
with two or three chairs, and was pleased to say that this
arrangement was more comfortable to her than a real sofa. Her
reasons for this might have been left to be guessed, but for the
importunities of a little niece,° which obliged her to explain that
if she herself had shown any inclination to use the sofa, her
mother might have scrupled being on it so much as was good for
her.
It is certain, however, that the mind did not share in this decay
of the bodily strength. ‘Persuasion’ was not finished before the
middle of August in that year; and the manner in which it was
then completed affords proof that neither the critical nor the
creative powers of the author were at all impaired. The book had