arriage for the
wife. James afterwards moved to Deane, where he was his father's curate.
The married life of the couple was but short. Their one child, always
known as Anna, was born in April 1793, and the mother died suddenly in
May 1795, leaving to her daughter only a shadowy recollection of 'a tall
and slender lady dressed in white.' The poor little girl fretted in her
solitude, till her father took the wise step of sending her to Steventon
Rectory to be comforted by her aunts. She was admitted to the
chocolate-carpeted dressing-room, which was now becoming a place of
eager authorship. Anna was a very intelligent, quick-witted child, and,
hearing the original draft of _Pride and Prejudice_ read aloud by its
youthful writer to her sister, she caught up the names of the characters
and repeated them so much downstairs that she had to be checked; for the
composition of the story was still a secret kept from the knowledge of
the elders.

Anna also composed stories herself long before she could write them
down, and preserved a vivid remembrance of her dear Aunt Jane performing
that task for her, and then telling her others of endless adventure and
fun, which were carried on from day to day, or from visit to visit.

Towards the end of 1796 James became engaged to Mary Lloyd, and they
were married early in 1797. The marriage could hardly have happened had
not General Mathew continued, for the sake of Anna, the L100 a year
which he had allowed to his daughter. The event must have been most
welcome to Jane; and Mrs. Austen wrote a very cheerful and friendly
letter to her daughter-in-law elect, expressing the 'most heartfelt
satisfaction at the prospect.' She adds: 'Had the selection been mine,
you, my dear Mary, are the person I should have chosen for James's wife,
Anna's mother and my daughter, being as certain as I can be of anything
in this uncertain world, that you will greatly increase and promote the
happiness of each of the three. . . . I look forward to you as a real
comfort to me in my old age when Cassandra is gone into Shropshire,[56]
and Jane--the Lord knows where. Tell Martha she too shall be my
daughter, she does me honour in the request.' There was an unconscious
prophecy contained in the last words, for Martha became eventually the
second wife of the writer's son Francis.

Edward Austen's marriage had preceded his brother's by a few months. His
kind patrons, the Knights, would be sure to make this easy for hi