rs to her sister give a lively
picture of the interest with which she watched the reception of 'Pride
and Prejudice,' and show the carefulness with which she corrected her
compositions, and rejected much that had been written:--

Chawton, Friday, January 29 (1813).

'I hope you received my little parcel by J. Bond on Wednesday evening,
my dear Cassandra, and that you will be ready to hear from me again on
Sunday, for I feel that I must write to you to-day. I want to tell
you that I have got my own darling child from London. On Wednesday I
received one copy sent down by Falkener, with three lines from Henry
to say that he had given another to Charles and sent a third by the
coach to Godmersham . . . . The advertisement is in our paper to-day
for the first time: 18_s_. He shall ask 1_l_. 1_s_. for my two next,
and 1_l_. 8_s_. for my stupidest of all. Miss B. dined with us on the
very day of the book's coming, and in the evening we fairly set at it,
and read half the first vol. to her, prefacing that, having
intelligence from Henry that such a work would soon appear, we had
desired him to send it whenever it came out, and I believe it passed
with her unsuspected. She was amused, poor soul! _That_ she could
not help, you know, with two such people to lead the way, but she
really does seem to admire Elizabeth. I must confess that I think her
as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print, and how I shall be
able to tolerate those who do not like _her_ at least I do not know.
There are a few typical errors; and a "said he," or a "said she,"
would sometimes make the dialogue more immediately clear; but "I do
not write for such dull elves" as have not a great deal of ingenuity
themselves. The second volume is shorter than I could wish, but the
difference is not so much in reality as in look, there being a larger
proportion of narrative in that part. I have lop't and crop't so
successfully, however, that I imagine it must be rather shorter than
"Sense and Sensibility" altogether. Now I will try and write of
something else.'

Chawton, Thursday, February 4 (1813).

'MY DEAR CASSANDRA,--Your letter was truly welcome, and I am much
obliged to you for all your praise; it came at a right time, for I had
had some fits of disgust. Our second evening's reading to Miss B. had
not pleased me so well, but I believe something