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 been brought to an end in
July; and the re-engagement of the hero and heroine effected in a totally
different manner in a scene laid at Admiral Croft's lodgings. But her
performance did not satisfy her. She thought it tame and flat, and was
desirous of producing something better. This weighed upon her mind, the
more so probably on account of the weak state of her health; so that one
night she retired to rest in very low spirits. But such depression was
little in accordance with her nature, and was soon shaken off. The next
morning she awoke to more cheerful views and brighter inspirations: the
sense of power revived; and imagination resumed its course. She
cancelled the condemned chapter, and wrote two others, entirely
different, in its stead. The result is that we possess the visit of the
Musgrove party to Bath; the crowded and animated scenes at the White Hart
Hotel; and the charming conversation between Capt. Harville and Anne
Elliot, overheard by Capt. Wentworth, by which the two faithful lovers
were at last led to understand each other's feelings. The tenth and
eleventh chapters of 'Persuasion' then, rather than the actual winding-up
of the story, contain the latest of her printed compositions, her last
contribution to the entertainment of the public. Perhaps it may be
thought that she has seldom written anything more brilliant; and that,
independent of the original manner in which the _denouement_ is brought
about, the pictures of Charles Musgrove's good-natured boyishness and of
his wife's jealous selfishness would have been incomplete without these
finishing strokes. The cancelled chapter exists in manuscript. It is
certainly inferior to the tw