Jane Austen Quote of the Week 106

This week I shall pull a quote from Miss Austen’s letter to niece Fanny Knight on 13 March 1816. Since all my JA resources are either in Bali or Queensland (and I’m neither there), I count on Pemberley.com’s archives of Brabourne letter collection.

To you I shall say, as I have often said before, Do not be in a hurry, the right man will come at last; you will in the course of the next two or three years meet with somebody more generally unexceptionable than anyone you have yet known, who will love you as warmly as possible, and who will so completely attach you that you will feel you never really loved before.

This was a letter, not a novel, which surprised me because at the dusk of her life, Jane Austen was still a believer of love. Some people might think cynically that she was no longer a believer of love as she grew older, but I disagree. I think Jane was still very much a believer; which is a delight considering her plight as a spinster in those days.

I guess in many ways, I am also a believer of love. Otherwise, why would I (or Team Jane) rummage through JA’s collection every week and present something for us all? Even though love is often hidden or elusive, I believe it’s still here.

Oh, and I found the inspiration to use this letter after reading Alexandra Potter’s Me and Mr Darcy. A very funny chick-lit, one that finished satisfactorily (to me, at least), such that I hope I can do Ms Potter justice by writing a review about it soon enough. The trouble with going to another town to visit relatives and friends is… too many relatives and friends to visit, hence not much time for literacy delight…

Pic: Watercolour picture of Fanny Knight by Cassandra Austen, from JAcourses UK