I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend (23 page)

After dinner, Cassandra, Jane and I tried on our new gowns so that Mr Austen and Cousin Eliza could
see them. Jane wanted the boys called in, but neither Cassandra nor I agreed with her. I think Cassandra wants to surprise Tom Fowle tomorrow night — and I want to surprise Henry. Cousin Eliza said that she will wash and dress our hair in the latest style from Paris and that we should not let anyone see us until the transformation (she pronounced it in the French fashion) had taken place.

Cassandra took off her gown quite quickly and went back downstairs just as the boys were coming out of the schoolroom. Jane and I stayed chatting with Cousin Eliza and listening to her talk about Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France, and the things that used to go on in the court before this revolution came along.

Cousin Eliza had great plans for doing our hair. She went to her trunk and got out some trimmings for Jane and me. There was a red velvet rose for Jane and a beautiful blue velvet one for me. I explained that Henry had given us a ribbon each for our hair. I could feel myself getting red, but although the velvet rose was nice, I still wanted to wear his gift. Cousin Eliza didn’t mind in the least. She helped us to trim our gowns with the roses instead. They were sewn to the left shoulder and they looked lovely there.

She said that we were two of the prettiest girls in England and that the young men would be queuing up to dance with us. I hope she is right. I
really only know two young men, Henry and Frank.

Frank is very nice, though he’s quite young. He probably will dance with me, but I hope that Henry dances with me also.

Eliza then gave us both a little card to record the names of our partners. It was small enough to go in the smallest reticule and it had a tiny little silver pencil attached to it.

‘And you must have a fan,’ she said suddenly. She went over and rummaged in her trunk and eventually she found two of the most beautiful fans, made so finely of ivory that they were no thicker than a pencil.

‘There you are,’ she said triumphantly. ‘These come from my beloved France. The one with the little pink rosebuds on it for Jane, and the one with white and gold lilies for Jenny.’

‘It’s lovely, but it’s just that I don’t want a fan dangling from my wrist all the evening,’ said Jane, handing hers back.

‘But,
chérie
, you don’t dangle your fan from your wrist; you use it,
mon enfant
. Don’t you know the language of the fan?’ Jane and I looked at each other and we both
raised our eyebrows. ‘No, we don’t, Eliza,’ said Jane. ‘Tell us.’

‘Dear, dear, dear,
ma pauvre petite!
Your poor
maman
, Jane! She is so busy with the meals and the washing she has not time to teach the young girls the things that matter.’

‘Tell us, Cousin Eliza, please,’ I repeated. I couldn’t ever imagine Mrs Austen, with her work-worn hands and her battered features, fluttering a fan in front of her face. If we were going to learn, it would have to be from Eliza.

‘There are so many things you can say with a fan!’ Eliza spread her hands in a very foreign way and then took my fan from me. ‘
Regardez, mes enfants!
Like this’ — she half folded her fan and put her head on one side — ‘you say, “I’m not sure,” and then, like this’ — she folded up the fan and turned its left side uppermost — ‘this says, “Call tomorrow,” and …’

‘Jane,’ screamed Mrs Austen from the bottom of the stairs, ‘where did you put my shawl? I declare
to the heavens, you are the untidiest girl I have ever seen or heard of in my life! Come down at once and find it.’

‘Wait till I come back — I want to hear all the rest.’ Jane slammed the door behind her and went clattering down the stairs.

When she was gone I asked Eliza how men knew how to understand the language of the fan. Did someone teach them? I was thinking about Henry, and the strange thing was that I think Eliza might have been thinking about Henry too when she answered with a slight smile on her beautifully rouged lips.

‘
Chérie
, a wise young man will always get an experienced lady to teach him the language of love.’

For a few minutes neither of us said anything, but then as we heard Jane’s footsteps running up the stairs, Eliza said, very softly, ‘Jenny, Henry is sweet and good-natured, but he is a young man, and young men love to play games. Do not get too serious. You have fun while you are young.’

And then Jane whirled back into the room and Eliza gave us more lessons on the language of the fan until we were quite perfect — though I could never imagine myself unfurling my fan in that dramatic gesture that meant:
I love you!

‘I’m going to have such fun teaching Tom Chute all about this!’ said Jane in the end.

But I’m not going to have to teach Henry, I thought to myself; I think he probably knows it already. Did
I mind? I decided not to think of it any more. Cousin Eliza was just having fun with Henry. Perhaps I should do the same.

Before we left, Eliza told us both to come to her room after supper.

‘Her first ball is the most exciting event in a young girl’s life,’ she said dramatically. ‘You come here to my
chambre
after supper, and I will get you ready. You will bathe here —’ She gestured theatrically towards the hip bath by the fire. It had a screen half around it, but I could see a basket full of little jars and bottles on a stool. ‘And I shall shampoo your hair with my special shampoo from India. My godfather, Warren Hastings, brings me a present of some every time he visits England, so I shall shampoo and dress your hair and then you can have a little rest. One should always rest before dancing — and then you will come back in here and don your new gowns. And then the ball!’

‘Thank you very much, Cousin Eliza,’ I said, and Jane hugged her.

‘I shall enjoy it hugely,’ said Eliza. ‘You must go now,
mes petites
. I shall take a little
promenade
over to the barn to run through my part again.’ She slipped on her cloak and pulled the large hood over her head.

I don’t know who she is going to practise with as James has already left for General Mathew’s place. She and Henry don’t have a scene together.

I could hardly eat any supper as I was so excited and so nervous, and Jane was almost as bad. As soon as the meal was over and the table cleared, we slipped upstairs, telling Mrs Austen that we were going to have a rest. First of all we went into our bedroom. It was still bright out of doors, but the room was dim and the two white and silver gowns hanging on the closet door gleamed with the shimmer of moonlight.

‘I can’t believe that it is going to happen, can you?’ I asked Jane, but she just said, ‘Grab your towel and wrapper before Cassandra comes along to see what we are doing.’

We tiptoed down the stairs, taking the steps cautiously one by one so that the wood did not squeak. Just as we got to the bottom of the flight, Sukey, the kitchen maid, came toiling up, carrying two heavy pails of steaming hot water, one in either hand. Jane opened the door for her and then we went in. The room was already steamy, with a huge glowing fire, and it smelt of rich and exotic scents. As we came in, Eliza was emptying a small bottle of bright red liquid into the water already in the bath. Sukey poured
first one pailful and then the second one and the red liquid swirled in cloudy whirls and coils, the vivid colour changing to a dusky pink. The air was filled with a sweet fragrance and then Eliza added a handful of lavender to the water and the clean, sharp smell blended with the perfume of roses.