Jane Austen Stole My Boyfriend (22 page)

Harry had some more news for us.

‘There’s a woman in the town,’ he said in alow voice as he accompanied us to Queen’s Square. ‘Her name is Mrs Blagrave and when she bought a veil in Miss
Gregory’s shop a couple of months ago she noticed that this fellow, Filby, put two veils in the parcel instead of one. However, she spotted him and warned him not to “
try any of your
tricks with me, young man.
“‘

I asked Harry how he had found that out, and he said that the chambermaid at the Greyhound Inn had heard it from Mrs Blagrave’s maid.

‘What does this chambermaid look like?’ Jane rather surprised me as she asked the question quite abruptly.

‘Very tiny, with little blonde curls on her forehead,’ said Harry. He blushed slightly as he said that and Jane scowled.

‘I think that is very important about Mrs Bla-grave,’ I said. I couldn’t see what the chambermaid’s appearance had to do with the matter.

‘So do I,’ said Harry. ‘I think that it sounds as though this Filby has a reputation for doing things like that. What do you think I should do?’

‘Tell my uncle, of course,’ said Jane. She sounded a little snappish, but Harry didn’t appear to notice.

‘I was thinking that I might have a word with the lawyer instead.’ Harry didn’t appear to notice Jane’s mood. ‘It’s just that your uncle . . .’ he was
addressing both of us, ‘just that he is such a nice, kind man, and I don’t think that he would like to think too badly of anyone, or to do anything underhand like making enquiries of a
maid.’

‘Could you make enquiries of the maid yourself, Harry?’ I said. He was a good-looking fellow with charming ways, and I thought he would be more likely to get something out of a girl
than a lawyer with a threatening manner and legal language.

Before we parted we had it all worked out. Harry was to chat to the chambermaid, see if she could get her friend to go for a walk with her – perhaps in the gardens by the river – and
Harry would meet them by accident, treat her to an ice and get all the information possible from her . . .

Jane and I have just got ready for the French ball, as Jane keeps calling it. We’re both so pleased that Augusta has not been invited. And she is furious! She tried to
get Edward-John to agree with her that we should not go with just Eliza to chaperone us, but Edward-John, who, like most men, finds Eliza madly attractive, refused to agree with her. For once he
stood up to Augusta!!! He said that he thought it would be a great opportunity and that, in any case, he had no authority over Jane and it would be a sad thing if she had to go without her
cousin’s company. He had visited the Leigh-Perrots this afternoon and they had talked about the ball and had sent a message to say that they were looking forward to hearing all about it. When
he mentioned the word ‘Leigh-Perrot’ Augusta became silent. Obviously she had in mind the desirability of Edward-John pleasing his rich and childless uncle and aunt. She even suggested
that Rosalie should help us to dress and to do our hair! Thanks to Rosalie, we were ready in very good time. She is a very competent, well-trained lady’s maid, but very starchy, as Jane puts
it. We were very quiet as she dressed us both, as if we were a pair of dolls. Jane was thoughtful, and there were none of the jokes and wild fits of giggling that happened when we were getting
ready with Eliza for a ball at Steventon. When we were both ready she stood us in front of the large cheval looking glass and said with satisfaction, ‘You will be the two most beautiful young
ladies at the Crescent tonight.’

We both looked very solemn, I thought, as I gazed at our reflection. One dark-haired, dark-eyed girl in a rich daffodil yellow gown and the other blonde with a bluebell gown that matched her
eyes. (Jane had received so many compliments about her new dress that she decided to wear it after all.)

I’ve just asked Jane how long it will be before Eliza calls for us, and she said that it will be at least fifteen minutes – and that Eliza is always late for everything!

So there may be time for me to write about Harry.

Harry, I think, knows everything about the Leigh-Perrot household by now. He knows what time dinner is, when it finishes, and that Jane and I always go to our bedroom after dinner. In this
household there are so many servants that we have no chores like helping to clear the plates from the table as we do at Steven-ton, so we just go straight upstairs – while aunt and uncle have
a little sleep – and we chat. Now that it’s just a matter of Augusta and Edward-John, we rush away as soon as the meal is over.

And Harry chose that moment to stroll up and down the Paragon on the opposite side of the road. We saw him from our bedroom window.

We slipped downstairs and beckoned him into the second-best parlour, closing the door quietly behind us.

‘I’ve been to see your uncle and aunt,’ said Harry. His eyes widened at the sight of Jane’s new gown, but he was too shy to comment and just continued with his account of
our poor aunt. ‘The jailer has housed them in his own house instead of the ordinary prison,’ he told us. ‘I’d say that Mr Leigh-Perrot has had to give him a pretty good
bribe for that!’

‘How are they?’ I asked.

‘They’re in good spirits – Mrs Leigh-Perrot especially. She was telling me a funny story about the jailer’s wife stirring the fried onions with a knife, then licking the
knife to clean it before giving it to Mrs Leigh-Perrot. Apparently your aunt was so appalled that she gave her dinner to the dog!’

Jane remarked that Franklin would be upset if he heard that, and I agreed. Poor Franklin was going around looking as if his world had fallen apart. He was devoted to his master and mistress. It
was almost as if they had taken the place of the family that he had left behind in Barbados.

‘But that’s not all that I wanted to tell you,’ went on Harry. ‘I was having a chat to the stableman at the Greyhound Inn about the Leigh-Perrots – just mentioning
the subject in passing like, and he told me that the chambermaid had an interesting story to tell about it. I asked him to finish grooming my horse for me and gave him sixpence – I pretended
that I had hurt my shoulder and I stayed there, rubbing it – I’d guessed that he would like to tell the story, but I didn’t want to scare him off by being too
interested.’

‘Harry, you are a man of genius!’ exclaimed Jane and Harry blushed scarlet. ‘Tell me that you got the story out of him!’

‘Well, he didn’t know too much – just that it was something about Gye the printer owning the shop premises – Miss Gregory’s shop, that is. Apparently . . .’
and Harry blushed again, ‘apparently the printer’s apprentice has some sort of relationship with the chambermaid.’

‘What a dissipated place this city of Bath is!’ Jane said these words with an air of such deep satisfaction that I couldn’t stop myself giggling – though I was very, very
sorry for my uncle and aunt.

‘So I went to ask the chambermaid for some hot water. And when she brought it, I persuaded her to talk. She made me swear not to betray her name.’ And now even Harry’s forehead
reddened. And yet there was a glint of amusement in his cornflower-blue eyes.

‘Ah,’ said Jane with great satisfaction, ‘I do love secrets, especially those that require solemn oaths of inviolable secrecy.’ She said the words almost
breathlessly.

‘Well, the chambermaid didn’t exactly tell me anything, but she said that she had heard that the printer Gye, the man who owns the shop, had given presents to the apprentice, Sarah
Raines, who works for Miss Gregory. The apprentice saw him put a shilling into a little packet and write the girl’s name on the outside.’

‘Bribery!’ Jane and I said the word together.

‘We’ll have to get more evidence than that,’ warned Harry. ‘The chambermaid will never swear in court that the printer’s apprentice told her that. And the
printer’s apprentice will never give evidence against his master.’

I asked Harry whether he really thought that it would go to court and he nodded with a quick, anxious look at Jane as if to make sure that she was not too upset. He should have known better.

‘A court case!’ exclaimed Jane. ‘Oh, Jenny, I think it will be our duty to be there to support our dear aunt.’

Jane, I know, was very sincere about her feelings for her aunt, but I must say that I have a feeling that a court case may well appear in her writings!

‘I’d better be getting back,’ said Harry. ‘I thought I might drop in on the printer, see about getting some cards engraved – I’m sure my mother would like
that as a present from Bath.’

‘And get the dastardly fellow to admit his crime!’ said Jane excitedly, and Harry gave her his lovely smile and made ready to leave.

When we showed him out, Franklin was there at the doorstep. His eyes looked red. I felt very sorry for him.

‘What’s the news, Miss Jane?’ he asked eagerly.

‘They are quite comfortable, staying in the jailer’s house. My aunt is making jokes, Franklin, so you don’t need to worry about them.’ Jane said the words reassuringly,
but Franklin didn’t look relieved.

‘I have to worry, Miss Jane,’ he said almost roughly. I looked at him in surprise. He was always so very polite. He stared back at the two of us. ‘The cook’s been talking
to me about it,’ he continued. ‘The punishment for stealing anything worth more than five shillings is death – she might be hanged!’

‘What?!’ I got a fright, but Jane patted Franklin on the arm and told him that would never happen to someone of Mrs Leigh-Perrot’s stature in society.

However, as we went back up the stairs together she whispered to me that Aunt Leigh-Perrot might be transported to Botany Bay in Australia. Apparently they ship criminals out there and leave
them there for the rest of their life.

‘Don’t worry,’ said Jane when I exclaimed. ‘Harry and I will find the solution to this. Dirty work is afoot!’

Jane has just gone to the window and said that she sees Eliza’s hired carriage turning into the Paragon.

Now she is shrieking at the top of her voice about something.

Oh! Henry is here!