Portrait of a Young Woman,
writing a letter, by Gilbert Stuart, c. 1802 -1804.
Image courtesy of
the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
I am sorry to have interrupted her; she
is rather lovely, rather to be loved and written about than briefly
employed as a cover girl.
All roads in this land lead to Pemberley. Jane Austen, the prosaic revolutionary, waits quietly, with gloves and bonnet on, at the crossroads of 18th century and modern novels. The bonnet conceals the expression in her eyes, which isn't quiet at all.
