Page:Jane Austen (Sarah Fanny Malden 1889).djvu/33

 audience must have been limited in number; but plays were got up in which Mme. de Feuillade was the principal actress; James Austen wrote brilliant prologues and epilogues when they were wanted, and Jane Austen looked on and laid in materials for the immortal theatricals of the Bertram family. Space must have made it impossible for a Mr. Yates, a Mr. Rushworth, or the Crawfords to be among the Steventon actors; but there may have been a very sufficient spice of love-making throughout the business, for Mme. de Feuillade afterwards married Henry Austen, Jane's third brother, and it is probable that there were enough "passages" between them during the theatricals to interest a girl of Jane's age keenly. Meanwhile, something—perhaps the absurdly transparent mysteries in which some old comedies abound—suggested to her a little jeu d'esprit, which, slight as it is, shows her keen sense of fun and her close observation, for she has copied the style and manner of an old play very closely, even in the dedication.

THE MYSTERY:

AN UNFINISHED COMEDY.

Dedication to the Rev. George Austen.