Page:Jane Austen (Sarah Fanny Malden 1889).djvu/45

 of everything, in fact, except the subtle power of touching her heart." It seems wonderful that a woman who could describe love as she could, who could draw Fanny Price and Emma Woodhouse and Anne Elliot all under the spell of that influence, should never have felt its effects herself; yet her nephew declares that he knows "of no definite tale of love to relate" of her, and Lord Brabourne, while confirming the fact that she might more than once have been married had she wished it, confirms also Mr. Austen Leigh's conviction that her heart was never won. There was, however, a sad little romance in her life, which for many years seems to have been known only to her sister. In 1801 Cassandra and Jane, while staying at the seaside in Devonshire, became acquainted with a clergyman who was in all respects so attractive that even Cassandra thought him worthy of her cherished sister, and his admiration for Jane was soon so marked that there was no doubt of his wishes, and, in the elder sister's opinion, not much doubt of his ultimate success. When the seaside visit ended, he impressed strongly on the sisters his intention of soon meeting them again, and Cassandra was preparing to see her constant companion removed to a new home, when tidings came of his sudden death before another interview could take place. What Jane felt at this time was told only to her sister, who so respected her reticence that she never mentioned the story until years after Jane's death, when she spoke of it to some of the family, and gave them to understand that she considered this the one real romance of her sister's life. Nevertheless, considering how short the time was during which the acquaintanceship had existed, even she could scarcely say how far her sister's happiness had been really affected by it.