Miss Jane Austen.
Pleasure.
We're very honoured to be here at your aunt's ball.
You dance with passion.
No sensible woman would demonstrate passion if the purpose were to attract a husband.
- As opposed to a lover? - Hmm.
Rest easy, Mr Lefroy.
- I have no expectation on either account. - I did not mean to offend or hurt...
Oh, no, no, of course not. Excuse me, I'm just over warm.
Pardon me.
- Ah, Miss Austen. - Excuse me.
This is unbearable. My father is pressing for an early ordination,
while my own inclination is to the scarlet of a captaincy in His Majesty's regulars.
But I do not have the money to purchase one.
I do.
- Well, that, of course is impossible. - Oh, Henry, do not disguise yourself, not to me.
The scarlet will suit you very well.
Miss Austen? There you are.
Miss Austen, I cannot believe I am obliged to have this conversation.
Your Ladyship?
Mr Wisley's mother, my own dear sister, died young.
I have no children of my own.
I hope you never come to understand the pain of that condition.
Let us simply say my nephew's wishes are close to my heart,
however extraordinary they may be.
Well,
your health seems robust.
You have the usual accomplishments.
Your person is agreeable.
But when a young woman such as yourself receives the addresses
from a gentleman such as my nephew, it is her duty to accept at once.
But what do we find?
- Independent thought? - Exactly.
My nephew, Miss Austen, condescends far indeed
in offering to the daughter of an obscure and impecunious clergyman.
Impecunious? Your Ladyship is mistaken.
I am never mistaken.
Your father is in grave financial difficulties.
But all is not lost.
He has a daughter upon whom fortune has smiled.
Mr Wisley is a good opportunity for Jane.
She should accept him at once.
Do not you think?
- Lucy, let us take some refreshments. - What? Mother.
I have learned of Mr Wisley's marriage proposal.
My congratulations.
Is there an alternative for a well-educated young woman of small fortune?
How can you have him?
Even with his thousands and his houses,
how can you, of all people, dispose of yourself without affection?
How can I dispose of myself with it?
You are leaving tomorrow.
- Did I do that well? - Very, very well.
I wanted, just once, to do it well.
I have no money, no property,
I am entirely dependent upon that bizarre old lunatic, my uncle.
I cannot yet offer marriage. But you must know what I feel.
Jane, I'm yours.
Gah, I'm yours. I'm yours, heart and soul.
Much good that is.
Let me decide that.
What will we do?
What we must.
"My dearest Cassandra, my heart has wings.
"Doubts and deliberations are ended.
"Soon I shall escape the attentions of that great lady and her scintillating nephew.
"Eliza, Henry and I will join you at the coast,
"but we are obliged to break our journey in London.
"Tom has cleverly secured an invitation to stay with his uncle, the judge.
"Let us hope we can convince him of my eligibility.
"Please destroy this disgraceful letter
"the moment you have recovered from your astonishment.
"Yours affectionately, and in haste, Jane. "
Tom! Our guests have arrived.
Decorum.
Countess.
Sir.
- Welcome... - Madame le Comtesse.
Madame le Comtesse. Seldom, too seldom, my house receives the presence of nobility.
And, of course, its friends. Please.
Your stay is short. There's not a moment to lose.
My nephew has devised a plan of metropolitan amusement.
Pleasure is, as you would say, Madame, his forte.
Ah, is it?
Which battle was it, Tom?
Villers-en-Cauchies.
Very good. Thousands slain. Served those Frenchies out.
Oh. Saving your presence, ma'am.
Be not afraid of abusing the Jacobins on my account, Judge.
- They guillotined my husband. - Oh, savages. Beasts.
- And his property? - Confiscated.
A disaster.
Of course, by then, much of my wealth was portable, so...
Yes, portable property is happiness in a pocketbook.
Do I detect you in irony?
It is my considered opinion that irony is insult with a smiling face.
Indeed.
No.
No?
No, irony is the bringing together of contradictory truths
to make out of the contradiction a new truth with a laugh or a smile,
and I confess that a truth must come with one or the other,
or I account it as false and a denial of the very nature of humanity itself.
My cousin is a writer.
- Of what? - Jane?
Novels.
A young woman of family?
Yes, uncle, and tomorrow we go and visit another, Mrs Radcliffe.
She keeps herself to herself, almost a recluse, but I know her husband through the law.
- Who? - The authoress, Mrs Radcliffe.
- As writing is her profession. - Her what?
£500, uncle, for the last novel, The Mysteries of Udolpho.
- And £800, I believe, for her next. - The Italian.
Above £1,000?
The times, the times.
You live so quietly.
And yet your novels are filled with romance, danger, terror.
Everything my life is not.
Apparently.
Of what do you wish to write?
Of the heart.
Do you know it?
Not all of it.
In time, you will.
But even if that fails, that's what the imagination is for.
Your imagination has brought you independence.
At a cost to myself and to my husband.
Poor William.
To have a wife who has a mind is considered not quite proper.
To have a wife with a literary reputation nothing short of scandalous.
But it must be possible?
- To live as both wife and author? - Oh.
I think so.
Though never easy.
Could I really have this?
What, precisely?
You.
Me, how?
- This life with you. - Yes.
Lefroy.
- Hush. The judge. - The man's like a rampant dog.
He will be generous. I'm sure of it.
- You'll speak with him? - Tomorrow, I promise.
I really must say good night.
- Good night. - Good night.
- Miss Austen? - Yes?
Good night.
You know, I think my mother is right. A husband, and the sooner, the better.
Five girls of little fortune.
"... sensibly and as warmly as a man violently in love can be supposed to do.
"Mr Wickham was the happy man towards whom almost every female eye was turned.
"... partial, prejudiced, absurd.
"Watch for the first appearance of Pemberley Woods.
"The happiness which this reply produced...
"It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. "
- Good morning, sir. - Good morning?
- Has the world turned topsy? - Sir?
I trust the countess is enjoying her visit?
- I gather she is, sir. I... - Fine woman, very fine woman.
Indeed.
- I'd hoped to discuss a certain matter. - Your allowance is beyond negotiation.
Now that you have had the opportunity to become acquainted with Miss Austen yourself,
I am sure you will find, as I do, that she is a remarkable young woman.
- This is an outrage! - Lf you will allow me to speak, sir.
There is no need. This letter makes it absolutely clear.
Letter?
Now I know what you were at down in Hampshire.
- It is from Steventon. - Is it true
that you have practiced upon me with this chit?
I wished you to know the young lady.
I wished to introduce her to your affections discreetly.
Aye! Blind me with the rich widow and then insinuate that penniless little husband-hunter!
- Moderation, sir, I beg you! - That ironical little authoress.
I wished you to know her for yourself.
I was certain her merit would speak for her.
- Consider, sir, my happiness is in your hands. - Happiness?
Damn it, nephew,
I had rather you were a whore-mongering blackguard with a chance of reform
than a love-sick whelp sunk in a bad marriage.
My uncle has refused to give his consent.
- The letter has done its work. - Who sent it?
Lady Gresham?
Or her nephew.
They think that they can do what they like with us, but I will not accept this.
We have no choice.
Of course we do.
I...
I depend entirely upon...
Upon your uncle.
Mmm.
And I depend on you.
So what will you do?
What I must.
I have a duty to my family, Jane. I must think of them as well as...
Tom...
Is that... Is that all you have to say to me?
Goodbye, Mr Lefroy.
The sentence of this court is that you be taken to the place whence you came
and thence to a place of execution,
and that you be there hanged by the neck until you are dead.
May the Lord have mercy on your soul.
Next.
He has behaved so ill to you, Jane.
Perhaps soon we can return home to Steventon.
Is there any news of Robert?
He has arrived in San Domingo at last.
Good.
Glass of wine with you, sir?
Yes.
Yes, a toast from one member of the profession to another.
I'm sorry to have been so disobliging in the past.
Mr Wisley?
So, the infamous Mrs Radcliffe.
Was she really as gothic as her novels?
Not in externals,
but her inner landscape is quite picturesque, I suspect.
True of us all.
There's a message for Reverend Austen.
- Message for Reverend Austen. - Thank you.
Uncle?
What is it?
It seemed he died very soon after landing in San Domingo.
My God, he was hardly there.
What was the disease?
Yellow fever. Lord Craven, he wrote.
He said that if he had known he was engaged to be married,
he would never have taken him.
Jane, there's something else.
Mr Lefroy, Tom.
What?
I would keep this from you if I could.
He's here visiting Mrs Lefroy and I...
He is engaged.
So soon?
A letter?
No.
It's something I began in London.
It is the tale of a young woman.
Two young women.
Better than their circumstances.
So many are.
And two young gentlemen who receive
much better than their deserts as so very many do.
Mmm.
How does the story begin?
- Badly. - And then?
It gets worse.
With, I hope, some humour.
How does it end?
They both make triumphant, happy endings.
Brilliant marriages?
Incandescent marriages
to very rich men.
You asked me a question.
I am ready to give you an answer. But there is one matter to be settled.
I cannot make you out, Mr Wisley.
At times, you are
the most gentlemanlike man I know and yet you would...
"Yet". What a sad word.
And yet, you write yourself most tellingly to great effect.
- I'm speaking, of course, of your letter. - What letter?
Was your aunt the correspondent on your behalf?
What matter?
One way or another, passion makes fools of us all.
I hope, in time, passion may regain your better opinion.
The emotion is absurd.
When you consider the sex to whom it is often directed,
indistinguishable from folly.
I thank you for the honour of your proposal. I accept. Good day.
George, George.
Mr Wisley is... He's an honourable man.
You'll always have a place with me.
Miss Austen.
Mr Lefroy.
Sir.
I believe I must congratulate you, Mr Lefroy.
And you've come to visit an old friend at such a time. How considerate.
I have come
to offer an explanation, belatedly,
for my conduct. I cannot think how to describe it.
Tell me about your lady, Mr Lefroy.
From where does she come?
She's from County Wexford.
Your own country. Excellent.
What was it that won her? Your manner, smiles and pleasing address?
No, no, not at all.
No, had I really experienced that emotion, I should, at present, detest the very sight of him.
And you are mistaken.
I'm even impartial towards the gloriously endowed Miss Wexford...
I cannot do this.
And so you would marry Wisley?
Please?
If there is a shred of truth or justice inside of you,
- you cannot marry him. - Oh no, Mr Lefroy.
Justice, by your own admission, you know little of, truth even less.
Jane, I have tried. I have tried and I cannot live this lie.
Can you?
Jane, can you?
What value will there be in life if we are not together?
Run away with me.
An elopement?
That is exactly what I propose.
We'll post to London, by Friday be in Scotland, and man and wife.
- Leave everything? - Everything.
It is the only way we can be together.
You'll lose everything.
Family, place. For what?
A lifetime of drudgery on a pittance?
A child every year and no means to lighten the load?
- How will you write, Jane? - I do not know.
But happiness is within my grasp and I cannot help myself.
There is no sense in this.
If you could have your Robert back, even like this,
would you do it?
- Please conceal my departure as long as possible. - Wait.
Here.
Take these. Now go, quickly.
Come. If we hurry, we can still make the morning coach.
You are sure?
Be careful.
- Is it coming? - Not yet.
Take my hand. All right?
Hurry. I can hear it approaching.
Here it is.
Whoa.
Two to London. We'll settle at first rest.
- Yes? - Right you are, sir.
Hampshire, your home county.
It was.
Stuck. Everybody out, ladies and gentlemen, please.
- We need to lighten the load. - No, let me, let me.
I shall require you gentlemen to give me a hand, put your shoulders into it.
Now, sir, if you can push on the coach itself. Excuse me, sir. Young gentleman?
- Yes, yes. - You on the other side, sir, thank you.
- Young gentleman, please come along. - All right.
Mind helping us? Thank you.
Right, all together now then, sirs, please?
One, two,
and a three and push!
Come on.
"Dear Tom.
"How timely was the arrival of the money you sent. "
One, two and three!
"It was so very much appreciated by your father and I.
"You're so kind to share your uncle's allowance.
"Indeed, I do not dare think how we would survive without it. "
Well done. Thank you, sirs.
All right, ladies and gentlemen, back on the coach as soon as you can, thank you.
We are ready.
- Worried? - No.
- Is it the loss of your reputation? - No.
The loss of yours.
- I do not... - Please, sir, come along, the coach is departing.
Come.
Changing horses. Twenty minutes only.
House of office at the back of the inn. All down, quick as you like.
How many brothers and sisters do you have in Limerick, Tom?
Enough. Why?
What are the names of your brothers and sisters?
They...
On whom do they depend?
Your reputation is destroyed.
Your profligacy is a beautiful sham.
- I can earn money. - It will not be enough.
I will rise.
With a High Court Judge as your enemy? And a penniless wife?
God knows how many mouths depending on you?
My sweet, sweet friend, you will sink, and we will all sink with you.
- I will... Hampshire Flyer.
Hampshire Flyer's leaving in five minutes.
No! No, Jane.
I will never give you up.
- Tom... - Don't speak or think.
Just love me. Do you love me?
Yes.
But if our love destroys your family, it will destroy itself.
- No. - Yes.
In a long, slow degradation of guilt and regret and blame.
That is nonsense.
Truth.
Made from contradiction.
But it must come with a smile.
Or else I shall count it as false and we shall have had no love at all.
Please.
Goodbye.
Typical bloody runaway. "Will I, won't I?"
Miss. Miss.
All right, off you go.
Hello?
- Where is everyone? - Looking for you, Miss. Looking everywhere.
- Thank you, Jenny. - Mr Warren.
Your family tried to keep the matter from the servants, but...
Where is that blackguard Lefroy? My God, if Henry finds him, he'll kill him.
He won't find him.
If he does, he won't kill him.
There's no need.
What happened?
Nothing happened.
I see. I see.
Jane,
I may have less personal charm than Lefroy.
Superficial charm to some eyes. To others, it is mere affectation, but I...
- I have no hopes. - Hopes?
You cannot begin to imagine.
Thank you for the great honour of your offer,
but are there no other women in Hampshire?
It was you who wrote the judge.
You must consider how much I have always loved you.
Well?
You came back to us.
Leave it.
Mr Austen, I must inform you that I shall not attend service today.
- Not in the presence of this young woman. - Indeed...
- If I must speak plainly... - Aunt.
I believe your youngest daughter has been on a journey.
- Her Ladyship considers travel a crime? - Unsanctioned travel.
Furthermore, be aware that my nephew has withdrawn his addresses
to someone without family, fortune, importance
and fatally tainted by suspicion.
- Oh, she has family, madam. Indeed she has.
Importance may depend upon other matters than Your Ladyship can conceive.
As to fortune, a young woman might depend upon herself.
An interesting notion, Miss Austen.
Oblige me a walk along the river to enlarge upon the topic.
Wisley?
I am sorry if my conduct has disappointed you, Mr Wisley.
It seems you cannot bring yourself to marry without affection.
Or even with it.
I respect you for that and share your opinion. Neither can I.
I'd always hoped to win your love in time,
but I am vain enough to want to be loved for myself rather than my money.
Do we part as friends?
We do.
- So, you will live... - By my pen. Yes.
Will all your stories have happy endings?
My characters will have,
after a little bit of trouble,
all that they desire.
The good do not always come to good ends.
It is a truth universally acknowledged.
"... that a single man in possession of a good fortune
"must be in want of a wife. "
"However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be
"on his first entering a neighbourhood,
"this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families,
"that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.
"'My dear Mr Bennet, ' said his lady to him, one day,
"'Have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last? '
"Mr Bennet replied that he had not.
"'But it is, ' returned she... "
Is it Miss Austen? The Miss Austen?
No, Madam. That courtesy, according to the customs of precedence,
belongs to my elder sister.
Miss Jane Austen, the authoress of Pride and Prejudice?
My sister wishes to remain anonymous, but your kind regard is much appreciated.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
Please, come through.
I shall never forgive Henry for this.
Yes, you will. We always forgive him for everything.
Jane, an old friend.
Late as ever.
Madame le Comtesse, Miss Austen.
Mr Lefroy.
Please allow me to introduce to you
your most avid of admirers, my daughter, Miss Lefroy.
Miss Austen, what a pleasure to meet you.
Will you read for us this evening?
Ah, well, you see, my sister never reads.
Otherwise, how else is she supposed to remain anonymous?
- But... - Jane.
I will make an exception
if my new friend wishes it.
Come, sit by me.
She is lovely, Tom.
"She began now to comprehend
"that he was exactly the man who, in disposition and talents,
"would most suit her.
"His understanding and temper, though unlike her own,
"would have answered all her wishes.
"It was an union that must have been to the advantage of both.
"By her ease and liveliness,
"his mind might have been softened, his manners improved,
"and from his judgment, information and knowledge of the world,
"she must have received benefit of greater importance.
"But no such happy marriage could now teach the admiring multitude
"what connubial felicity really was. "