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weathered criticism before, of course. His Byron biography was controversial, and he had been prepared to have some hard-core Janeites take issue with the book, although he had also hoped it would appeal to the incurable romantics who wanted to think Jane had actually experienced some real passion.
    Maybe I’m blowing it out of proportion. Maybe Austen won’t mind me revealing her affair. After all, that was a long time ago. Maybe if I contact her, she’ll give me an interview.
    He decided to look up her address on the net, but of course searching for Jane Austen produced a lot of results that weren’t relevant. Then he went to the AfterNet and searched for her again and found several stories about her identity being certified but that still didn’t produce an email address by which he might contact the one true Jane Austen.
    Then he went to facebook and the same was true again. There were several Jane Austen pages and many usernames like JaneAusten12 and janeaustenauthor and IAmJaneAusten, but he had no clue which was genuine.
    He’d assumed once she had proven her identity, Jane Austen would be easy to find, but he supposed it wouldn’t be any different than if he wanted to find Salman Rushdie’s email address. He thought that perhaps his agent might be able to find Austen’s agent and he could get a review copy to her that way. He was dialling his agent’s number but stopped before the final digit.
    And what if she says I’m making it all up. No, I don’t want to approach her until I can authenticate the letter. After all, no one’s said anything negative about the book. All the proof readers thought it well written and I made my arguments.
    He tried to quell the worry that only two of the reviewers to whom he’d sent the book were scholarly Janeites and he had sent them early incomplete drafts. He’d meant to send other drafts but kept delaying, hoping he might finally gain access to the letter.
    Maybe if I just found another Janeite, a real scholar, and I could explain to her about the letter. After all, we’re all in the same boat now.
    He looked at his folder on his laptop where he’d collected the various references he’d used in writing his book. He saw the
Persuasions
9 articles by Dr Alice Davis. She was a respected Austen scholar, even if she did have a reputation for promoting a feminist agenda. He’d early on considered interviewing her for his book, but she also had a reputation for not suffering fools gladly.
    The train was now slowing as they approached Bath. He unplugged the computer’s power supply from the outlet under the seat and collected his coat. He looked for the old woman he’d offended and saw she’d already left her seat and was making for the queue to exit. He stood up as well, but waited to proceed until the train completely stopped.
    It was time to return his attention to the purpose of his visit. His first stop was the Guildhall. Once he got to his bed and breakfast he would search again for Mrs Westerby … and he would try to contact Dr Davis through the University of Chicago website.
    After all, she was on the committee that identified Austen. If I can get a good review from her, that should count for something.
    1 Corn Laws refers to any number of protective trade legislations that kept grain prices high in Britain. Corn is a generic term for grain. The Enclosure Acts encouraged wealthy landowners to enclose common grazing lands, to the detriment of villagers who freely used the commons for centuries. Many villagers, unable to make a living, moved to cities.
    2 Deirdre Le Faye is an eminent UK Janeite and author of
Jane Austen: A Family Record
.
Dr Joan Klingel Ray
is a past president of the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) and the author of
Jane Austen for Dummies.
    3 Anna Austen Lefroy’s continuation is also unfinished. The Lefroy and Austen families were very close. Austen’s niece married Benjamin Lefroy, a cousin of that Tom Lefroy.
    4 Sir Thomas