ient detachment to remember and to criticise his
demonstrative manners, his love of instructing others, and other little
peculiarities. The 'friend' of 1798 must have been a young Cambridge
don; and she was not likely to have had an opportunity of knowing
individually more than one of that limited community, who did not
naturally come in the Austens' way. It seems obvious to link the two
allusions together; and if this is correct, we have identified one of
the admirers of our heroine.[66]

More serious--but not _very_ serious--was the attachment between her
and Mrs. Lefroy's nephew, Tom Lefroy, afterwards Chief Justice of
Ireland, which is mentioned somewhat cautiously in the _Memoir_, and the
end of which is alluded to in the letter already quoted.

The young people became acquainted in the winter of 1795-6, and took to
each other from the first. In a lively letter to Cassandra on January 9,
1796, Jane describes a ball at Manydown:--

Mr. H[eathcote][67] began with Elizabeth, and
afterwards danced with her again; but _they_ do
not know how _to be particular_. I flatter myself,
however, that they will profit by the three
successive lessons which I have given them.

You scold me so much in the nice long letter which
I have this moment received from you, that I am
almost afraid to tell you how my Irish friend and
I behaved. Imagine to yourself everything most
profligate and shocking in the way of dancing and
sitting down together. I _can_ expose myself,
however, only _once more_, because he leaves the
country soon after next Friday, on which day we
_are_ to have a dance at Ashe after all. He is a
very gentlemanlike, good-looking, pleasant young
man, I assure you. But as to our having ever met,
except at the three last balls, I cannot say much;
for he is so excessively laughed at about me at
Ashe, that he is ashamed of coming to Steventon,
and ran away when we called on Mrs. Lefroy a few
days ago. . . . After I had written the above, we
received a visit from Mr. Tom Lefroy and his
cousin George. The latter is really very
well-behaved now; and as to the other, he has but
_one_ fault, which time will I trust entirely
remove; it is that his morning coat is a great