y
was divided between Leighs and Musgraves, the larger portion going to the
latter. Mr. Leigh Perrot pulled down the mansion, and sold the estate to
the Duke of Marlborough, and the name of these Perrots is now to be found
only on some monuments in the church of Northleigh.

Mr. Leigh Perrot was also one of several cousins to whom a life interest
in the Stoneleigh property in Warwickshire was left, after the extinction
of the earlier Leigh peerage, but he compromised his claim to the
succession in his lifetime. He married a niece of Sir Montague Cholmeley
of Lincolnshire. He was a man of considerable natural power, with much
of the wit of his uncle, the Master of Balliol, and wrote clever epigrams
and riddles, some of which, though without his name, found their way into
print; but he lived a very retired life, dividing his time between Bath
and his place in Berkshire called Scarlets. Jane's letters from Bath
make frequent mention of this uncle and aunt.

The unfinished story, now published under the title of 'The Watsons,'
must have been written during the author's residence in Bath. In the
autumn of 1804 she spent some weeks at Lyme, and became acquainted with
the Cobb, which she afterwards made memorable for the fall of Louisa
Musgrove. In February 1805, her father died at Bath, and was buried at
Walcot Church. The widow and daughters went into lodgings for a few
months, and then removed to Southampton. The only records that I can
find about her during those four years are the three following letters to
her sister; one from Lyme, the others from Bath. They shew that she went
a good deal into society, in a quiet way, chiefly with ladies; and that
her eyes were always open to minute traits of character in those with
whom she associated:--

_Extract from a letter from Jane Austen to her Sister_.

'Lyme, Friday, Sept. 14 (1804).

'MY DEAR CASSANDRA,--I take the first sheet of fine striped paper to
thank you for your letter from Weymouth, and express my hopes of your
being at Ibthorp before this time. I expect to hear that you reached
it yesterday evening, being able to get as far as Blandford on
Wednesday. Your account of Weymouth contains nothing which strikes me
so forcibly as there being no ice in the town. For every other
vexation I was in some measure prepared, and particularly for your
disappointment in not seeing the Royal Family go on board on Tuesday,
having already