Jane Actually

wanted someone from the AfterNet!”
    “I did not know this,” Jane said.
    “I didn’t want to worry you any more than was necessary. Thank God for bureaucracy. There’s a lot involved to overrule an AfterNet certification so despite Davis’s theatrics … so it’s just the JASNA president and what’s her name … the regional coordinator.”
    “Cindy Wallace,” Jane supplied. “No one else?”
    “That’s all.”
    “Oh, that’s good, right?” Mary asked.
    Melody laughed and said, “How do I know? I mean she’s banking everything on convincing two people Jane’s not Jane. Does that mean she’s desperate or does it mean she’s so sure … I just know that the Fort Worth organizers are happy to have it decided quietly. They don’t want a cat fight in front of the members.”
    “They could just refuse to let her talk,” Mary said.
    “That would raise a stink too. No, we have to defuse this now. I’m afraid I let this get out of hand. I should have been on top of it.”
    “It is not your fault,” Jane said. “Dr Davis has made up her mind that I am an impostor. Past a certain point, it is impossible to change a person’s belief.”
    “But what kind of proof does she have to make an accusation like this?” Mary asked.
    “It doesn’t matter. I can only assume that being a scholar, Dr Davis believes she has credible reason to discredit me. Melody, has the nature … the format of this meeting been decided?”
    “Yes, Davis wants to make her accusations in front of witnesses—I’ve asked Alan if he can be here as well—and she wants it recorded. And when she ends up humiliated, she agrees not to say anything during her break out session.”
    “And what if I’m humiliated?” asked Jane. “And by that, I am not confessing that I am an impostor. I merely posit the possibility that she has evidence I cannot refute.”
    Mary and Melody looked at where they imagined Jane to be.
    “We stand by you, Jane,” Melody said. “My faith in you remains, since that first query letter you sent me. I got a shiver down my back that day and I’ve never lost that feeling.”
    Mary said, “And I’ve shared a room with you and been your voice for nine months. You’re a decent and honourable person and I believe in you and … and being you is a privilege I hope I have for a long time to come.”
    “Thank you both. You make me realize that Jane Austen is more than just one person. It requires the work of three.”
    1 This was actually an enjoyable breakout session at the AGM
    2 In
Pride and Prejudice
, Lydia Bennet was fond of playing lottery tickets, a card game of no skill and well suited to the silly, youngest Bennet sister

Showdown
Jane confronts her accuser
    M elody walked back and forth within the confines of the small conference room the hotel had provided for their confrontation with Dr Davis.
    “She’s making me nervous,” Mary said to Jane, silently.
    “Allow her her pacing.” Jane replied. “It is preferable to her tapping her teeth.”
    “Ugh. I hate that. How about you? Are you OK?”
    Jane decided to put a brave face on it. “Please do not worry about me. Being dead makes one philosophic. What’s the worst that could happen? But I admit I do worry about the reputation of … and do not be alarmed if I slip into the third person … I worry about the reputation of Jane. I would rather relinquish my claim if I could avoid the ignominy of an argument before the members here assembled.”
    “You’re not giving up are you? I meant what I said before. I can’t imagine not representing you, for as long as you’ll let me.”
    “I will do what is necessary …”
    The door opened, stopping Melody’s pacing and interrupting Jane. Ajala Johnsson and Cindy Wallace entered, both looking troubled. They were about to close the door behind them when Alan Pembroke entered.
    “Alan!” Melody cried. “You made it.”
    “Of course. I couldn’t let you deal with this on your own. You need moral support. Mary, how are you? And Jane?”
    Mary quickly put Jane on speaker.
    “Thank you for coming, Alan,” Jane’s voice said. “It is a terrible imposition on your time.”
    “You’re really my only author, Jane. I couldn’t possibly stay away. But who are these ladies?” he asked. He beamed at them in his Uncle Gardiner way and they cast aside their dour looks.
    “Alan Pembroke, with Random House. I know you, Ms Johnsson, from my JASNA newsletter. And you must be …”
    “Cindy