Jane Actually

able to arrange a good signing. And from there to Fort Worth for the AGM.
    She sighed and prayed that by Jane’s arrival in Fort Worth, a higher percentage of the Austen community would accept her. A recent poll at
Jane Austen Today
showed about 50% accepted Jane as Jane. It was hardly a scientific poll, however, and could easily be swayed by Jane’s supporters and detractors. And it wouldn’t take much to sway opinion one way or another, she knew. If Jane should say something injudicious … the thought sent a cold shiver down her back. She thought of Henry Austen’s treacly words about his late sister in his Biographical Notice that prefaced the posthumous publication of
Persuasion
and
Northanger Abbey
. It gave little indication that Jane could vent with the best, although Melody did have to allow that Jane’s long afterlife might have sharpened her tongue.
    I need something that will help the public identify with Jane, although that means I run the risk of making the public identify with her avatar as well.
    The thought of the avatar becoming the public face of Jane had always worried Melody, because she understood her responsibility to Jane’s legacy. Jane had already been famous for two hundred years and she might be famous for countless more. And who knew how many avatars might be needed over that time. It was important that Jane had an identity independent of the current avatar.
    Melody suddenly worried what would happen if she died. Who would take care of Jane?
    Stupid, that would be me. I might still be her agent even after I die. I might need to take someone on … Oh God!
    The image of her disembodied self working with Jane through a succession of avatars over centuries made her stomach churn.
    Is that what it’s like to be Jane? No wonder the disembodied go crazy. Got to think of something else. Go back to the problem of how to make the public sympathize with Jane and not just her avatar. I need something to make people believe in Jane.
    Those last words conjured the image of an ‘I believe in Jane” button, the words superimposed on Cassandra’s watercolour.
    No, not the watercolour. Jane’s too old in that. We should commission a new portrait that represents Jane in her prime.
    She and Alan had talked about a new portrait before they’d made their decision to hire an avatar and the idea had been lost in their worry about Jane objecting to the idea. But Melody decided it was long past time that Jane had an official portrait. She made a note to ask Mr Pembroke to suggest an artist who would be up to the task.
    Of more pressing concern was the choice of Jane’s avatar. She had been concerned by some of Jane’s preferences, including mousy Miss Crawford and the Xena look-a-like. She would have to ensure the latter preference never became known and reflected that yet again some foible of Jane’s character would end up redacted.
    From 23 candidates, three finalists had emerged. There was Miranda Prentiss, the bookish stammerer who seemed to know Jane’s life better than Jane; Linda Holland, a museum docent by day and stand-up comedian at night; and Mary Crawford.
    Melody had run a background check on Miss Crawford, not trusting the authenticity of her name, but in fact she was born Mary Crawford in Ohio to an elderly father and his comparatively younger second wife.
    Mary had a half-brother, Nathan, and a half-sister, Barbara. She seemed to have few accomplishments, other than her ill-conceived notion of moving to New York City to study to be an actress; an admittedly pleasant singing voice, which Melody assumed was lost on Jane anyway; and very high marks for her ability to use an AfterNet terminal.
    Not only did Melody find the coincidence of Mary Crawford’s name suspicious—although it was hardly an unusual name—she was also annoyed that someone with no knowledge of the famous author should have been a finalist. True, Ms Holland did not profess a deep understanding of Austen, but Melody thought Holland’s improvisational skills and museum experience made her quite attractive. Melody hoped to promote Holland at the next round of interviews.

Finalists
Jane and the finalists begin training
    “N ow Miss Austen, I’ll need you to relax. These new terminals require precise calibration.” Jane glanced nervously at Melody, who kept nodding her reassurance. Even though it was still easy to see her friend, the mesh ball that enclosed her essence still felt very confining. She watched the