Jane Actually

he took and offered another slight bow. Mary thought of a politician working a rope line and wondered if this would be a template for future introductions.
    Jane limited herself to following Mary as the introductions were made. She thought perhaps she should offer suggestions to Mary but quickly realized that her avatar did fine without her.
    During the introductions, more and more people arrived and soon Jane saw the chairs were fast disappearing. Mr Britten approached them and caught Melody’s attention.
    “Are these the ladies from JASNA you were expecting?” he asked?
    “Yes, Ms Hawkins …” Melody began.
    “Please call me Sarah,” she interjected.
    “Sarah,” Melody continued, “has offered to introduce Jane, after your own opening comments, of course.”
    Melody introduced them and the store manager and the JASNA member walked off to confer. Melody then led Mary away from the other JASNA members.
    “OK, now it’s my turn to break protocol. I just wanted to wish you luck, Mary. I’m sure you’ll be great. And Jane, try not to wander off. I know you won’t have much to do during the reading, so don’t start surfing the web because we’ll need you for the Q&A.”
    Jane was indignant that her agent would so chide her, but then she had to admit she was eager to update her blog and might have been tempted to do so. After all, Mary would largely be reciting the script Jane had written for the talk and they’d rehearsed it so many times it was now boringly familiar.
    Mary, however, was happy for Melody’s praise and warning.
    “Don’t worry, I won’t let either of you down,” Mary said.
    Mr Britten now tapped the microphone at the lectern to get the audience’s attention.
    “Excuse me, if we could all take our seats now? Thank you, and welcome to the Strand and to this very exciting sneak peek into the latest book by none other than Jane Austen.”
    The audience’s applause almost drowned out his pronunciation of Jane’s name. Mr Britten was pleased and obviously surprised at the intensity of the applause, especially after the audience stood and turned to look to Mary.
    Mary felt the gaze of the audience lock onto her and felt such a rush of warmth as she’d never felt before. She knew a flush was colouring her face and had no idea what to do. Jane was also nonplussed and also desperately wanting again to hear. She had never lived for adulation from a crowd, but how cruel that now, when that adulation was freely offered, she could not hear it. Jane did, however, have the presence of mind to suggest to Mary, “A regal nod would not be amiss.”
    Mary did as bid, but the applause continued. Finally she thought to motion that they should resume their seats and once settled, she looked to Mr Britten and offered him a nod as well, which he took as a sign to continue.
    “Obviously you know who she is,” he said, deadpan, which occasioned a round of laughter. “But if by some miracle you don’t, here is …”—he paused to look at the note he held in his hand—“Sarah Hawkins with the local chapter of the Jane Austen Society of North America to introduce her.”
    He stepped back and the JASNA member approached the lectern to her own quick round of applause.
    “I think a lot of us hoped this day might come, but I don’t think any of us thought it would happen, to actually meet our Jane, who gave us Elizabeth and Darcy, Elinor and Marianne … uh … Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth, Emma and Knightley, uh … Catherine and Henry and … and … who did I forget?”
    Several people shouted out, “Fanny and Edmund!” 5
    “Oh, how could I forget Fanny and Edmund?”
    The audience laughed at this, of course, although it caused Ms Hawkins some embarrassment.
    “Thank you. Anyway, I’m guessing quite a few of you here can say that ‘Jane Austen changed my life’ and I’m sure that number will rise exponentially with the release of
Sanditon
, her finally released novel. I’ve been fortunate enough to have an advance reading copy and I can tell you it’s the most wonderful thing I’ve ever read and … oh enough of me talking, I am honoured to introduce Miss Jane Austen, author of
Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, Mansfield Park
and now
Sanditon
.”
    Mary walked to the lectern as the audience again stood and applauded, but she carefully stood slightly to one side and then turned and joined the audience to applaud the empty space. She and