Jane Actually

hastily added when he saw the look on his advisor’s face. “I know, that’s kind of weird, but at least it’s not Elizabeth Bennet.”
    “You are certain this person is Jane Austen’s avatar?” she asked, suddenly worried that the poor boy had deluded himself.
    “No, of course it’s her. I mean she’s on the dust jacket,” he said.
    Dr Davis looked at the book and on the back cover saw the picture of the author, or rather a painting/computer illustration. It was well done and she recognized it from its earlier release, but it was obviously not a photograph.
    “No, on the inside front flap,” he said, a little testily.
    She opened the cover and looked at the flap and recognized the photo of the woman who had been hired to be Miss Austen’s avatar.
    “And this is the woman you met?” She gave Stephen a quick smile. “You didn’t get hit on the head and all this was a dream?”
    “No, I … wait a minute.” He reached into a pocket and produced his phone and after pressing a few buttons, he turned the screen around to show her. Standing below the fossil of Sue the T-rex, 2 she could recognize the woman who seemed identical to the picture in the book. Or as close alike as she could tell from the small image of the woman in contrast to the large image of the dinosaur.
    “Very well, Stephen, I will assume you are not suffering from a mental disorder. Perhaps you’d better keep me informed of what you learn … of your relationship with this Mary Crawford, so that I can advise you if it might affect the objectivity of your thesis.”
    1 A light, upward slap to the back of the head
    2 Sue, at The Field Museum, is the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex fossil ever found

Boston
The obligations of being civil
    C ourtney fidgeted nervously behind the desk as he listened to the woman. “I’m not sure if I agree with you, but I suppose I must read this,” she said. “Everyone does seem to be talking about it.”
    He looked at the several pins and buttons the matronly woman sported, including the “I Believe in Jane” button that showed the new portrait of Austen. There was a JASNA pin and a very nice cameo with the famous Austen silhouette as well.
    He offered her his most ingratiating wry smile, which tried to suggest he was embarrassed but pleased at his own success, but his charm failed to impress her.
    So he took the book from her and after asking her name signed it: “To Caroline, whose skepticism and loyalty does her justice, Courtney Blake.”
    He returned it to her and she looked at the inscription and then at him and her stern look softened.
    “Oh, thank you. I do hold great faith in Jane that she would never …”
    “I understand, Caroline, truly I do. And I think if you read the book, I believe you’ll understand I have great faith in Miss Austen as well and that I only followed where my research led me.”
    The stern look returned and he realized he’d overplayed his hand. He smiled again but she merely said, “Thank you” and left.
Still, a sale’s a sale,
he thought.
    It looked as if Caroline might be the last customer for a while. It had been a long two hours with his constant looks towards Jane Austen’s table and the long line that kept her avatar busy. Courtney had been often idle during the two hours and had seen surly looks from the people in Austen’s line.
    He began to doubt the wisdom of his agent suggesting joint appearances. He had two more occasions when he would appear with Austen. The Harvard Book Store was the first store to agree to the plan with a little trepidation, no doubt worried that Courtney would be burned in effigy or tarred and feathered. Fortunately none of that had happened and civility ruled the day.
    He looked at the store clock and realized it was precisely two pm and stood, relieved that he could quit the store and travel to his next book signing in the evening. The group of women at Austen’s table was still considerable, but he realized no one was actually waiting in line and he thought he could at least play a grand gesture and get a few props. He bent down to find his messenger bag under the table and saw that it had moved off to the side with his incessant squirming during the afternoon and so he had to squat down on the floor. He opened the bag to retrieve his copy of
Sanditon
but as he pulled it out, his iPad fell to the floor along with some loose change he’d thrown in and he had to gather those. Finally he stood, resigned