What Would Jane Austen Do?, page 1
Also by Linda Corbett
Love You from A-Z
WHAT WOULD JANE AUSTEN DO?
LINDA CORBETT
One More Chapter
a division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk
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First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2023
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Copyright © Linda Corbett 2023
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Cover design by Lucy Bennett © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2023
Cover illustrations © Shutterstock.com
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Linda Corbett asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
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A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
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This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
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Source ISBN: 9780008554583
Ebook Edition © June 2023 ISBN: 9780008554576
Version: 2023-05-04
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Epilogue
Afterword
Acknowledgments
Thank you for reading
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About the Author
Also by Linda Corbett
One More Chapter...
About the Publisher
For my sister Diana, who always believed I could be a writer.
Chapter One
There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.
Elizabeth Bennet, Pride and Prejudice
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It was a truth universally acknowledged that being on your own on 14th February entitled one to feel miserable, but being dumped by your employer on Valentine’s Day demonstrated a staggering level of mean-spiritedness … and came with an additional financial problem.
Maddy stared at the email on her phone for what felt like the millionth time.
We are sorry to advise…
This was clearly a business definition of the word sorry that wasn’t even distantly related to regret or apology. Why did they feel her column was no longer required for the magazine? Did she even have any right to object?
We wish you every success in the future…
So what future were they referring to? The one where she signed on for Jobseeker’s Allowance? Or the one where she couldn’t afford to rent in even the scruffiest part of London and was forced to go back to living with Mum and Dad? Not to mention letting down her best friend who would have to find another flatmate, otherwise she would also be in the same pecuniary position.
Once word got around, any requests for blog interviews or podcasts like the one she was supposed to be doing this evening, would quickly dry up. No one wanted an ex-agony aunt. A few tears escaped and splashed onto the screen, and she wiped them away angrily.
Maddy wouldn’t even have minded quite so much if she’d hated her job, but she enjoyed being the love and relationship correspondent for UpClose magazine, and especially loved her weekly column, Dear Jane. ‘Jane’ received plenty of requests every week, and many of the emails and letters actually thanked her for the advice. Now she was effectively jobless with one month’s pay in lieu of notice and the barest minimum redundancy payment. A sick, empty feeling lodged in her stomach as she turned back to her dressing table.
Her flatmate’s voice was, therefore, a welcome intrusion. ‘Can I come in, Madds? I’ve brought you something.’
‘Is it a winning lottery ticket by any chance?’
‘Nope, but maybe the next best thing,’ Alice said as she pushed the door open and put a glass of chilled white wine next to the eyeshadow compact. ‘Here, have a huge swig of this.’
Maddy took an appreciative sip before returning to her makeup, which now needed a bit of repair.
‘So, you’re still going ahead with the podcast interview thingy?’
Maddy paused with the powder brush in her hand and looked at her flatmate, Alice, in the mirror. ‘That’s the plan.’
‘I just thought that … you know … you might not feel like—’
‘—chatting about romance and relationships in fiction when I’ve been sacked on Valentine’s Day?’ Maddy finished for her. ‘There’s definitely an irony there somewhere.’
‘Still, at least you get to meet that swoon-worthy crime writer,’ replied Alice, hugging herself. ‘Can you sit together so you can gaze at his gorgeous bod?’
‘Nice try. However, in the first place it’s not that sort of interview, I just happen to be the next guest on the panel. Secondly, I agree the shop window is extremely well presented, but from what I’ve heard the customer service needs a bit of improvement.’
‘You’ll definitely need to channel your inner Jane Austen this evening then.’
Maddy lifted her chin, squared her shoulders and addressed the mirror in a condescending voice.
‘He is tolerable, I suppose, but not handsome enough to tempt me.’
Alice laughed at that, and—despite the misery of the day—Maddy found herself smiling.
Maddy took a hurried swig of her wine and then rummaged in her drawer for her waterproof mascara. ‘To be honest, I’m expecting the questions to be variations on the usual themes, including the all-too-predictable question of whether Jane Austen is actually still relatable in the twenty-first century,’ she added, widening her eyes as she carefully stroked the mascara brush along her pale lashes. ‘Well, I suppose it’s paid work at least,’ she said with a forced cheeriness.
If she was being completely honest, she also didn’t fancy spending the evening sitting on her own in the flat while the rest of the population was off doing romantic things with loved-up partners. Even though Alice didn’t have a regular boyfriend, she had been invited to make up a foursome at a local Italian restaurant and probably wouldn’t be back until late.
Alice gave her a sympathetic smile and a brief hug. ‘It’s probably a bit late, but I can phone in sick for you, if you like?’
Maddy patted her hand. Even at school Alice had been a loyal friend, and had once smacked a boy over the head with her geography book after he’d called Maddy a carrot top. Rather than being upset, seven-year-old Maddy had been more amused that the attempted insult wasn’t even remotely original.
‘Thanks, Alice. Kind of you to offer but it’s fine, and anyway, I need the work now.’
She checked the time as she slipped her watch bracelet over her hand. The interview was being recorded live so she aimed to get to the studio in plenty of time to read through her notes. She was not about to let Ms Austen down through lack of preparation.
‘Do I look okay?’ Radio interviews always felt strange. She knew listeners could only hear her, not see her, but she didn’t want to feel underdressed. Especially not in the company of bestselling author, Cameron Massey. Being a redhead, choosing the right colours was important; she opted for her favourite dark turquoise top, and teamed it with her Jane Austen scarf for luck.
‘You look lovely. Now go and charm that gorgeous bloke!’ Alice shooed her out the front door.
They had chosen the flat largely on price, plus the proximity of buses and Clapham Common underground station. It hadn’t been the cheapest place on the rental market, but with both of them sharing the costs, it was just about affordable, as long as they staggered the bills a bit. Now, as Maddy walked in the direction of the bus stop, she experienced an unpleasant stirring of panic.
It had been a bright sunny day with a light breeze, the sort of day where you could snatch a few minutes in the sunshine without feeling like you might catch hypothermia. However, clear skies meant the temperature plummeted after sunset and Maddy tugged her coat around her as she sat on the bus and pondered her job pros
Just think of goodbye as hello in a different language; that was one of her mum’s favourite expressions. She had a whole armoury of sayings that were—at least in the early years—intended to either encourage Maddy to try something new or to cushion her from disappointment. In later years, there was usually a helping of boyfriend advice in there too, most of it in the large economy size. Mrs Carolyn Shaw had firm ideas on the suitability of the opposite sex, although Maddy had often wondered if things might have been different if she’d had siblings and her mother had been able to spread her maternal advice over a wider audience. Today, as Maddy pushed open the doors to the small studio where the interview was being recorded, she hoped her mum might accidentally be right for once.
A girl in black leggings and a purple floral tunic top who looked like she’d just left school – a definite sign of getting old according to her mother – escorted her through the small reception area into an equally small visitors’ waiting area. ‘The other guest is already here,’ she murmured as they reached the door. ‘I’ll be back as soon as we’re ready for you.’
The walls of the waiting room were painted in a restful pale green colour. Light grey sofa-type seating occupied a large part of one side of the room, with a couple of individual chairs added in vibrant—verging on clashing—colours. In the corner, a spindly spider plant trailed down the side of a tall cupboard in a token nod to office greenery.
A dark-haired man with carefully contrived scruffy stubble and a tan that shouted winter holiday was tapping his phone in an agitated manner and glanced up as she entered the room. She took in the lightly patterned open-necked shirt, tailored navy blazer and smart shiny shoes, and was grateful she hadn’t just rocked up in casual gear.
‘I’m guessing you might be Madeleine Shaw?’
‘My friends call me Maddy,’ she replied with a smile and an outstretched hand. ‘And you must be Cameron Massey.’ After the merest of hesitations, he shook her hand, made an attempt at a polite smile that was so brief it could have been a facial twitch, and then gestured at his phone. ‘Sorry, just got to finish this.’
Maddy tried to ignore what she already knew about Cameron Massey and his reputation for snarky interviews; after all, even her heroine, Jane Austen, would give her characters the benefit of the doubt at the start, and Jane had always been her personal go-to adviser on relationships ever since she’d read Pride and Prejudice for GCSE English. While her classmates were grumbling about being told to read what they considered to be some ancient creaky old story, Maddy had fallen in love with the older Bennet sisters while wishing she had one, sympathised with Mary, and cringed at their overbearing mother, and no boyfriend—teenage or later—had ever measured up against the fictional Mr Darcy.
Alice was right though about Cameron Massey; he was certainly good-looking, even if his – admittedly sexy – eyes were currently saying, can you leave me in peace? rather than, well, hello there! She busied herself studying the notes she had made on her phone, which unhelpfully decided that now was a good time to launch into a jaunty ringtone. Cameron looked up at the disturbance.
‘Sorry, it’s my dad ringing,’ said Maddy as she swiftly cancelled the call and put her phone on silent. ‘He usually rings for a chat on Thursdays as that fits better round his busy social life; except for last week when he rang on Sunday, but that was because the cat had gone missing overnight,’ she explained, even though she felt pretty sure that Cameron Massey wasn’t the slightest bit interested in her family’s telecommunications habits nor the whereabouts of her dad’s cat.
She gave Cameron a look that was meant to say, parents, eh?
‘Such a British thing, isn’t it?’ he observed wryly. ‘Apologising for something that’s outside of your control.’
Maddy wasn’t sure whether he was attempting to be humorous or sarcastic, but was spared the need to reply by the reappearance of the same girl who had shown her in. ‘We’re ready for you now,’ she announced to Cameron in a sing-song voice, then looked over to Maddy. ‘I’ll come back shortly and then we’ll get you set up as well.’
Maddy sat back down again and sent a quick message back to her dad:
Sorry, work thing. Will call later.
While she waited to be summoned, she spent a bit more time looking over her notes. It was less revision and more distraction really; letting her brain go into free-form thoughts invariably led back to the email from her employer. Former employer, she silently corrected herself.
A few minutes later the girl returned and Maddy was shown into the studio where the presenter Angie Turner was already talking to Cameron Massey, presumably about one or several of his books. As soon as she was miked up, she gave the producer the thumbs up sign and started paying attention to the discussion in progress.
‘…so given that several of your previous books have topped the bestseller lists, and both The Dangerous Woman and The Cornish Key Cutter were awarded the coveted crime writers’ Silver Spanner, you must have been disappointed that your latest book didn’t do quite as well. Why do you think that is?’
Although they were on different sides of a glass screen, Maddy saw a distinct look of annoyance flash across Cameron’s face.
‘Clearly, authors hope every book will sell well, but I suspect you’d be better off directing that question to the book-buying public, who may or may not have purchased it.’
‘Point taken. So, what’s next for Detective Inspector Jason Friend? Are you able to give us any hints as to what he might face in the next book?’
He did one of those twitchy smiley things. ‘Not at the moment. You’ll all have to wait a bit longer.’
‘O-kay. Sorry folks, looks like the secrets box is staying locked for now. So Cameron, as it’s Valentine’s Day, perhaps I can ask what your view is of romance in crime novels, and have you ever considered giving DI Jason Friend a love interest?’
‘Look, readers of my novels enjoy the challenge of solving a puzzle alongside the detective. They don’t need to be distracted by some lightweight romance subplot.’
Maddy couldn’t believe her ears and just about managed not to shout across the studio as she mouthed the word ‘What?!’
‘So you’re not a fan of the genre then?’
‘Not personally. It’s hardly much of a challenge to write a story where you know the ending, is it?’
Without waiting to be introduced, Maddy leaned in to the microphone in front of her. ‘I think if anything, writing a romance makes it more of a challenge. And while it guarantees the reader the emotionally satisfying happy ever after, it’s the journey the couple go on that makes the book interesting.’ She flashed a smile at Cameron. ‘I think many books would benefit from including a bit of a romance.’
‘An interesting opinion from agony aunt Maddy Shaw. Cameron, is that something you agree with?’ Angie asked. ‘Have you ever added a touch of romance to your plots?’
