[p.1 ]

The first winter assembly inof the Town of LL —D.1in Suſsexrry2 was to be held on TuesdayOctr .Octoberyethe 13th, & it waswas generally expected to be a very good one; a long list of CountryFamilies was confidently run over as sure of attending, & sanguine hopeswere entertained that the Osbornes themselves would be there. —The Edwardes' invitation to the Watsons followed of course. The Edward'swere people of fortune who lived in the Town & kept their Coach; the Watsons inhabited a village about 3 miles distant, were poor & had no close carriage; & ever since there had been Balls in the place, the former hadwere accustomed to invite the Latter to dreſsdine & sleep at their House,for on every monthly return throughout the winter. — On the presentoccasion, as only two of Mr . W'sWatson's children were at home, & one was always neceſsary to him asone only of the Family f in Stanton Parsonage could profit bycompanion to himself, for he was sickly & had lost his wife 3 one only could profit by the kindness of their friends; Miſs Emma Watson was to make her first who was very recently returned to her family from the care of an Aunt who hadpublic appearance in the Neighbourhood; & Miſs Watson drove herbrought her up was to make her first public appearance in the neighbourhood – &her eldest Sister, whose delight in a Ball was not leſsened by a ten years EngageEnjoyment4, had& all her finery in the old Chair to D. on the important morning of the some merit in chearfullyher eldest Sister who had kindly undertookaking 5 to drive her & all her finery inBall; without being able to stay & share the pleasure herself, because the old Chair to D. on the important morng .morningher Father who was an Invalid could not be left to spend the Eveng .Eveningalone

Footnotes

1.
JA appears to have named the town 'L —', deleted the 'L', reinserted an 'L', and altered it to 'D'. Back to context...
2.
'Sussex' altered to 'Surry' by writing 'rry' over 'ssex'.Back to context...
3.
Caret deleted.Back to context...
4.
'Enjoy' written over previous word, possibly 'Engage'.Back to context...
5.
'undertook' altered to 'undertaking' by writing 'aking' over 'ook'.Back to context...
Image for page: 1 of manuscript: pmwats