Excerpt from The Novels of Jane Austen: Lady Susan; The Watsons; A Memoir and Letters I have lately received permission to print the following tale from the author's niece, Lady Knatcbbull, of Provender, in Kent, to whom the autograph copy was given. I am not able to as certain when it was composed. Her family have always believed it to be an early production. Perhaps she wrote it as an experiment in conduct ing a story by means of letters. It was not, how ever, her only attempt of that kind; for Sense and Sensibility was first written in letters; but as she afterwards re-wrote one of these works and never published the other, it is probable that she was not quite satisfied with the result. The tale itself is scarcely one on which a. Literary reputation could have been founded: but though, like some plants, it may be too slight to stand alone, it may, perhaps, be supported by the strength of her more firmly mated works. At any rate, it cannot di minisb Jane Austen's reputation as a writer; for even if it should be judged unworthy of the pub licity now given to it, the censure must fall on him who has put it forth, not on her who kept it locked up in her desk. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.