I’ve read two books that put forward the theory that Jane Austen, spinster novelist, and subject of much conjecture about her private life, had a secret teenage marriage! Not only that, but the man she eloped with was none other than D’Arcy Wentworth, the father of William Charles Wentworth, one of my main characters in my writing project ‘The House’. Yes, Walker says, Jane was much less like Elizabeth Bennett, and ever so much more like Lydia, who ran away to Gretna Green with Wickham at the tender age of 15.

Having ploughed through two biographies of William Charles Wentworth and his father D’Arcy Wentworth, I’m now moving on to new books and background material, to get more perspective, background and colour for Sarah’s story.