This is one of my portraits of Jane Austen in a reflective mood. Inspired by her sister Cassandra's sketch, I have taken away her spinster's cap for a more youthful image. This is how I imagine she would have looked at about the time she was writing Pride and Prejudice. Which one of her beau inspired the character of Mr Darcy, I wonder? Was it Tom Lefroy as some suggest, or was it Edward Taylor, Mr Heartley, Reverend C. Powlett or Mr Warren? These gentleman are all mentioned in Jane's letters as possible suitors. And what about the mysterious suitor from Sidmouth? Jane is supposed to have fallen in love with a young clergyman in the West Country in 1801. Cassandra believed that Jane held him in high regard and that he returned her feelings. They were supposed to have met up at a later date but news of his untimely death reached them, possibly thwarting Jane's hopes of matrimony forever.