We've had some very wintry weather of late, which inspired this painting of Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra. They are walking in the snow near their first home, Steventon Rectory, in Hampshire. When Jane Austen was nineteen, the winter of 1794/95 was exceptionally severe with very cold conditions setting in on Christmas Eve. The cold was most intense during January, the coldest on record. A rapid but temporary thaw, accompanied by heavy rain began on the 7th February, which resulted in much flooding across large areas of England - much as we seem to be experiencing at present. The severe cold returned after February 12th, and continued well into March with more snow. For some time Jane Austen had been writing short pieces for the amusement of her family and attempted a novella, Lady Susan. She was possibly just starting work on the book that was to eventually become Sense and Sensibility, and which her sister remembered was first entitled Elinor and Marianne. Perhaps the bad...