http://www.janeausten.co.uk/magazine/page.ihtml?pid=572&step=4

"...for when he was inspired, Henry could be very convincing indeed."

YOWSER!!! Talk about ending with a bang -- where's that blushing smiley face when you need it?

L-o-n-g chapter, but nicely ties up most of the loose ends (mumbleMatthewmumblefuturewifemumble).  Well done!!!

Very nice - and thanks for the suggestion, I think I will take the Midnight Bell  home for the holidays (we have the 1968 edition in the library here.)
Now, the large family from Hampshire, on the riverbank... could it be..?

Robin

Problem is, Cat tells the nosey mother from Hampshire that Henry is a priest .. wouldn't NM then have said, "oh, so is my husband?"

Robin

Uh...I'm really enjoying this speculation, but no, they were just a nice average well-to-do but not overly genteel country family with several children who were in Bath for papa's gout. Very like the Musgroves, I guess. I needed someone who would be well-to-do enough to have a carriage in Bath, would have it nearby to take them all home from their walk, be able to provide a horsey-smelling blanket, and the nosy wife for a bit of comic relief.

I was really conscious in that scene to not make it seem as though I were taking depression and suicide lightly. I tried to make it very clear that Shaw was not really suicidal, he was a big emo drama queen and just wanted to make a big production and get some attention--like Henry said, he had a half-baked plan that someone would get Judith to talk him in. He's very self-absorbed--remember when Henry and Catherine ran into him earlier in the story, he recognized Mac--he's hard to miss--but didn't remember Catherine's name or even her marital status, because she didn't matter. The lady with the big hairy dog sort of registered on the edge of his brain and that was it. I had a notion at first that he purposely waited for Henry and Catherine to come along, because he knew they knew the story and would be likely to fetch Judith to talk him out, but that doesn't really fit with his personality. He's the center of the universe and the rest of us are extras. It didn't matter who he performed to. Anyway, that's why I needed the nosy wife and bloodthirsty kids for comic relief, to keep it very lighthearted. Not to mention the whole idea of Mac standing there with the tail of Shaw's coat in his mouth, preventing him from doing anything. Henry had Shaw figured out pretty quickly, too.

Also I'm not sure of the geography--I think they should have been closer to Beechen Cliff and further from the Pulteney Bridge, because there isn't really shallow enough water there--the bank drops off very steeply. I think there's a concrete or stone seawall now lining the bank of the river, but even in 1799, I dare say there was no shallow water. But I found some pictures of ducks on the bank of the Avon (that inspired Mac's chasing the ducks earlier in the story) and the water seemed quite shallow, and it worked for the story, but I got the impression it was further downstream, outside the main city. There was so much to wrap up that I got behind and finished this very, very late (that's why no illustrations yet--they are coming--I'm told Shaw's Virginia Woolf impression will be one of them) and I did an Ann Radcliffe and tried to stuff everything in that I had to wrap up.

I like the idea of Henry and Catherine reading The Midnight Bell with us... 

I dare say by Feb. 1799 he would be done, though! It's not that long of a book. But if you want to believe it's the Austens, go ahead! 

The illustrations are done--but I think the editor took off for the holidays (and might even be out of town). There's one of Lady Josephine that is just--I about fell off my chair laughing when I saw it. Cassi told me Lady J is gloating at the General for being a cheap lunk. Her expression is just priceless.

I'm hearing rumblings from Bath that they want to publish it in hard copy. No details yet. I just hope they realize I expect to be consulted about it.

I don't have anything planned at the moment though who knows what might happen...I have to get on top of a few things and then we'll see.

I was approached about a project that would have been very time-consuming for a couple of months (I have to keep it confidential--but it's interesting) and I had to say no. I want to do my own things in 2008.

Awwwww!!!  Give that doggie a bone ... he is adorable!