Jane Fairfax's Airbnb Review of Miss Bates's Cottage
How could I possibly give a star rating to taking in my native air?
Jane Fairfax
New on Airbnb
I’m a returning guest to this centrally-located two-bedroom apartment above a Highbury shop, & not just because it belongs to my aunt & grandmother (your hosts). This is the longest I’ve stayed—nearly 3 months!—in 2 years, as I’ve been indispensible to my patrons Colonel & Mrs. Campbell, & their daughter, Miss Campbell, who is now Mrs. Dixon. It was Colonel Campbell who suggested I return to Highbury in hopes that my “native air”1 would improve my health, & I have to face that, at one-and-twenty, I have outgrown my life with the Campbells—I must now lead the life I was intended for… The air in Highbury really is good if you’re traveling for your health.
The village is also very welcoming, but expect the typical features of country society. — I’ll admit that it’s not as elegant or rational as the company I’m used to keeping in London & Weymouth, but my aunt does mix with Highbury’s finest families, receiving generous gifts & invitations from the Coles (perhaps not the landed gentry, but very nice for people who made their money from trade), Knightleys, & Woodhouses—you’re sure to enjoy apples & strawberries from Donwell, pork from Harfield, & several gatherings (even if the invite doesn’t always include dinner) during your stay. Though I think our richer friends could be more generous to my aunt & grandmama—apples alone don’t make a meal, & Mr. Woodhouse’s gruel at dinner parties leaves our stomachs rumbling even though Hartfield can afford a bounty—my aunt will never let you want for anything. Especially information.
She has little else to be queen of, my aunt, but gossip. Talk. What my aunt’s humble cottage lacks in luxury she makes up for by supplying you with news of everything that’s happening in Highbury, as she is “an eternal talker”2. I’m afraid that in my absence you’ll certainly be subjected to hearing her read every letter I send home aloud, & she will continue to read the same one until everyone she knows is familiar with its contents or a new one arrives… I do recommend getting out for a walk! If you’re visiting in the spring or summer, walking through the nature of Highbury offers much peace of mind. Even I (especially I) know how small my aunt’s conversation can make the already very small apartment seem. But it isn’t all incessant chatter like some rich girls would have you believe.—Our position here in Highbury is secure because my aunt is well-liked.
You’ll be staying in the room I share with our servant girl whenever I visit. During the day & in the evening, we sit in the drawing room near the fire & accept the occasional visit from friends, who should visit more often than they do. It’s a cozy space but big enough for a large pianoforte that you’re welcome to play.
I recommend a short stay of a few weeks,3 but my aunt wouldn’t mind if you chose to stay forever. That’s the sort of hospitality I receive every time I stay here, & I know it is a kindness my aunt will graciously extend to you during your stay in Highbury.
I’ll say one more thing: You won’t find another accommodation in the center of town that is affordable.
See Emma, Vol. II, Ch. 11, pp. 155-156: “With regard to her not accompanying them to Ireland, her account to her aunt contained nothing but truth, though there might be some truths not told. It was her own choice to give the time of their absence to Highbury; to spend, perhaps, her last months of perfect liberty with those kind of relations to whom she was so very dear: and the Campbells, whatever might be their motive or motives, whether single, or double, or treble, gave the arrangement their ready sanction, and said, that they depended more on a few months spent in her native air, for the recovery of her health, than on any thing else.”
See Emma, Vol. II, Ch. 11, p. 156: “Emma was sorry;—to have to pay civilities to a person she did not like through three long months!—to be always doing more than she wished, and less than she ought! Why she did not like Jane Fairfax might be a difficult question to answer; Mr. Knightley had once told her it was because she saw in her the really accomplished young woman, which she wanted to be thought herself; and though the accusation had been eagerly refuted at the time, there were moments of self-examination in which her conscience could not quite acquit her. But she could never get acquainted with her: she did not know how it was, but there was such coldness and reserve—such apparent indifference whether she pleased or not—and then, her aunt was such an eternal talker!”
See “Travel in Jane Austen’s Time” by Julie Klassen: “Travel was so tedious, dangerous, and expensive, that the majority of people traveled no farther than 14 miles from home. And once a person made a journey to visit friends or relatives, they tended to stay for weeks, even months. For example, Cassandra Austen frequently visited her brother Edward for weeks at a time.”
Amazing!