In May 1799, Austen wrote to her sister, Cassandra, ‘Our journey yesterday went off exceedingly well, nothing occurred to alarm or delay us . . . At Devizes we had comfortable rooms and a good dinner, to which we sat down about five; amongst other things we had asparagus and a lobster, which made me wish for you, and some cheesecakes, on which the children made so delightful a supper as to endear the town of Devizes to them for a long time.’Austen is good at painting pictures of domestic ...
