I've been on a bit of a Jane Austen bender recently - not reading her actual books, but reading of her life and how it impacted her writing - prompted by my classes in Creative Writing at Tabor College. This pair of letters is my homage to Austen, inspired by a lively chat with one of my dearest friends, over a picnic lunch in Kuitpo Forest. Every writer needs a friend who is willing to play intellectual soccer with ideas. It is plausible that Anne Sharpe, a governess to Aust