Miss Austen

1830: Cassandra Austen is told that her dearest friend Eliza’s husband Fulwar now lies on his deathbed. Cassandra is met with a cool reception but soon forms a bond with Fulwar’s daughter Isabella. Cassandra finds an opportunity to search the house, and discovers the letters her sister Jane wrote to Eliza. Cassandra is keen that the private correspondence should not fall into the wrong hands.

Cassandra’s determination to keep Jane’s letters private is stronger than ever and is joined by a second objective: to secure a home for Isabella. But Cassandra begins to feel unwell, and the past comes crashing in with her recollections of the difficult years after her fiancé Tom’s death and the uncomfortable turn of events that followed at her brother’s grand estate in Kent.

Cassandra’s fever is raging, but Isabella refuses to send for the doctor and serves as her nurse. In her delirium, Cassandra nearly lets slip that she has Jane’s letters, but manages to keep Mary Austen from finding them. As she travels in and out of consciousness, Cassandra relives the dramatic events of her youth. Once better, Cassandra takes drastic action for Isabella’s future.

Mr. Dundas and his wife prepare to move into the vicarage, and the question of Isabella’s future comes to the fore. Though she learns the truth about Isabella’s past, Cassandra is powerless to bring about a reconciliation. Dinah makes a reckless decision to change the course of Isabella’s life. Upon arriving back at Chawton, Cassandra burns the letters in a final act to protect Jane’s legacy.