ABSTRACT
In chapter 26 of Jane Austen's Emma (1815), the heroine attends a high tea at the home of neighbors. At some point, "a little bustle in the room showed them that tea was over, and the instrument in preparation." Emma presently acceded to the "very pressing entreaties" of the others and sat at the pianoforte to sing and play: "She knew the limitations of her own powers too well to attempt more than she could perform with credit; she wanted neither taste nor spirit in the little things which are generally acceptable, and could accompany her own voice well." At a later gathering (chapter 28) young Frank Churchill begs the more able pianist Jane Fairfax to continue playing:
"If you are very kind," said he, "it will be one of the waltzes we danced last night; let me live them over again." . . .
