Mention of the name Jane Austin makes me stand properly and speak properly too. She was a woman of her time, very perceptible with a sharp wit and a wonderful way with words.

Her novels are classics in every sense and are perhaps better known for their film adaptations, though as she said herself: “The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.”

As for the characters, well, the much misunderstood Mr Darcy deserves a mention. He married for love, not for money – unusual in those days. And he was restrained and self-effacing, if not a bit rigid and cautious. But in the end he lost the run of himself declaring to Elizabeth: “In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.”

Sure wouldn’t any woman be bowled over by that.