One most material comfort however they have; the assurance of its being really an accidental wound, which is not only positively declared by Earle himself, but is likewise testified by the particular direction of the bullet. Such a wound could not have been received in a duel. (Letter 25)

Again Mr. Earle Harwood and more fuel for the fire! Could his wife’s supposed prior reputation be the reason he was suspected of a duel or were all gun shot wounds suspected of being obtained during a duel till proven otherwise or sufficiently witnessed by others. It seems this subject is an undying one but I am not complaining as I am excessively diverted. I confess I never expected a duel or the suspicion of one to come up in JA’s letters. Upon looking up the family once again I was intrigued by the reference in JA: A Family Record by Deirdre Le Faye, that Earle Harwood’s great-grandfather (John Harwood, 1719-87, “was a bucolic character who is reputed to have been the original of Squire Western in Fielding’s Tom Jones. I thought perhaps this might lead JA to suggesting a duel has happened as a joke but I confess to having never read Tom Jones and even being extremely uncertain that JA’s comment about a duel is in jest because the rest of her comments on the subject seem to be in all seriousness. Have I missed something? :D