Why To Not Get Jane Austen Characters Wet

“We may laugh at Jane Austen and her heroines susceptibility to dampness. But the reality is we still cling this idea that going out without shoes or going to bed with wet hair means we could catch our death of cold. At the time no-one treated the cause, but the symptoms. And death rates from infectious diseases such as TB were very high, while four of Jane’s sister-in-laws died in childbirth. So women had every reason to be cautious.”