Edmund Leighton [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
~*~*~
Lucy did not flee, but she did take a place in the shade, next to a small wall that ran part of the length of the field before crumbling into ruins, a remnant from years gone by. She plucked a blossom from the flowers that grew around the wall and twirled the flower in her fingers.
“My sister said you wished to speak to me,” said Philip as he approached her.
She swallowed and bit her lip as she looked up at him. He had taken out his handkerchief and was drawing it across his face to wipe away the perspiration that was there. His jacket had been discarded, and his cravat hung loosely about his neck. His sleeves were rolled halfway to his elbows, revealing sinewy forearms. She had always found him handsome, and in such a disheveled state, she found him even more attractive. However, instead of spending a few moments admiring him as she wished to do, she turned her eyes toward where his sister still stood with Mr. Darcy and Mr. Williams. “It would be more accurate to say your sister wishes for me to speak to you.”
“Foreigner – I Don’t Want to Live without You (sub Español) ~ Orgullo & Prejuicio.” YouTube. Video created for and uploaded to YouTube by Carmen De Rivera. 29 June 2012.
THE LINK BETWEEN MUSIC AND STORY:
Yes, this is a Darcy and Elizabeth video, and no, my current work in progress is not a Darcy and Elizabeth story, since I am, of course, working on His Inconvenient Choice, the next book in the Choices Series. However, this song goes very well with the story. In fact, it really could be Colonel Fitzwilliam’s theme, which I hope is evident in the excerpt below.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Colonel Fitzwilliam has always known his father would try to force him into a marriage of convenience, but after Kitty Bennet captures his heart as she shivered in the cold on the streets of Meryton, he realizes his only chance at happiness lies in making an inconvenient choice. However, it is a choice that will not go unchallenged, and as family secrets are revealed, it is a choice that, in creating happiness for the colonel, could destroy his family.
AN EXCERPT FROMHis Inconvenient Choice:
Richard drew his coat more tightly about his neck as he hurried along the street. He had chosen to leave his horse and travel as most did, on foot. “Pardon, me,” he said as he quickly stepped to the side, narrowly avoiding a collision with a footman, who was assisting a lady to a carriage.
“Richard?” said the lady.
He stopped and turned back. “Lady Matlock,” he greeted her with a proper bow. “A pleasure to see you.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Is it? I had thought you had forgotten about me completely seeing as I have heard naught of you for four days.”
He gave her a sad smile. “I apologize, but is that not that to which we must grow accustomed?”
She motioned toward the carriage. “Sit with me. Just for a moment. I shall not try to force you to return home with me, but the wind is biting, and it would be far more pleasant to speak if we were out of it.”
He saw her shiver and knew he could not refuse her. “I shall not tell you where I am staying or precisely how I have been keeping myself,” he warned.
“Very well. Then you shall just have to listen to me complain about your aunt. That woman is truly lacking in social grace!” She continued on for a few moments about the demands made on her staff by Lady Catherine and how Anne has spend the whole of her stay so far in her chambers. “I am certain she is not as ill as she pretends, but I cannot blame her for using the only means available to escape that woman. For that reason alone, I would like to see you marry her.”
“I should marry her to save her from her mother?” He shook his head. “She deserves to marry, but it shall not be to me, Mother.” He drew a deep breath and took her hand. “I wish I could marry her just so that I could remain your son, but I cannot.”
Lady Matlock placed a hand on his cheek. The war of what she thought should be and what she wished for him played on her features. “You are certain?”
He nodded and turned his head to place a kiss on her gloved palm. “I am, and though I shall regret leaving you, I cannot bear to face the regret I would have if I stayed. I love her, Mother.”
“More than me?” she asked softly.
He shrugged.
“Oh, my son,” she stroked his cheek.
“I am sorry, Mother.”
“As am I.” She leaned forward and placed a kiss on his cheek. “Perhaps your father will relent,” she said hopefully.
“You know as well as I that he never relents.”
“I must hope.” Her lips trembled slightly as she attempted to smile at him.
ONE MORE NOTE:
The full first chapter of this story (part of which was included at the end of the last book) can be read (in its first draft state) here.
So, these holiday songs are not supposed to have a story connection, but I could not help but think of Mary and Lord Rycroft when I watched this video. If you have read No Other Choice, you will know that the story ends very happily at the turning of one year into the next…at a ball. Unfortunately, His Inconvenient Choice, which begins in the morning following that ball, does not start on such a happy note as Kitty and the Colonel must say goodbye to each other. I have been working on their story over the past few weeks, and I should be ready to start posting some little snippets of it starting next Monday — if I can find songs to go with them. 🙂
“New Year Greetings from The McGuire Sisters: Let’s Start the New Year Right.” YouTube. Uploaded to YouTube by VideosTime2. YouTube, 24 Dec. 2010.
