[I think she could be reading to an elderly employer or just enjoying herself as she waited to be summoned to do something for her employer. Don't you?]
~*~*~
He took his wife’s hand again. “I actually had to travel all the way to Scotland just to find her.”
“Scotland?” Lydia cried. “But you do not sound Scottish.”
Lady Matlock laughed. “I am not. My father had died, you see. His estate passed to my uncle, and my uncle thought that it was far better that I take a position as a companion than attend school. As he saw it, I could learn all I needed to about how to behave as a proper lady while earning my keep and costing him not a cent.”
“Fortunately, years earlier, my great aunt had married a Scottish landowner,” Lord Matlock added. “And when he died, she had the great good sense to employ the prettiest companion I have ever seen.”
[from Persuading Miss Mary, book 4 in the Marrying Elizabeth Series]
~*~*~
Confounding Caroline ~ Delighting Mrs. Bennet ~ Loving Lydia
Lovely picture choice. It looks like it might be tea time. If we look closely, there are cups still on the table.The little tray/bowl is empty. It may have held muffins or pastries. One chair is pushed back like someone left and would be returning. Perhaps the girl is reading until that person returns. Maybe she is a companion and couldn’t wait to see what happen next in the story. She appears to be riveted to the book. Cute.
This Scottish story of Lady Matlock would be an amazing story. I like her and Lord Matlock meeting her in the wilds of Scotland would be so much fun. You might consider a side story sometime. I love Scotland and she sounds like a spitfire. Oh well. It’s not like you don’t have enough on your plate. Thanks for sharing this excerpt and that lovely picture.
Maybe her employer, having finished her tea, has gone out for a stroll in the garden with a friend?
That could be a fun short story to write. I will have to add it to my list of things I want to write when I have some time 😉 LOL That list seems to always be growing.
Lovely painting. The dark interior isn’t the usual setting I see normally (but not always) when the painter depicts a female reading. And I’ve seen so many beautiful ones. I wonder now, (you always make me question things further, I can’t shut my mind up) if there are so many paintings of women reading because it was considered refined? Or just a way to keep the subject still. Ha! See, if she were embroidering she’d be constantly moving. With artists I think it was the composition that was more important. Unless it was a commissioned portrait, and who would commission a painting of their loved one in profile and their head down? The above is a very beautiful and serene study.
And that would be me, grabbing my phone whenever someone left me alone for more than a minute to keep reading the book I’m working on.
The next installment of Lydia is just hours away! Yay.
And I’ll bet last week’s girl wishes she could’ve had a book in her hands instead of a mandolin!! 😉
Haha! I bet you’re right.
I love that I make you think. My teacher heart is going pitter pat. ☺ It might have just been a common activity. Maybe it’s one the artist preferred? Kind of like how some painted more active scenes of men riding or hunting or couples dancing. I love the feeling of life but with a peaceful stillness portrayed in this painting.