…“I did not know Mr. Blakesley had a lady,” Grace’s new bench mate said. “Indeed, I have never seen him with any lady in particular in all the time I have been in Bath.”
“Oh, she is not from Bath.” Grace’s stomach twisted at the idea of spreading gossip about Walter.
“I do not see how she could not be. I do not believe Mr. Blakesley has been gone from Bath for these past six months.” She leaned a bit closer to Grace. “Not even at Christmas time. His parents came here.” She clucked her tongue. “If he has told you he has a lady somewhere other than in Bath, he has not been honest with you.” She sighed. “And I find it difficult to believe he would be so deceptive.”
[from Her Secret Beau, Touches of Austen book 3]Published to YouTube by greencat9 on July 22, 2007
This video has nothing to do with tomorrow’s chapter of Her Secret Beau but everything to do with how Lord Westonbury might be feeling about his relationship with Mary and where my brain kind of needs to be while writing their story at present. It also has to do with the fact that I was given the privilege of reading the first draft of a North and South short story which Rose Fairbanks has written for an anthology that she is in with several other authors called Falling for Mr. Thornton. You can keep up with the project on their Facebook page if you are a Facebook user.
Currently, as I am attempting to write this rapidly on Saturday, hurricane Dorian is beginning to make his presence known. The wind is picking up and the rain is pelting down, but we still have power. However, we know that the power will eventually go out as the storm settles in. That’s why I am attempting to dash this off as quickly as possible. 🙂
On Labour Day (last Monday) we took one final day trip. It did not go as planned, but we ended up having a good day despite our plans shifting. We stopped at Ottawa House by-the-Sea Museum. This house (c.1760s) has had several owners over the years. Perhaps the most famous was the man who gave the house its name — Sir Charles Tupper. This was his summer home for a time. He was a Nova Scotia premier, a Father of Confederation (in fact it is in honor of confederation that he named the house as he did), and the sixth Prime Minister of Canada.
After leaving Ottawa House and taking a walk on the beach there, we began driving back taking in the views of the Minas Basin along the way and stopped at Five Island Lighthouse park.
I am now attempting to settle into some sort of school-year routine, although hurricane preparations did throw that off a bit. 🙂 However, I did manage to write a chapter of both blog stories — but that was all the writing I did, which means there really isn’t a great deal of writing news to share and no new excerpt for this post. However, I will share something from an already published story that seems to go with today’s song choice.
AN EXCERPT FROM Enticing Miss Darcy:
“Miss Darcy,” he said with a bow. “I do believe the next set is ours. Mr. Darcy, Mrs. Darcy,” he acknowledged each of them with a bow of his head.
“I have not had you in my drawing room in some time,” Elizabeth said with a smile.
He chuckled. “Do you miss me?”
“You are far more entertaining than some of the callers we have had.” Elizabeth laughed lightly.
“Ah, the court jester.” Jack placed his hand on his heart as if wounded and sighed, causing Elizabeth to continue laughing.
“I assure you, you are missed,” she replied. “It is always pleasant to have a call from a friend.”
“Indeed, it is,” Georgiana agreed.
Friend. There was that word again.
“Ah,” Jack replied, “but is it not better to have chairs available to those who might be more than friends? Is that not the purpose of the season?”
Darcy chuckled. “I would rather that all the chairs be filled with horrible old matrons rather than young hopeful swains, but your presence I might not abhor.”
“Unless I was a young hopeful swain?” Jack knew it was rather bold to ask it, but he did wish to know Mr. Darcy’s opinion of him.
The man tipped his head and rubbed his chin as he considered Jack. He shook his head and then with a shrug and a look of surprise said, “No, you, I could tolerate even as a young hopeful swain.”
“I shall keep that in mind,” Jack assured him. There was something interesting about the way Mr. Darcy’s lips curved up slightly into a contained smile. Did the man suspect more than Jack thought?
The musicians had taken up their instruments, and couples were gathering on the floor.
“We should take our places.” He extended his arm to Georgiana and gave a parting bow of his head to her brother and his wife.
“I should like it if you called,” Georgiana said as they made their way to where the others were lining up.
“As a friend or a suitor?”
Georgiana blinked, and her steps faltered. “I am not certain I understand your question.”
“Your sister wishes me to call as a friend, and your brother has given me leave to call as a suitor. I was just wondering which you would prefer.”
She blinked again, and her brows drew together as she took her place across from him. “Would you call as either?” Her voice was filled with incredulity as if the concept of him as a suitor was a completely new thought to her.
“I would prefer one over the other,” he said as the music began. “However,” he said as they touched hands and began their figures, “it is not my preference that matters.”
Georgiana’s mouth formed an o, and her eyes widened the tiniest amount. Anne and Lady Margaret would be pleased to know he had presented himself as an option and so boldly.
He and Georgiana wove their way in, out, and around the other dancers as well as down and back up the line but spoke not a word. Jack enjoyed watching the various perplexed expressions that crossed Georgiana’s face each time they joined hands. Finally, the music faded, the steps had all been completed, and it was time to form the next line.
“What of Miss Parkes?” Georgiana asked in a whisper.
“She is a friend,” he answered.
“Are you not courting her?”
“No,” he replied honestly.
Again, her lovely lips formed an o while her brows drew together. “Does she know?” The question was asked almost too softly to be heard, and the look of agony on Georgiana’s face which accompanied it was nearly his undoing.
“Of course,” he replied quickly as the music began. Thankfully, her expression relaxed, though her brows remained drawn together slightly until the dancing had begun in earnest. He could not watch her contemplations without his heart pinching. It was perhaps the longest dance he had ever endured.
Finally, after what had felt like an interminably long period of time, they stopped, clapped, bowed, and curtsied.
“Are you certain she knows?” Georgiana asked as she placed her hand on his arm.
“Yes.”
They took three silent steps toward the edge of the ballroom.
“Do you think me a cad?” Jack asked in a whisper. There could be no other reason for her questioning. She must think him capable of playing with the affections of a lady. The thought not only stung, it angered him. He thought that she would know him better than that. Had he not shown himself to be anything other than a true friend for the entirety of their acquaintance?
“I do not know what to think. I have…” her voice trailed off, and she shook her head. “No, of course, you are not.”
She was forcing a smile to her lips, but it was not reaching her eyes. Jack expelled a breath in a whoosh. She did not trust him. “It is perhaps better if I do not call then,” he murmured as they drew near to where her brother and Mrs. Darcy were standing. “I thank you for the dance,” he said a bit more loudly. “I will not importune you again,” he added in a whisper. Then with a quick bow to both her and her family, he turned and left her, the room, and the building, for a gentleman should not be in company when his heart was breaking.
Oh, and here’s a short story excerpt video that I made for this book a while ago.
So many things to discuss.
First: I hope all is well with the aftermath of Dorian. I thought of you as I saw it heading up the eastern sea coast. Many of my GoodReads friends, our JAFF authors, and our bloggers are locatged on the east coast [and have evacuated in the past] so I knew of the dangers. As we began to hear from various people [saying they were safe], I knew you were still in the cross-hairs. My prayers were going out for those still in danger.
Secondly: The music video was delicious. Poor Grace. Having to sit by and listen as others discussed Mr. Blakesley.and his prospects.
Next: Enticing Miss Darcy was a delightful story. I loved it. You little video was so cute. I especially enjoyed the extra surprise at the end of the book with Mr. Tibbet. Yes, that was rather wicked of you and I appreciated it. What a hoot.
Blessings on all your hard work. You will eventually get accustomed to the new normal in your life. It just take a bit of time.
We were blessed. There is only one small branch that came down in our yard. Other places in the Halifax area have large, old trees which toppled. Dorian made landfall near Halifax as a category 2 hurricane. We don’t get them that intense here very often. The last one like this was sixteen years ago. Usually, hurricanes tend to weaken and come apart as they move over the cooler waters of the Atlantic up here, but the waters are warmer this year. Our power did go out — about half an hour after I finished scheduling this post — and was off until just before eleven last night. Our internet just came back this morning. There are still many without power as the clean up goes on. I’m so thankful it was not so bad as it could have been for us. God was faithful in protecting us.
I really enjoyed Enticing Miss Darcy. Jack was such a fun character to write. Mr. Tibbett was less fun. LOL
I waited so long (getting ready for a trip) to read this and then it was so late last night when I did that I was brain dead. I’m so glad to hear your damage wasn’t worse than it was. Power outages, as long as they don’t go for too long, are always a nuisance but everybody has their idea of what too long is. I’ve been lucky to never be working on something like a deadline, that was lost because of it, or been at a workplace where there was a life-critical issue happening. Trees are such a sad loss. Once you know everyone around you is at least safe, I always mourn the trees. I of course feel very bad, and try to help, about people who lose property and possessions, but again, it takes so long to grow a tree to maturity.
What a neat thing that you got your last day trip in this summer. And another house museum! I long to have a window like that with the lace curtains looking out over the ocean or lake etc. Even on a grey dreary day it would make me even more grateful to be cozy inside. I kind of like an occasional grey dreary day.
[Except when it’s a dark dark dreary day and there’s a power outage, and I only have a few hours left of battery on the favored-at-the-moment elec. device. The last time this happened to us I went rater batty. It lasted so long we were using candles and I’m thinking this is what it was like to live before electricity. My eyes couldn’t adjust to reading in that candlelight and I didn’t dare use up my batteries.]
I loved the music video. I’m thrilled to hear about Rose Fairbank’s North & South project. After P&P that’s my next favorite fan fiction category, and there isn’t nearly enough, plus it’s really hard to beat Nicole Clarkston’s variations. I have a feeling Rose’s will be right up there.
Lastly, I have not read ‘Enticing Miss Darcy’ yet! Sigh…gotta do that soon. Even though it would mean a bit of repeat I think I’m going to get the collection it is in. But now that some other reading obligations are over, I’m really eager to read the Willow Hall set, which I have owned for forever and still not read. I recently saw an excerpt (forget where) that really excited me so that comes next.
Good luck with the new fall schedule. Don’t burn the candle at both ends, Lady.
It makes me sad to see trees that are a hundred or two years old get taken out by a storm. They really are irreplaceable — at least, in my life time, they will never be the same. I believe there are still places in the city without power. A friend of mine lost all the food in her fridge and freezers. I was fortunate that my husband rented a small generator so we could run the fridge and freezer on a rotating basis and then the power was not out for too terribly long. We were also able to boil water in the kettle, charge phones, and use a lamp for light while playing board games late into the night. 🙂 We really were very blessed in this storm.
I have found that this week is falling nicely into a routine of sorts, and that is encouraging. I have gotten a good bit of writing done in these first three days. 🙂 That feels good. All is right in my world again because I have been able to write. LOL I really do love it. 😀
Nicole is also in that N&S collection with Rose.
You mean you’re only supposed to light one end of a candle? 😉 Who knew? LOL
I’m excited to have you read those stories, too. I think (fingers crossed) you’ll like them.