Welcome to a brand new week and a brand new month. Shall we start it with a love song and a quote from a story?
Anne wants to marry the gentleman she loves and not the one her mother has chosen. Doing so will take some scheming but if things go well, she should find herself dancing at her wedding with Alistair and not Darcy. This quote from Becoming Entangled is from the scene where Anne presents her plan to Alistair.
Becoming Entangled is a sequel to Unravelling Mr. Darcy, and the timelines of the two books overlap. The quote above happens on the day Anne meets Elizabeth when she is walking near Rosings before she leaves for London (in chapter 4 of UMD), and it is also the day Anne sends her letter to Darcy (which Darcy reads in chapter 5 of UMD).
Fun Fact: Anne and Alistair are one of my most favourite couples. I love the way these two love each other so completely, which is why today’s song matches with their story so well.
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Oh, my! This has been a busy, busy week. Not much writing got done, but a lot of other tasks did. I’ll tell you more about that below, as well as about the books I have on sale, the book I have on preorder, and a little bit about a piece of exercise equipment that is mentioned in His Irreplaceable Belle. Ready to find out about all that? Here we go…
Writing News
This week, I wrote one chapter of Her Convenient Forever. That’s all I have gotten written so far this week. I hope to maybe have time to at least start a chapter of Protecting Miss Darcy later today, but we’ll see if there is time for that or not. Below is an excerpt from near the end of the chapter I wrote. The Loves have just arrived at Grenwood Hall to take a tour, and Mrs. Love is quite excited for the opportunity. (Little does she know just how eventful this tour will be — but I haven’t written that part yet, nor am I going to share that little secret.)
“I thought that we could start our tour in the drawing room with a glass of lemonade and a biscuit if youwish.”
“I just ate something on the way here,” Felicity admitted softly. It was not something she would have admitted to just anyone, but Mr. Hedrington had not judged her harshly for being with child. Therefore, she suspected he would not care one bit if she had consumed a full meal while travelling the few miles from their cottage to his home. “However, I would not turn down a glass of lemonade.”
“Then, we shall have lemonade and save the biscuits for later.” He paused before he reached the door. “Did you get a good look at the façade? It is quite grand is it not?”
“It is lovely, simply lovely,” Felicity’s mother cried. “Mrs. Adams – do you know her?”
“I do,” Mr. Hedrington said.
“Mrs. Adams told me that the house and grounds were well proportioned, and she was right. Oh!” One of her hands rested just above her heart. “It is delightfully proportioned. Even spacing on the windows and each matching the other. The symmetry is exactly as it should be.”
PUBLISHED TO YOUTUBE BY KING CALAWAY ON JANUARY 25, 2019.
This is one of those songs I just happened to see as a suggestion on YouTube. I had never heard of this Country Pop group before. So, I clicked play and decided it was a song worth sharing and pairing up with Assessing Mr. Darcy.
(You can find this song on Spotify at this link. I don’t get anything for sharing this link. I am just trying to do my part to help musicians earn a few pennies when listeners listen. 🙂 )
I’ve chosen the following chapter because it is when the first hints of a desire for “Building a World for Two” begin to filter into Darcy’s thinking. It is the moment he meets Elizabeth. (Yes, this is a story where Darcy falls for her immediately, and then they work through some stuff.)
Assessing Mr. Darcy, Ch. 4
Darcy had found his tea with Bingley to be refreshing, but not so refreshing as the feel of the wind against one’s person as he rode. At least, that is how Darcy saw it. He and Bingley had discussed the basics about which books were most important to look over first and what Bingley’s hopes were in securing an estate like Netherfield. It was for Bingley as it was for many gentlemen.
Bingley wished to gain the prominence that such an estate would bring him as well as a place into which he could put some of his inheritance in such a fashion that it would continue to reap benefits well past when he departed this earth. Bingley was no fool. He was happy and amiable as well as obliging to a fault at times, but he was no fool once he put his mind to a matter. It would take some doing, but Darcy did not expect it would be overly long before Bingley understood the workings of an estate as well as any gentleman did. Darcy smiled wryly. Bingley had the added advantage that he was likely to gain the approval of all his neighbours with very little effort. That was how Bingley was. He liked people, and they liked him. It was an enviable quality.
“I see the knoll,” Bingley circled back to where Darcy was riding at a slower pace. “There.” He pointed to his left. “And that fence there must be the one of which the groom spoke. We are nearly at the end of Netherfield’s lands in this direction. I shall have to ask him tomorrow for a marker of where it ends in the opposite direction.”
“Do you truly care to know?” Darcy teased. “Are there pretty ladies at an estate in all four directions?”
PUBLISHED TO YOUTUBE BY PHILLIP PHILLIPS ON AUGUST 2, 2012.
This song is one I often listen to as an instrumental cover by The Piano Guys while writing, but I thought that today, I would share the vocal version, which is on my Whatever for Whenever Spotify playlist. (This song on Spotify can be found here.)
The lyrics are what has me pairing this song with Master of Longbourn today. The Mr. Collins in this book is searching for a home. He has demons that fill him with fear. However, he finds himself surrounded by those who are willing to help make Longbourn his home.
Using the candle he held in his hand, Collins lit a second one that was in the lamp on the table next to where Mr. Bennet had been sitting earlier that day. He looked around the room.
Mr. Bennet had told him he was to make this room his second refuge. His first was his bedchamber, of course. There he could lock himself away without there being much chance of being disturbed, but here, he was more accessible, and here is where Bingley had very firmly insisted he should read each evening.
Truth be told, Bingley had wished for him to sit with the others in the sitting room, but Darcy had pled his case and convinced Bingley that the study would be better for reviewing what needed to be learned.
Collins tipped his head and eyed the book on the desk. He wanted to go over it again. He was positive he could remember nearly everything Mr. Bennet had told him about the tenants listed in it. He glanced at the door. No one was with him; he could peek at it.
He crossed to the desk, placed his hand on the book, and just as he was about to lift the cover, shook his head and retreated to the chair near the lamp without the book. He did not want to have to tell Bingley or Darcy tomorrow afternoon that he had spent another evening studying, for both gentlemen had thought it best if he spent one evening consuming the novel he had promised Kitty he would read.
He sighed as he settled into his chair, and taking up his book, he placed it unopened in his lap while he pondered the lovely Miss Kitty Bennet and watched the shadows chase each other in the flickering dance of the candles’ flames. Perhaps in the new year when Bingley had his ball, he would dance two sets with her. Perhaps by then, she would even be accepting of his addresses, or at least, by then, he would have learned enough from Darcy and Bingley to be able to present them. By spring, he might even find himself in a position to make her his wife. That thought could not be made without a smile finding its way to his lips.
“May I enter?”
Evelina clattered to the floor as Collins started at the sweet voice that called to him from the door.
PUBLISHED TO YOUTUBE BY THE PIANO GUYS ON OCTOBER 29, 2015
I love, love, love this song — the piano, the cello, the drums, and even the bagpipes. (Bagpipes sound like home to me. 🙂 They are a familiar sound here in Nova Scotia.) And then, how the two songs are merged together so neatly! It’s simply wonderful.
Today, I am choosing to pair this today with a chapter from Becoming Entangled because 1) Anne is on her way to Scotland and 2) she’s on her way to Scotland because she’s taking control of her life. If you’ve ever heard the lyrics to “Fight Song” (by Rachel Platten) they include these lines:
This is my fight song,
Take back my life song,
I think that fits very well with Miss de Bourgh’s attitude in her story. Unfortunately, her plans do not go as she thinks they will.
Becoming Entangled, Chapter 4
The next day as Alistair was dozing off while reading poetry shortly after they had stopped to change horses, Clifton Conrad was approaching the village of Westerham. His horse was fresh. He had changed mounts at Bromley and was determined to make an appearance in Hunsford. With any luck, he would find out something about what he needed to know.
Last evening, after Alistair had left White’s, Conrad and his friends had set to finding out all they could about one Miss de Bourgh. It had required them to spend an extraordinary amount of time at the home of one of his friends instead of playing cards as they had intended. However, it had been well worth the effort, for they had discovered that the young lady was likely of no small fortune, being the only heir to her late father. The estate, it seemed, had not been entailed away from the females in the family, and as such, she was to come into ownership of it either when she came of age or married. In addition to her sizable fortune, she was also well connected, being the niece of Lord Matlock and cousin to Fitzwilliam Darcy, who, though not titled, was among the most respected gentlemen of the ton.
Conrad chuckled. It was amazing what information was held by some of the wags of the ton. A simple — “Pratt mentioned a Miss de Bourgh, who is friends with his mother, Lady Metcalfe. I cannot say I recall the name de Bourgh.” — had been enough to unveil all he needed to know.
According to his friend’s mother, Conrad had discovered that Miss de Bourgh was a novice when it came to social matters in town, for she had never had a proper come out. However, his friend’s mother was almost completely certain that Miss de Bourgh, who was nearly twenty, would make her debut on the arm of her cousin, Mr. Darcy, next season. After all, theirs was a long-standing arrangement, and since everyone knew that Darcy was not the sort to shirk his duty, Miss de Bourgh would soon be wed. To prove her point, she had pointed out how Darcy had been in town for several seasons and had not once singled out any lady in particular.
Conrad patted the side of his mount’s neck. “To think Pratt was going to step between Darcy and duty.” He chuckled again. “Pratt! Of all people! I should very much like to see that. He’d not have stood a chance.” He chuckled again at the thought of the much smaller Pratt being called out and handily dispatched by the larger and more capable Darcy. “Perhaps that is how I should have allowed him to find his fate,” he said as he patted his horse again. “Ah, but Pratt is no fool. He would not set himself up against such odds even if this Miss de Bourgh was Venus herself. Therefore, my four-legged friend, there must be some scheme afoot, and I intend to discover it.”
And discover it he did by happy chance as he entered Hunsford.
