A cottager leaned whispering by her hives, Telling the bees some news, as they lit down, And entered one by one their waxen town. — Illustration from The monitions of the unseen, and poems of love and childhood; 1871; author, Jean Ingelow. Internet Archive Book Images / No restrictions via Wikimedia
~*~*~
“For me?” Georgiana cried. “I should think it would be very bad manners for me to come looking for assistance from a gentleman who was injured fetching me a flower to sketch.”
“Do not apologize again.”
“But if you had not tried to shoo that bee away from me…”
“I knew the risk.”
[from Protecting Miss Darcy, Marrying Elizabeth book 6]
PUBLISHED TO YOUTUBE BY RYANN DARLING ON JANUARY 6, 2018.
This is a video I “stumbled” upon by accident on YouTube while looking for Music Monday video options. What a sweet discovery! I think that this song pairs well with the relationship between Lydia and Richard in my Marrying Elizabeth series — especially with the scene they share at the end of the chapter I am sharing below — and if you’ve read the wedding breakfast scene at the end of Loving Lydia and remember the song Lydia sings for Darcy and Elizabeth, as well as her colonel, I think you’ll agree that this is another song she might sing to him. 🙂
Mary huffed as she stood beside Elizabeth, waiting to be allowed entrance to Netherfield the next day. There had been a long and lengthy discussion between Mary and her father after Lydia had told him what Mary had said on their walk.
“You are to be polite,” Lydia said.
“I know,” Mary grumbled.
“And apologize.”
Again, Mary huffed. “I know. Stop speaking.”
“Good day, Mr. Harvey,” Jane said as the door opened. “We are here to see…” She looked at her sisters. “Well, everyone it seems.”
“Very good, ma’am. If you will follow me.”
“That lace Mama selected looked very nice on Elizabeth’s wedding dress, did it not?” Jane asked Lydia. She was attempting as always to direct the conversation so that the argument from a few moments ago would be lost.
“It was lovely,” Lydia agreed.
“Only two more weeks,” Kitty whispered, “and we shall have to call on you here, Jane.”
Jane smiled broadly. “It seems so far away and yet so close.”
When he had asked, their mother had assured Darcy yesterday that she thought all the necessary preparations for a wedding would be completed by the end of the week. There was nothing to be concerned about except whether Colonel Fitzwilliam would be able to attend and if standing for a full service would be too much for Mr. Bennet’s leg. Therefore, a date had finally been decided upon, and Elizabeth knew that Jane was eagerly anticipating becoming the mistress of Netherfield.
I hope you are staying safe and well. Below you will find information about what I accomplished in my writing life this week and a link to a book (which is actually three books in one) that is on sale from now until next Wednesday (April 22).
Writing News
Here’s an update on my writing I have with a short excerpt from two of them. Her Convenient Forever: I scheduled the first chapter of this story to post on May 12, 2020, and then I wrote the second chapter this week. I admit to feeling trepidation about writing a story for Felicity as she’s been horrid in the other stories, but I’m actually liking it so far. Here is a snippet from that chapter:
“Papa!” Matthias, who was in the garden with his nursemaid, ran towards him.
Papa was one of the few words that Matthias ever uttered. Boyd smiled at him and squatting down, held out his arms so that his son could run into them, but the smile was only an expression to let his son know how happy he was to see him. Inside, the weight on Boyd’s heart grew heavier as he remembered the sweet babbling boy Matthias used to be when he was three, before Anna had died.
He squeezed Matthias tight. “Did you have a good morning?”
Matthias nodded.
“And did you have any biscuits yet?”
Matthias shook his head.
“Then, I think we should find some because my stomach is beginning to rumble.”
Matthias wiggled out of his father’s embrace. Gone were the days of him wishing to be carried everywhere. Boyd knew it happened eventually with all children, but he had hoped that it might last a bit longer. He would just have to content himself with the fact that Matthias still greeted him with a hug and allowed him to hold his hand.
American; Dress; circa 1810 (cotton, wool). Bequest of Maria P. James, 1910. This file was donated to Wikimedia Commons as part of a project by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art / CC0
Don’t these “ladies” look as if they are ready for a picnic or afternoon of strolling and having tea in the garden?
~*~*~
“You look perfectly content.” Alfred sat down beside her under the tree.
“I am. It was a lovely picnic.”
Chairs and tables were being loaded onto a waiting cart, while blankets which were not being used, were being folded and placed in a trunk that would be transported back to Ravincot in one of the Langley’s carriages when they all had had their fill of wandering the meadow and reclining under trees as they conversed.
“Are you planning to sit here and read until we leave?” Alfred asked.
“That was indeed my plan unless some other activity of greater interest caught my attention.”
“Would you like to walk with me?”
[from Protecting Miss Darcy, Marrying Elizabeth book 6]
English Garden in the Csáky Castle at Hotkóc, János Rombauer / Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Alfred’s aunt, Meredith Langley, loves gardens and is always having improvements made to hers. I wonder which of these garden elements she might have in the garden at Ravencot?
~*~*~
“The garden is best enjoyed from outside.”
“I was just out there,” Alfred replied. “What brings you to this room, Aunt?”
Meredith Langley crossed to stand next to her nephew. “You.”
“Me?”
His aunt nodded. “We have not yet had a good discussion about my son and his future bride.” Mrs. Langley sat down on the window seat so that she could also look out the window. “There is a pleasant breeze today, is there not?”
[from Protecting Miss Darcy, Marrying Elizabeth book 6]
