This is a black and white clip art version of the image in the ad below. The ad is said to have been from 1890. I found both images on olddesignshop.com.
Rycroft drew in a deep breath and released it as Georgiana took his arm. She looked up at him with a brow raised and a scolding look. “Do not,” he said.
“Do not what?” She fluttered her lashes and smiled sweetly.
“You know very well, but since I must clarify, do not chide me. I know I have insulted her once again and must apologize, although I doubt she will forgive me.”
Georgiana hugged his arm tightly. “She will if you are sincere. Miss Mary is quite agreeable and sweet.”
PUBLISHED TO YOUTUBE ON JULY 18, 2012 BY THE PIANO GUYS.
Isn’t this video fun to watch? I love how they use so many different parts of the piano. I’m pairing it with a chapter from No Other Choice (Choices, book 2). In this chapter, Georgiana helps Mary see herself through eyes other than her own.
Reminder: The Choices Series compilation ebook is currently on sale for $2.99 USD at all vendors and with all currencies reduced. The price will go back up to full price on Sunday, March 15, 2020. Because that is just a great price, all the links in this post will take you to the bundle.
Knowing that Lord Rycroft had mentioned the previous evening that he would be riding in the morning, Mary entered the breakfast room the next morning without worrying about whether he would be there or not. She had managed a full day without once giving in to her desire to lecture, and he had seemed rather contrite in all his actions toward her after he left the music room. It was as if he was trying to prove to her that he was not the oaf he continually claimed to be. It was quite unsettling to have him behaving so well. It made it difficult for her to maintain her resolve to avoid him, for he was pleasant company. Relieved that the breakfast room was indeed all hers, she filled her cup with tea and began to toast her bread.
“Ah, good,” said Rycroft as he entered the room. “Is Georgiana awake?”
“Are you not riding?” Mary turned her bread trying to focus on it rather than the man who was disturbing her quiet breakfast.
“I have, and I will.” He took a piece of bread and placed it on a toasting fork before joining her at the hearth. “You said you did not ride well. We should remedy that.”
“Today?” Mary’s eyes grew wide in surprise, and she nearly forgot to turn her bread again.
He nodded. “Did you have other plans?”
“We are going to the museum to draw this afternoon, but I had no plans other than to practice or read this morning.” And she had planned on avoiding him again today.
Georgiana’s eyes grew wide with understanding. “How dreadful!”
Mary nodded. “I felt a fool for having fallen for such a man.”
Georgiana stood with her hands on her hips. “But he was a deceiver! You could not have known.”
“I should have known when he chose me over my sisters,” Mary said quietly.
“Why?”
Mary smiled sadly at Georgiana. How did one explain one’s lack of beauty?
“Oh, no!” said Georgiana. “Stand here.” She pointed to a spot in front of the mirror. “I do not know what you looked like then, but look at yourself now. You are beautiful. Your cheeks are perfectly rosy. Your nose is small. Your eyes shine with your emotions, and your mouth is lovely ─ neither too thick nor too thin. And your figure…” Georgiana studied Mary for a moment. “Although you are not tall, your height is by no means deficient, and you have ─ Oh, I do not know how to say it politely ─ you have softness in all the proper places. You shall turn many heads this season, and one of them may possess that healing love of which you spoke.”
Mary’s cheeks were glowing quite rosy, and she had to blink against the tears that had formed in her eyes. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I have never before heard myself described as anything so pleasant.”
[from No Other Choice]
Published to YouTube by Dean Brody on May 23, 2014.
I have been enjoying having a tv hanging in my “office” and playing some YouTube videos while working. (We use the tv for our homeschool videos — that’s why it is there.)
As I have said before, writing time means songs with no words, but other work times, when I am making a graphic or doing something that does not require full mental engagement so that there is a little space open to enjoy the story a song might tell, I enjoy music with words. Dean Brody is EXCELLENT at telling stories with his songs.
This one, which I listened to this past week, has a beautiful story to it, and when I went through my viewing history, it seemed to be a great one to share — simply because it tells such a lovely story.
However, I have been challenging myself the last few weeks to see if I can come up with story excerpts from my stories that fit in some way with the music video I am sharing. I am not sure how long I can keep doing that, and I thought I had hit my limit when I chose this song to share. BUT then, I remembered this conversation between Mary and Georgiana in No Other Choice. I think it fits well enough. What do you think?
I’m still working on getting the new school schedule integrated with the writing schedule. Therefore, I do not have a lot of writing news to share today, as I did very little writing last week, and the writing I did, I ended up scrapping. It was good writing, but it just did not feel right for the story. So after two days of just letting it simmer, I could not shake the feeling and cut the words.
However, in more positive news, I have a title for Mary Crawford’s story. I have been pondering the ideas both for the title and about why Mary is as she is that you left in comments. Much of what you said really meshed with what I was thinking. Mary has not had an easy life as far as men go. Her examples of how men treat women have been tragic. As I was contemplating these things on Saturday morning, I thought, “She’s been attempting to protect her heart.” And that thought sent a little shiver of goosebumps up my arms, and I knew I had found her story’s title and the central theme.
Because I actually have a title for that story and I wrote no new words that I kept on Assessing Mr. Darcy, I’m going to share the first nearly five hundred words of Mary’s story.
Just one side note here before we continue to the excerpt. If you are a patron following Assessing Mr. Darcy on Patreon, I have two chapters that I have written before and did a bit of editing on during this past week; therefore, I will have two posts for that story this week. 🙂
For me, that’s all year. 🙂 My world — of fictional characters, that is — always has someone falling in love. And today, the title of this song has something to do with the Christmas in July giveaway book which, of course, has someone falling in love.
Published on YouTube, December 19, 2012, by halfpint
Which book has a special dance in it that leads to a happily ever after? Here are the remaining books on my giveaway list:
A Very Mary Christmas
No Other Choice
One Winter’s Eve
Two Days Before Christmas
The book contains one of my favourite (original) characters…he’s a bit of a troublesome character for the heroine but totally sigh-worthy.
The answer and the link to claim one of five free copies of that book can be found after my writing news and just before this week’s story excerpt. (Go ahead, scroll down and see if you are a lucky reader, but please come back to read the stuff you skipped in the scrolling process 🙂 )
Here’s my news:
I’m still working on Delighting Mrs. Bennet. A proposal has been made and accepted, and our hero and heroine have learned some interesting information regarding Mrs. Bennet before she became Mrs. Bennet. Of course, it’s going to be the last part of September before we get to any of that because my last writing session will be edited today and scheduled for October 4! And no, the end of the tale has still not fully appeared. This one looks like it might cross that magical line between novella and novel — 40,000 words. Time will tell as I do not write stories to reach word counts, I write them to tell stories no matter how long or short that might be. 🙂
I have posted up to chapter 5 of Charles: To Prove Himself Worthy on Patreon. Chapter 6 is ready to edit and post, and chapter 7 is partially written. Charles is beginning to get a tiny bit caught in his own game — total snaring is yet to come.
I am still working on redoing covers and doing a bit of reorganizing of how the Dash of Darcy and Companion Stories are listed on vendors. Those tweaks will roll out over this month and be complete (finger’s crossed) by the end of the month.
I think that’s it for my writing news. Now, let me drop that link for the giveaway book and then add an excerpt from Charles’s story.
