Pride and Prejudice Variation Series – Page 5

The Library at Dingestow (Charlotte Bosanquet)

For July, I am going to do the Wednesday post theme differently. Instead of picking a particular sort or topic of images to share, I am going to pick a series of books to feature. This month, I’m choosing the Darcy Family Holidays series for two reasons. First, it is the book bundle I have on sale this month so it’s a great time to pick it up if you haven’t already added it to your collection. And second, book four in this series will be published in August, and I’d like to spend some time celebrating the series as I am deep in editing and publishing details. 🙂

We’ll start with book 1, Two Days before Christmas.

I chose this image because the rather long excerpt below is of a conversation that takes place in a library.

Brush and watercolor and pen and black ink over graphite, c1840. *The Library at Dingestow*, Charlotte Bosanquet (1790 – 1852). Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

“Am I being a fool?”

Richard shook his head. “No.”

Darcy looked at him, hoping that his cousin would elaborate on his reply.

“What can I tell you that you do not already know?”

“Her family is ridiculous,” Darcy said.

“And so is Aunt Catherine.”

“Her father’s estate is mismanaged.”

“That is not Miss Elizabeth’s doing,” Richard replied with a smile. “Her father has an estate; that is the relevant point — she is a gentleman’s daughter.”

“But she has little to bring with her to a marriage.”

“Besides herself,” Richard countered. “Is Pemberley in need of funds?”

“No, but she will likely bring her younger sisters with her — all three of them, hoping to be thrown into the paths of wealthy gentlemen. Silly younger sisters.” Darcy shook his head at the thought.

Richard grimaced. “That could be a problem, but is it great enough to require that you give up Miss Elizabeth to another?”

Darcy scrubbed his face again. “No. I have argued all these points over and over, and the answer is always the same.”

Richard cocked a brow. “A fool does not put so much thought into a decision, does he?”

Darcy shook his head. “I suppose not.”

“Then marry her. Claim some happiness for yourself.”

“Darcy, I had heard you were here,” Lord Matlock said as he entered the library through the door that led to his study. “To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?” He tipped his head and surveyed Darcy from head to toe just as Richard had done.

“He’s getting married,” Richard replied.

[from Two Days Before Christmas]

Get *Darcy Family Holidays, Volume 1 (books 1-3*) for $2.99 until the end of July.

Summer (Brian Crain)

I think I need a sign that says “Gone Editing” for this month. I have come to the end of the manuscript for Sketches and Secrets of Summer, and that means it is time to start editing and getting all the things done for publishing. I expect the release day for this book to be in early August. (Stay tuned for the exact date and preorder info.)

Since I will be editing and getting Sketches ready for publication this month, July’s Music Monday story excerpts will all be from that book! And since this book is set in the summer (and it is currently summer in my part of the world), the theme for our music selections this month is “Summertime.” We’re starting July’s theme this week with a song that often plays while I am writing or editing and has the perfect title to get us started on our summery theme. 🙂

Now, here is your first peek at Sketches and Secrets of Summer (Darcy Family Holidays, book 4):

And here’s a little info about the story:

Stuart Alford is the romantic hero of this story. He is a second-born son who has unexpectedly inherited his family’s estate and his older brother’s children. Aaron is Stuart’s younger brother and holds the living at Kympton, which means this story is set in Derbyshire.

While you are waiting for *Sketches* to publish, why not give the first three books in this series a read (or reread 😉 )? If you don’t already have these titles, they are on sale in this bundle for the month of July. Just click the image above to find all the stores where this book is available.

Titles in this compilation are *Two Days Before Christmas, One Winter’s Eve,* and *A Scandal in Springtime*.

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The Last Rose of Summer and The Harp-Lute

Below are two videos that highlight an instrument that was just being developed and becoming quite the “hot new” thing during the early 1800s. It is called a harp-lute.

This first video is of a lady singing “The Last Rose of Summer” while playing the harp-lute. I thought the video was such a good one to inspire the imagination of what music in the drawing room might have looked and sounded like.

And the second video is an informational video telling a bit about the history of the instrument and showing how it is played.

The story I have chosen to pair with today’s musical selection is Protecting Miss Darcy. The excerpt below is from a conversation Alfred Langley has with his aunt (Lorcan Langley’s mother, hero of Cherishing Kitty) about the prettiest flower in the garden. 🙂

That’s right, Alfred, you just keep telling yourself that Georgiana is only your friend. No one is believing that besides you and Georgiana. 😉

Find Protecting Miss Darcy, Cherishing Kitty, and the full Marrying Elizabeth series here.

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Oboe Concerto in C major – 3. Rondo: Allegretto (Joseph Haydn)

I thought today, we would take a look at another instrument that might have been in Georgiana’s music room (the oboe) and some music from a composer who not only wrote music for oboes, but also for piano. I’m sure Georgiana might have had some sheets of his music in her music folder.

The first video (above) introduces you to the oboe that was in use in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The second video (below) is a short piece that was composed by Haydn for the oboe. Can you imagine the delight and enjoyment that Georgiana and her brother would have gotten from going to a concert and listening to something like this?

This excerpt is from a book (Cherishing Kitty) that stars Kitty Bennet, but her dearest friend in this series is Georgiana. Therefore, Georgiana plays a role in Kitty’s journey to happily ever after.

Here they are talking about Georgiana’s upcoming season. Georgiana’s story (Protecting Miss Darcy) follows Kitty’s story and leads up to her season.

Georgiana does begin her study of character with Mr. Alfred Langley… and spoiler alert… she also ends it with him. The path from here to there, however, is not a pain-free one. 🙂

Find Cherishing Kitty, Protecting Miss Darcy, and the full Marrying Elizabeth series here.

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Fortepiano: Moonlight Sonata (Beethoven)

I thoroughly enjoyed last week’s video about recorders and Van Eyck, so this week, we’re going to do something similar. 🙂 I have two videos for you today. The first one is an informational video about the fortepiano, and then the second one is a musical selection that Miss Darcy might have played on her fortepiano.

And the music in the video is actually being played on the fortepiano, which means the piece of music sounds as it would have when Beethoven first composed it. Surely, I can’t be the only one who finds that cool, can I be? 🙂

I’ve paired the above musical videos with an excerpt from a book where Georgiana plays a key role in bringing her brother and Elizabeth together. This excerpt is from a scene where Georgiana and Darcy are about to have a disagreement.

Two Days Before Christmas is the first book in my Darcy Family Holidays series. Darcy has returned home from Netherfield sooner than expected, and he’s in quite the state. Georgiana thinks she knows what his trouble is and determines that she is going to give him the best Christmas present — an unbroken heart.

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