Story Inspiration – Page 7

A Farmer in His Wagon (Troyon, Constant)

A Farmer in his Wagon, Constant Troyon / Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Well, the gentleman driving this wagon is definitely not as young and handsome as the fellow driving his aunt’s donkey carriage in chapter 12 of Protecting Miss Darcy. 😉

~*~*~

They stepped to the side to allow a donkey carriage to enter Longbourn’s driveway ahead of them, but it did not. Instead, it came to a stop.

“Miss Lydia, Miss Kitty,” the handsome gentleman who drove the carriage said.

“Mr. Webb!” Lydia cried with delight. “We have not seen you in an age!”

“Indeed, it has been since last summer – very nearly a year.”

“And are you once again visiting your aunt?”

[from Protecting Miss Darcy, Marrying Elizabeth book 6]

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What They Might Have Seen

Collage created on Canva.com. Images sourced from Depositphotos.com

I thought today, since Alfred and Wes are going riding, that I would create a collage of possible vistas that they might have seen.

~*~*~

“There is no one else,” Wes said. “I am afraid you are stuck with me.”

“Could you not entertain yourself?”

“I could,” Wes replied as they descended the stairs, “but what fun is there in that?” He stopped and turned to face Alfred who was a step behind him on the stairs. “You have been spending far too much time alone.”

“I enjoy spending time alone on occasion, and I have brought some books with me to study.” Not that he had put very much effort into studying them. He had opened all of them at least once and even read a paragraph or two from one of them.

“I thought we might ride toward Oakham Mount,” Wes said as he continued down the stairs.

“Where is that?”

“Do not fret. I have walked in that direction before.”

[from Protecting Miss Darcy, Marrying Elizabeth book 6]

~*~*~

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Middleton Hall (John Preston Neale)

This is the sort of house where Richard and Lydia will make their home. I really like that this house has the same shape and seems to have the same number of windows across the front and along the side as one of my favourite historic homes (Uniacke Estate Museum Park) that I like to visit here in Nova Scotia. It makes it easier to imagine how the fictitious house at Beaumont Park might be laid out inside. However, we’re only stopping here for the night in our story before the characters continue on to Netherfield and Longbourn.

~*~*~

“Oh, it is lovely!” Kitty said as the Darcy carriage drove through the gate and toward the house at Beaumont Park the next afternoon. “Lydia must be delighted to know this will be her home.”

“And you will not be so very far from her,” Georgiana placed an arm around her friend and leaned against Kitty so she could also peer out the window. “I have not been here in some time.”

“It has been at least five years,” Fitzwilliam agreed. “However, I do think we will be stopping here more often on our way to and from Pemberley in the future since someone will be living here. I see the work on the chimney Richard told me about has begun.”

[from Protecting Miss Darcy, Marrying Elizabeth book 6]

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TSB: Book News and Exercising at Home Regency Style

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.”

Girl with Basket of Plums (Emile Munier)

Girl with Basket of Plums, 1875, Émile Munier / Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Meet my visual inspiration for Miss Lily Langley. Now, who could blame Alfred for not being able to say no to such a sweet young lady?

~*~*~

“You are correct,” Alfred said to Lorcan some thirty minutes later to while Georgiana and Miss Bennet strolled along the edge of the lawn while Lily chased her ball through the crochet field. “Netherfield’s library might be quieter. However, who would hold Lily’s baby while she played if I am not here?”

Lorcan laughed. “She has you completely in her pocket, does she not?”

“Completely,” Alfred agreed. Lily could ask him to do just about anything – such as sit properly on a blanket and hold her doll so that it would not feel lonely while she was playing with her brother – and he would do it.

[from Protecting Miss Darcy, Marrying Elizabeth book 6]

~*~*~

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