Thomas Rowlandson (1756–1827) and Augustus Charles Pugin (1762–1832) (after) John Bluck (fl. 1791–1819), Joseph Constantine Stadler (fl. 1780–1812), Thomas Sutherland (1785–1838), J. Hill, and Harraden (aquatint engravers)[1], Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
He had not had much in the way of wealth and worldly possessions when they had first met, but she had known, to the depths of her soul, that it was only a temporary state for him. She had always believed he would be a great success, and from what she had seen today and had heard since she arrived in Bath, her assessment had been correct. He was a success and would continue to be so.
Oh, to be a part of his life and cheer him on to further greatness as his wife! Her heart still cried for what had been lost. It ached with its desire to be the lady at his side. But how could she be? Why would a gentleman who had been so wronged ever wish to be tied to the very family who had threatened to deny him of his profession?
PUBLISHED TO YOUTUBE BY JOE YAMADA MUSIC ON FEBRUARY 7, 2020
I picked this pretty piano piece from my Music to Write by playlist today because it has the right tone and title to match with the book I have releasing tomorrow. In Her Convenient Forever, Felicity Love thinks she has lost her chance for love, and Boyd Hedrington thinks he cannot love again. While the story has some very somber notes, it also has moments of hope, joy, and rediscovery much like this song, To Love Again, does.
The excerpt from chapter 3 below hits one of those somber, sad notes in the story.
“Where shall we sit?” Mr. Hedrington asked Matthias, who looked at Felicity.
“I am going to sit on the sofa near the hearth,” she said.
Matthias smiled and nodded his head.
“Will three fit?” Mr. Hedrington said with a laugh.
“I should hope so,” Mr. Love said with a chuckle of his own. “My Felicity has always charmed the young gentlemen, but I was not aware that her abilities extended to such young gentlemen.”
He was teasing, and three months ago, Felicity would have rolled her eyes and giggled. However, at present, her cheeks flamed as she forced a small laugh.
“I am pleased to see Matthias wishing to sit with you,” Mr. Hedrington said softly as they sat down. “He has not found it easy to accept new acquaintances. I have had several neighbours call on us since our arrival, and aside from Mrs. Jones, he has not warmed to any of them.”
“Felicity is hard not to like,” Mr. Love said with a smile.
Again, while Felicity knew her father was praising her, she blushed and could not accept it. She had not been easy to like. In fact, she had been dreadfully difficult and even impossible to like for some people. One only needed to ask her sister, Grace, to discover the truth of it. There were many sins she had contemplated while looking at the stars when sleep would not come.
“Miss Love said you live a distance from here,” Mr. Hedrington said.
“Ah, yes, a little further than a day’s drive to the northeast into Kent,” Mr. Love said. “But we come here nearly every summer. There have been a few summers where we have not been able to make the journey due to other obligations, and we have missed our time here.”
“Is it always this cottage at which you stay?”
Mr. Love nodded. “We enjoyed it so much on our first trip that we have never considered any other place. Of course, our first time to the ocean was after our marriage. Mrs. Love had never seen the sea, and I could not resist being the first to show it to her.”
Felicity loved the way her father’s eyes grew soft when he looked at her mother and spoke of their wedding and first trip to this cottage. How many times had she asked him to tell her that story when she was young? It was likely why she had fallen so deeply in love with the idea of marriage. What girl would not wish to be so treasured as her father’s look said her mother was? Of course, as it turned out, Felicity had not gone about trying to find such a situation for herself in the right way, and now, she would never have someone to look at her in such a fashion.
“If you will excuse me,” she said before rising quickly and leaving the room, for she knew that those tears which had threatened before would not be refused this time.
[from Her Convenient Forever]
Find Her Convenient Forever in your Kindle store here.
*The link in the first paragraph is to the song on Spotify. This is not an affiliate link. It is just my way of attempting to help out the artists whose music I share.
Some days just need a little Brian Crain, and I decided that today is one of those days. 🙂
I selected this particular song* for a couple of reasons (besides the fact that I love it). First, while there are no falling leaves in this excerpt, the scene is happening when it is raining, and the music lends itself well to imagining rain falling in place of the leaves. Second, it’s October, and October means falling leaves around here. 🙂
So, Happy October to you! And enjoy the excerpt. 🙂
Bea made a show of concentrating on the flowers she was planting in the garden on her canvas, and said, “A house party will be exciting, I am sure.”
“Oh, indeed!” exclaimed Grace before beginning a litany of things that she just knew would happen at this party. This, in turn, led into another recital of many of the interesting bits of gossip from the season. This meandering stream of stories which were of great interest to the Misses Loves and of little interest to Beatrice continued until there was a soft tapping at the door and in walked Max, followed closely by Everett and Graeme.
A story about an unfortunate gentleman who had been rejected twice by the same lady ended abruptly and was replaced with excited exclamations of greeting and cries of how dreadfully dull the day had been without the gentleman for company.
“Did you miss me?” Graeme asked Bea. He had wandered away from the shrill voices of the Misses Loves and had found his way to the corner where Bea was working. “It is a fine representation,” he said, tilting his head to study her painting. “You are becoming quite proficient in landscapes, which means you will soon have to move on to other things such as handsome neighbours whom you missed.”
He had missed her. As he settled himself against the wall just behind her to her left, he had to admit how pleasant it was to be greeted by her smile. He had been restless all day, but here, he finally felt at ease.
Bea chuckled. “Did I miss you?”
“Oh, you did,” Graham replied with a smile. “I hear it was quite dull around here without me.” Beautiful blue eyes filled with amusement met his.
“Most dreadfully, but if you do not believe me, you may ask Grace.”
“There is no need for her to repeat it. I heard her quite well when we arrived,” he replied with a laugh.
[from His Beautiful Bea]
Click the image to find His Beautiful Bea in your Kindle store.
*The link in the first paragraph is to the song on Spotify. This is not an affiliate link. It is just my way of attempting to help out the artists whose music I share.
Before we get into the writing news for this week, I wanted to say that I know the past nearly two weeks have been fraught with strife for my American readers, relations, and friends. You have and will continue to be in my prayers, and I want you to know that I will continue to strive, as I always have, to demonstrate through my actions and words my love and respect for you all.
Writing News
So far this week, I have written one chapter of Protecting Miss Darcy. That’s it. That’s all I wrote. 🙂 I hope to have time later today (Friday) to write another chapter of something.
My reason for such a low amount of writing this week was editing. I finished my first round read-through of Matching Mr. Darcy and have sent that off to my sister for her critique.
Publishing News
Sneak peek time!
By this time next week, I expect to have preorder information for Matching Mr. Darcy to share with you. If you’d like to see the book cover and read the first (unfinalized) chapter of this book, you can find both of those things at this link.
I selected this video to pair with a chapter of His Irreplaceable Belle, which publishes tomorrow, because that Touches of Austen story contains touches of Jane Austen’s Persuasion.
The late afternoon sun felt wonderful and warming as Fritz turned his face towards it. The brightness that filtered through his eyelids was restorative. It had always drawn him forward from his often deep ponderings with a cheerfulness that was unparalleled by anything else, save for the smile of a particular lady.
However, he was not sitting in the garden to think about Belle. He was here to clear his mind and turn it towards the task at hand – finding a wife who was not Belle.
He drew a deep breath and released it. But neither the freshness of the spring air nor the intensity of the sun could chase away the dark shadow of sadness that passed across his heart at the thought.
“Mr. Norman.”
Fritz straightened himself and opened his eyes. “Mrs. Blakesley.” He stood.
“Please call me Grace. I think we will be good enough friends for such familiarity.” Grace Blakesley took a seat on the bench next to where Fritz had been leaning backward and enjoying the sunshine. “My husband does not mind if you call me by my Christian name, do you, Walter?”
Walter Blakesley chuckled as he shook his head. Was there a happier man in all of Bath? Fritz was certain he had not seen one – not even Mr. Clayton and Mr. Shelton, who were each, without a doubt, happily and contentedly married and awaiting the arrival of a child, shone quite like Blakesley did. Joy effused every part of Blakesley’s person.
“You may call my wife whatever she wishes for you to call her.”
“I hate to disappoint your wife, but I may have to insist upon Mrs. Blakesley,” Fritz said. “I assume you will not be discharging me as your physician, Blakesley, will you be?”
Blakesley guffawed. “And give up the best physician in Bath? I think not!”
A rather grumbly part of Fritz’s mind wished that people would stop referring to him as the best physician.
“Then, I assume you will also call on me if Mrs. Blakesley should ever be in need of care?”
“Of course.” The answer was given without a moment’s pause.
“In that case, Mrs. Blakesley, I will have to insist upon calling you Mrs. Blakesley. It would be too improper for us to be on friendlier terms.”
Mrs. Blakesley scowled. “I do not see why it should be considered improper.”
“There are many strictures which might seem ridiculous and yet we must abide by them. I would not wish to be thought of as unprofessional or lacking in decorum in any fashion.”
Mrs. Blakesley’s eyes grew wide. “Oh, yes, right. I completely understand.” She paused to peek at her husband who had finally taken a seat next to her rather than standing and surveying their surroundings.
The man was incurably curious.
“Mrs. Blakesley is a lovely name,” his friend’s wife said happily. “I quite like it.”
“I am glad to hear it,” Blakesley said.
“As am I,” Fritz inserted before the two with him forgot he was there.
