With the Colonel’s Help

The Library at Strawberry Hill

Bibliotheek van Strawberry Hill te Twickenham, Jean Godefroy, 1784. Rijksmuseum, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

I love libraries! How about you? They’ve always been one of my favourite places since I learned what they were. I even worked at the library during my college years and while going to work wasn’t necessarily “fun,” I did enjoy the environment — quiet and book filled. 🙂

Today’s excerpt from With the Colonel’s Help takes place in a library. It’s a shorter excerpt since I didn’t want to run the risk of sharing too many spoilers. While this lets you know that there is some trouble that has happened, it doesn’t tell you how or why, so I hope it’s more of a teaser and not a spoiler. 🙂

Enjoy!

(P.S. This ebook is currently on sale everywhere.)

An Excerpt from Chapter 9

…While Jane and Richard continued their conversation regarding Mr. Bingley, Darcy pulled yet another book from the shelf, flipped through it and with a nod of satisfaction declared this to be a book he suspected Elizabeth would enjoy.

Elizabeth took the book from him and paged through it. “A fine selection,” she said as she closed the book and gave him a smile of delight. “Mr. Coleridge is very good.”

“That he is,” Darcy agreed with a smile. It was so very pleasant to be once again in a library discussing books with Elizabeth. He had not done so since he was at Netherfield, save for those few moments in Rosings’ library when he had given her the book she returned to him today. He sighed. “Has Bingley called?”

Elizabeth nodded. “He has.”

“I sent him a note regarding your sister’s being in town and my apology for having been so grievously wrong. Richard delivered it for me.” He motioned to a pair of chairs in one corner of the room.

“You have not seen him?” Elizabeth asked in surprise as she took a seat and glanced to where Jane was talking with Richard. Jane said something that caused Richard to turn and look in Elizabeth’s direction. Then after giving her a nod of his head, he led Jane to a place where they could sit while continuing their discussion.

“I have only seen you since arriving back in town,” Darcy admitted. “I have not wished to see anyone else.” He blew out a great breath. “It was good of you to come, but I do not see how…” He paused. “I do not see a way…” He shrugged. “You cannot continue to borrow books forever.”

Elizabeth nodded her understanding as her eyes swept the shelves. “Not for lack of items to borrow.” She lifted a brow and gave him a small smile. “If only I could borrow each and every book,” she added sadly. “I would read them rapidly so that I might return regularly to retrieve a new one.” She blushed under his close scrutiny of her face. It was as if he were attempting to read her mind for the desires that lay behind her words.

“And when you had come to the last book, what then?” he asked. The fluttering of hope he had felt earlier was stirring and increasing in his chest.

She arched a brow. “Is your library complete? Would you not add to it with time? I cannot say that I would expect you to be satisfied with what is here and never increase your holdings by even one new volume of work. Why, what will you do when Wordsworth or Coleridge put out a new collection of poems? Shall you leave them for others to read and have no curiosity to read them yourself?”

He chuckled. “You know me well. I will certainly add to my library in time, but what if I did not?”

“Do you doubt my determination, sir?”

“Never, Miss Elizabeth, but I should like to know its extent.”

Her eyes followed her hand as it ran nervously over the cover of the book she held. “I dare say I could read this book a thousand times over.” She lifted her eyes to him. “And each of the others as well.”

His lips parted, and his brows furrowed. Was she saying what he wished or was his mind merely twisting her words to its purpose? Had he indeed won her affections? There was only one way to know. “Do you wish to see me so often or just my books?” He watched her lips tip up, and her eyes spark with impertinence.

“Might I not wish to see both?’

“If you had to choose,” he pressed on. He needed to know if her heart was engaged as his was. If it was, then come what may, he was going to find a way to win Mr. Bennet over and claim Elizabeth as his wife.

Elizabeth swallowed. She had spoken of her heart to her sister, and Jane, much to Elizabeth’s surprise, had urged Elizabeth not to hide her feelings if an opportunity should present itself. Jane had endured much because of being circumspect. She had tried to guard her heart against hurt, but her doing so had been the very cause of her own grief. Elizabeth had promised to not do the same, and so, as she drew a breath, she gathered her courage and replied, “I would choose you.”

A smile spread across Darcy’s face. “You would choose me?”

She nodded.

“And I would choose you,” he replied. “Forever and always you. If you would have me.”

Her lips trembled, and tears gathered. It was so very wonderful to hear such things, but reality was not such that she could choose him, nor could he choose her. Her father would not allow it.

He grasped her hands. “I will find a way if you will say that you will be mine. I love you, and I always shall. Please give me a reason to hope. Would you marry me if you were free to do so?”

A tear crept out of the corner of her eye and raced down her cheek as she nodded. “I would.”

He lifted her hand to his lips and gave it a quick kiss. “Then, I will find a way. I promise you. I will find a way.”

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Music Monday: Scarborough Fair (Taryn Harbridge)

PUBLISHED TO YOUTUBE BY TARYN HARBRIDGE ON SEPT 29, 2019

Welcome back to Music Mondays. These posts will be no more frequent than every other week. They will, however, still feature a story connection. This week’s choice from my Music to Write By playlist on Spotify, Scarborough Fair*, seemed to have just the right sort of tone for the excerpt from the turning point from things going well in the story to things going very badly. Have you read this book? (It was once a Thursday’s Three Hundred story.)

Darcy jumped down from the carriage and lifted Elizabeth to the ground so that neither would have to wait for the steps to be put in place. If his sister were injured, he knew that he would not wish to wait for such a thing, and he assumed from the distraught look on Elizabeth’s face that she felt the same.

Elizabeth thanked him once again and then hurried toward Lydia, calling to her. Lydia jumped at her name, and Elizabeth thought for a moment she would run away. “Lydia,” she called again.

“Lizzy,” Lydia called back as she turned to meet Elizabeth.

The sisters met in an embrace with Lydia clinging tightly to Elizabeth and weeping. Darcy stood a short distance away. He neither wished to intrude on their privacy nor did he wish to be too far away if assistance was needed.

[from With the Colonel’s Help]

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*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.

The Saturday Broadsheet (September 5, 2020)

Summer has come to an end for us at Brown Cottage because my husband has gone back to work and school will be starting. (In addition to having his own cleaning company, he works for the school board as a custodian.)

Last Friday, we took a day trip to Victoria Park in Truro, NS. On the way, we stopped at Mastodon Ridge to play a round of mini-golf. I came close to beating my husband but, as always, he won. 🙂

They have a Flinstone’s style car in front of a Flinstone style house. We’re sitting in that car for the selfie picture. My husband is holding my hair since it was WINDY on the hill and my hair kept blowing into my face and his.

We’ve had a very dry summer, so the falls at Victoria Park were no more than a trickle. However, the walk to get to them was lovely. It was a sunny and warm but not hot day — perfect weather actually.

And now, we are settling into the school year work hour routine. This means I will be starting to do a few more posts on my blog than I was over the summer. However, I learned to love the less intense schedule, and plan to do my best to keep from becoming overly intense again. I’ll tell you more about that below.

Let’s get on to all the writing and publishing news.

Music Monday: Waiting for Christmas to Come, Johnny Reid

Last week, I mentioned that I have begun working on a story called Two Days before Christmas. Because this is a Christmas story, I have been listening to some “inspirational” music to get me thinking Christmasy thoughts. The song below is one of those songs that makes me want to get out the decorations or bake some Christmas cake. But, I don’t want to talk about that story in this post — although I will share an excerpt. No, today, I want to ask you a question.

JohnnyReidVEVO. “Johnny Reid – Waiting For Christmas To Come.” YouTube, YouTube, 24 Dec. 2009, youtu.be/wT9mJTYq-P8.

Do you ever judge a book by its title? This is a question I have been thinking about this past week. You see, I have a book coming out this Thursday. You’re probably familiar with the story if you have been reading my blog because the book’s title is With the Colonel’s Help, the story that just finished posting on Thursday’s a few weeks ago. We’ve now begun a new story titled Confounding Caroline.

Here’s why that book coming out and the new story that has started posting has me wondering if people judge a book by its title. My first reader, who happens to be my sister and the Jane to my Lizzy, asked me during our conference call where she told me about things she thought needed some attention — “Do you think people will pass over this story because of the title? Will they think it is a story about Colonel Fitzwilliam and not Darcy?”

She knows, from what I have told her about my sales figures, that Darcy and Elizabeth stories usually sell much better than any of my other stories. Darcy’s a favourite — which is understandable. He’s Darcy, after all. So, she has a point — she usually does. (She tends to be the annoyingly correct older sister at times 🙂 )

Adding to worry her question created, I read a comment somewhere from someone who saw a post about With the Colonel’s Help that said the person doesn’t normally read stories about the colonel. Hmmm… My worry may be well-founded. 🙂

There is a trend to give stories titles with Darcy in them, or so it appears from the number of titles that show up with that name in them when you do a quick search. Again, titles with Darcy in them tend to sell better from what I have observed and been told. (He’s a favourite. 🙂 )

It’s not my practice to include Darcy in a title unless that book is one of my Dash of Darcy book. For those books, I require myself to include Mr. or Mrs. Darcy in the title because I want the connection between book and collection to be clear.

But normally, I choose a title that contains a theme of some sort or highlights something important to the story. For example, the title With the Colonel’s Help lets the reader know that Colonel Fitzwilliam is instrumental in the story. He is actually the hero — not the romantic hero, that role is filled by Darcy, but the person who brings about the happy conclusion for Darcy and Elizabeth. Likewise, the title Confounding Caroline should let the readers know that Caroline is a problem that needs solving.

It might be of interest to note that even with my Dash of Darcy titles, I still have a theme referenced in them such as unravelling a character’s uptight manner or waking up to who someone is.

It’s important to me, as a writer, that my titles have a meaning, which is why I have chosen to keep With the Colonel’s Help as a title. Hopefully, when the book comes out, I will find out that I have worried for absolutely no reason. 🙂

Those are a few of my thoughts on why I name stories as I do. What I would now like to know is what you think about titles. Just drop your opinion in the comment section.

But, before we get to that, I suppose you would like an excerpt from what I wrote this past week? In fact, I am going to share everything I wrote this week because I only managed to get in one writing session — yes, one! It was a very low writing week for me! I was editing With the Colonel’s Help and getting that ready to publish, and I had an Austen Author’s post to get ready as well. My day on Austen Authors is tomorrow! I’ve got a different sort of giveaway going on, so drop by to see what that’s about. But thankfully, I still have the excerpt below to share with you.

AN EXCERPT FROM Two Days before Christmas:
Continue reading Music Monday: Waiting for Christmas to Come, Johnny Reid