As mentioned last in Thursday’s post, there will be no Thursday’s Three Hundred post this week as exams are being written at my school. I hope to be back the following week with a picture post on Wed and a new serial story, which is sparked by that post, on Thursday. But for now, take some time to enjoy a book and a cup of tea.
THE LINK BETWEEN MUSIC AND STORY:
Well, I am sure you have guessed that with such a song as “Mean,” this week’s excerpt has something to do with Miss Bingley, right? Right. Miss Bingley and her friends are up to their usual mean tactics in this excerpt.
AN EXCERPT FROM His Inconvenient Choice:
“Miss Bennet.”
Kitty stopped and took a moment to affix a smile to her lips before turning toward Miss Bingley. “Good morning, Miss Bingley.” She looked past her to the two ladies who stood with her. They were the same two ladies who had been with her yesterday. Perhaps if she looked at them, Miss Bingley would remember to introduce them to her, although if they were friends of Miss Bingley, perhaps it was better if she did not know who they were.
“Miss Ivison, Miss Pearce, this is Miss Bennet. She is the sister of my brother’s wife.”
“Another Bennet,” said Miss Ivison. “There certainly are a lot of you.”
Her comment made all three ladies titter, and Kitty was now certain she did not wish to know any of them.
“There are five,” said Miss Bingley.
“Five?” Miss Ivison’s voice dripped with disapproval. “Are you all so daring as Lady Rycroft or Mrs. Darcy?”
Kitty did not miss the particular emphasis placed on the word daring. “Not Mrs. Bingley,” she replied with a smile. “And I do not think myself to be particularly daring, but I imagine Lydia does.” She spoke in what she thought was a way very similar to Lydia when she was attempting to shock someone into leaving her alone.
“Yes. Well,” said Miss Bingley, “it seems you shall have to find a new beau.”
“Pardon me? I do not understand your meaning,” said Kitty.
“Colonel Fitzwilliam,” said Miss Bingley. “It is in all the papers. Do you not read them?”
“I have not read it today,” said Kitty.
Miss Ivison made a show of shivering. “Were you on your way to the modiste shop again today?” she asked Kitty.
“I am.” A sense of dread began to settle in her stomach. It was obvious that these ladies were not about to leave her alone. For what purpose she did not know, but she suspected it was not a pleasant reason.
“Do you work there?” Miss Pearce, who had not spoken to this point, tipped her head and studied Kitty.
“No. My aunt is there. She and Mrs. Havelston are good friends. I was just getting some trim for my bonnet from the milliner.”
“Hmm,” said Miss Pearce. “I thought perhaps you might assist her ─ recording measurements, gathering material, drawing patterns.” She paused and raised a brow as if she knew something that Kitty did not before continuing. “Your mother is from trade after all, so it must be in your blood.”
THE LINK BETWEEN MUSIC AND STORY:
I don’t think there is much explanation needed to see the link between this song and the excerpt I have chosen this week. I admit that picking songs and story excerpts is proving to be challenging for this story. There are a lot of twists and turns, and I don’t want to spoil any of the surprises along the way. However, we know that this will end in a happily ever after, so why not share the proposal scene from chapter five?
[Hmmmm….A proposal – and not a forced one – so early in the book? You do realize that it probably means trouble lies ahead, right? So, enjoy this little bit of sweet and peaceful. I can’t promise next week’s peek will be so pleasant for our characters.]AN EXCERPT FROM His Inconvenient Choice:
Richard looked at the door for a moment as he gathered his thoughts before he turned to Kitty. “I am not romantic ─ “
“I know.” Kitty lifted his hand and brushed her lips against his knuckles. “A simple question is all that is required.”
“But, what about the pretty words that all women wish to hear?”
She shook her head. “I see your love for me in your eyes and the things you do. You have chosen me ahead of family and fortune. There is no need to put it in words.”
“I would choose you before I would choose myself.” He placed a hand that had been made rough from working with his men in the militia and the wood he loved on her cheek. “I do not have the means just yet to support a family,” he began.
“But you will.” She squeezed his hand tightly.
He smiled and nodded. “Yes, I will, and when I do, I would very much like to create that family with you. Will you marry me when I am established?”
A smile lit her face and eyes as she nodded. “I would like nothing better.”
“It will not be a life of ease,” he cautioned. For a moment, he doubted whether he was doing the right thing in asking her to share such a life. His thumb caressed her cheek. “You deserve so much more.”
“I love you,” she said pressing her cheek more firmly against his hand. “I will be happy nowhere else save at your side.”
He knew that he felt the same. It was why he was prepared to defy his father. No matter the money and property he may be losing by choosing her, he knew his life would never be as pleasant with those things as it would be with her at his side. Still, he could not resist asking, “You are certain?”
“Yes.”
“Then, may I ─ “
“Yes. You must kiss me.”
And he did ─ soft as a butterfly landing on a delicate flower in a garden. But even though it was a brief, gentle kiss, the emotion that passed to her through it ─ to be thought of as so precious, so treasured ─ melted her to her very core. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him close so that her head lay on his heart. And so they stood until a soft knock at the door drew them apart and sent them on to dinner.
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Lucy did not flee, but she did take a place in the shade, next to a small wall that ran part of the length of the field before crumbling into ruins, a remnant from years gone by. She plucked a blossom from the flowers that grew around the wall and twirled the flower in her fingers.
“My sister said you wished to speak to me,” said Philip as he approached her.
She swallowed and bit her lip as she looked up at him. He had taken out his handkerchief and was drawing it across his face to wipe away the perspiration that was there. His jacket had been discarded, and his cravat hung loosely about his neck. His sleeves were rolled halfway to his elbows, revealing sinewy forearms. She had always found him handsome, and in such a disheveled state, she found him even more attractive. However, instead of spending a few moments admiring him as she wished to do, she turned her eyes toward where his sister still stood with Mr. Darcy and Mr. Williams. “It would be more accurate to say your sister wishes for me to speak to you.”
[from And Then Love, Willow Hall Romance book 1]
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