“Why just last year, three young ladies made very eligible matches after I had shown them particular attention. I tell you, I am a good luck charm for the matrimonially-minded miss.” {Charles Edwards in Henry: To Prove Himself Worthy]
Those are just a few of the lines from Chapter 1 of Henry: To Prove Himself Worthy where we are introduced to Henry Crawford’s friend, Charles Edwards.
Posted on YouTube by FANNYJKL, May 18, 2018.
Why am I sharing a quote from that book when I have another book coming out this week?
Because Charles happens to be the next character who will be subjected to my particular sort of reformation and improvement. At present, he is a rake — a bad boy through and through. But, we all know that that will change. 🙂
The above video is one that I have pinned to my Pinterest board for Charles’s story — but I’ll get to more information about that in a moment.
For now, I want to remind you that the story for another gentleman, William Collins, who underwent a transformation releases this Thursday, June 28, 2018! That’s only three more sleeps until Master of Longbourn goes LIVE. It is currently on pre-order and can be found at your favourite retailer by following this link.
There are a few advance reader reviews that you can read on Bookbub here. Thank you to those who read and reviewed early copies. 🙂
Ok, now back to Charles. 🙂
This week, I was able to get just under 5,000 words written on this new work in progress. Here’s what I can tell you about the story at the moment:
The title is Charles: To Discover His Purpose
The Hero and Heroine are Charles Edwards and Evelyn Barrett. As I said before, Charles is Henry’s friend (and also Trefor Linton’s friend). Evelyn is Constance Linton’s friend.
Charles is rakish. He’s drifting along through life having a great time.
Evelyn is a proper young lady — well, mostly — she does have a mischievous streak, and she can be direct in her words. She also has a carrying heart which sees her doing all manner of charity work.
As you can probably guess from that information, Charles is going to hit a rough patch in his easy, take-what-you-can-get life, and that rough patch’s name is Evelyn. For him, it might start as a bit of a game to see if he can break the proper Evelyn and steal a kiss or two or more. But as Henry Crawford discovered in Mansfield Park, games such as this can be dangerous as they may end up breaking the player’s heart. (And yes, there is at least that one deliberate nod to Mansfield Park in this story. There may be more. Time will tell.)
Can you see how the song I shared today seems to fit with this story? Charles and Evelyn will be slowing falling for each other and there will be some games played and there will some struggle and there is a need for being pointed “home,” etc. That is why I chose this song to share as it’s theme feels like it fits well with Charles’s story.
Would you like to read a short excerpt from what I have written so far? If so, keep reading 🙂 This is a portion of what I wrote on Friday of last week. It’s part of chapter 2 and will be posted soon on Patreon. (Probably tomorrow)
This portion focuses on Evelyn and her not well-pleased mother.
AN EXCERPT FROM Charles: To Discover his Purpose:
“It is one thing to invite someone to an event which we are hosting,” her mother began before Evelyn had even entered the carriage, “but to invite them to someone else’s event is quite another.” Her look was excessively stern as Evelyn settled onto the bench across from her. “A very improper thing. It is fortunate for us that the Lintons and Mrs. Kendrick are such good friends. I am certain they will think nothing of your actions beyond that they were a bit unconventional. None of them will speak to anyone else about your impropriety, and for that, you should be most thankful. Why if it were anyone else, you could find yourself the subject of many fanciful tales.”
Mrs. Barrett pulled her head back and looked to her right as if there were someone sitting next to her. “Did you hear that Mr. Edwards was in attendance at Covet Gardens with Miss Barrett.”
She turned her head the opposite direction. “No, you don’t say.”
Again, she looked to her right. “I hear she invited him. I dare say we will be either hearing of her escape to the country or his finally being snared.” She clucked her tongue. “Poor thing, she’ll not have a happy marriage with that one.”
Her mother faced her, raised a brow, and nodded her head. It was an expression that signified that whatever her mother had just said was the absolute truth about what could and likely would happen. The austere look that she still wore after completion of speaking only emphasized how correct she thought she was.
Evelyn new better than to make any sort of response. It would not, at this moment, matter to her mother that the idea had first been presented to Constance who had given a startled, half-hearted agreement before Evelyn had rapped on the ceiling to signal that the carriage should stop.
“You are to stay away from that gentleman. Did I not make that clear to you already?”
“Yes, Mother, you did. He is a rogue and not to be trusted. I must only speak to him in your presence and in a well-lit venue.”
“Which you did not.”
“I did not expect to meet him on the street, and Constance was speaking to him before I exited Mrs. Verity’s, so I really cannot be faulted for having to speak to him.” She pressed her lips together. She knew better than to attempt an argument when her mother was as cross as she was at present.
“The fault lies in what you said to him. To invite a gentleman to the theatre on the street!”
“It was after that,” Evelyn said softly. She had already begun the conversation that she knew she should not have started. There was no point in postponing the inevitable – even if speaking of it now meant doing so while her mother was in such a state as she was.
“What was that, my dear?”
Evelyn blew out a breath. “We had entered the carriage after very little conversation with Mr. Edwards, but then as we drove away, I began to think it would be a very noble thing to show him some kindness. Perhaps he is as he is because he does not know any different. He takes because no one offers. It could be true.”
Her mother shook her head. “He takes because he can, and I prefer he not take anything from you, which is why you must not speak to him outside my presence.”
“I cannot be with you always,” Evelyn protested. “There will be moments like today when I will come upon him and you are not there.”
“Then you will say your good day’s and walk away.” Her mother’s eyes narrowed. “You were in the carriage when you decided to offer him a seat in the Linton’s box?”
Evelyn nodded. “We were, so after presenting the idea to Connie and getting her agreement, we stopped. And I made the offer.”
Her mother’s brows rose. “I imagine you stuck your head out the door as you do when you are calling to Griffin?”
How she wished she did not have to reveal all of her actions to her mother, but she could not run the risk of something being said at the theatre by Mr. Edwards. Should she not be completely open with her mother now about all that had happened, the consequences of being discovered to have hidden some fact would be far worse than this discussion. She would likely be required to remain at home without visits for several days. As it was, she might find herself in such a situation, but it would be a shorter duration because she had been forthcoming. That is how it worked with her mother. Openness was rewarded by a reduction in punishment.
“I did. I waved him forward, and then sat back inside was I spoke to him.”
Her mother shook her head silently.
“I shall not do it again.”
“See that you do not.”
*Note: I am purposefully reusing a character and a place from another book I have written. In the above excerpt, Evelyn mentioned Mrs. Verity’s house. Mrs. Verity’s house is a home for children. In which other book of mine has Mrs. Verity’s house appeared? I wonder if she’ll run into any of the other supporters of Mrs. Verity’s establishment?
~*~*~
KOBO AMAZON NOOK IBOOKS MAILING LIST PATREON SOCIETY6
Oh how delightful. I love when characters cross over into another story or visit from the past. I am completely blank on which book Mrs. Verity’s home for children was mentioned. I haven’t read my recent purchase of ‘Henry: To Prove Himself Worthy’ yet, so I cannot say. for sure. I look forward to new posts on this story. The music was lovely and I so enjoyed the video.
The book is Two Days Before Christmas. Mrs. Verity’s is a home for orphans and is a place where both Mr. Darcy and the Gardiners donate time and goods. 🙂 I don’t know if it will happen or not, but if Evelyn is visiting there, it could be possible for her to bump into some of these other characters.
Leenie, I will probably read this later on Paetreon, but it was fun reading it here as well. I notice that there are somethings published here that I have not seen. I usually stay with P&P variations, but you have caught my attention with this one, and I am interested to see what you do with Charles.
Well, I am very glad to have caught your attention with this one, and I hope you will enjoy reading it on Patreon. 🙂 It’s always exciting to me to know that someone is pushing the bounds of their regular reading habits to check out one of my characters’ stories 🙂
I don’t remember which book, but I do remember what happens. After awhile and some fractious interaction, Mr. D is taken to task by a young man (one of Mrs. Verity’s charges ) who looks up to him as how a gentleman should act and comforts E as she sits on the step in her proverbial soup. LOL Now if I had my Kindle with me…
I look forward to seeing how you reform Charles. Everyone loves a reformed rake! Let the games begin.
Yes, that is the story. The title is Two Days Before Christmas. Master Riley was a great young man. He’s likely off to work with Mr. Crenshaw now and not at Mrs. Verity’s any longer, but I would imagine that the Gardiners and the Darcys still visit the establishment. Therefore, it is not an impossibility that Evelyn might meet one of them, although she is not just involved at this charity.
I am looking forward to the challenge of reforming Charles. It should be fun!