When I saw this painting I thought of the heroine in His Beautiful Bea. She likes quiet escapes and books. So, I chose an excerpt from that book to share today, but it’s not from her perspective. It’s from the hero’s point of view.
This is the hero:
For those who don’t know:
His Beautiful Bea is book 1 in my Touches of Austen series of original sweet Regency romances with deliberate nods to Jane’s novels. This book pairs long-time friends and neighbors as the romantic interests. The heroine lost her father in the war, and his friend, the hero’s father, has promised to care for the heroine’s family.
Those sound like they could be things that nod to possibly Sense and Sensibility or Emma, but in fact, when I wrote this story, the nods I had in mind were to Mansfield Park. After all, our quiet and bookish heroine is infatuated with the younger son of her neighbour’s two sons, but he doesn’t see her as anything other than a friend. Does that sound a bit like a Fanny/Edmund situation?
There are other nods as well, but as you can see from the details that I have given, this is not a retelling or a variation. This story, while inspired by various bits of Austen stories, is completely original — characters, setting, and plot.
And now for that excerpt…
Two days later, Graeme scanned the garden at Heathcote for Bea as he rode alongside Max and just behind Shelton. Today, Bea’s mother had said she would be able to do more than sit on a sofa in the sitting room or a bench in the garden, and he knew she would take advantage of the freedom. She was not one who liked to be confined, but she also not a disobedient daughter.
Her mother was not known to coddle her children, but she was also not the sort who foolishly flouted precautions, especially when it came to Beatrice. Having nearly lost her daughter to a fever when Bea was just eleven, Mrs. Tierney stuck firmly to all prescribed restrictions, and a turned ankle that showed signs of bruising required, according to Bea’s mother, a full two days of rest with little walking. Mrs. Tierney would not confine Bea to her bed, but she would not have her hobbling about ─ not even with a cane. Bea was to rest with her foot on a pillow.
Ah! There she was, near the hedge, walking slowly and with a noticeable limp.
Shelton looked over his shoulder and smiled at Graeme before doffing his hat and greeting Bea. “Miss Tierney! I missed our rematch. I am confident I could have been victorious today.”
The man was incorrigible! He had taunted Graeme about his carrying Bea to the house the day of the shuttlecock tournament and had not stopped being an annoyance ever since.
Bea hobbled over to the hedge which bordered the side of the garden and faced the path to the stables just as a groom came trotting up with a second at his heels.
“My mother was insistent that I should not ride, or I would have accompanied Max.”
Shelton swung down from his horse. “I am certain it was a wise decision on her part, but yours was an absence which was felt most profoundly. May I join you for a walk around the garden?”
“I am only allowed one more circuit before I must sit and rest my foot.”
“Then one escorted turn around the garden it will be.” Shelton handed the reins of his horse to the groom and headed to the small opening in the hedge just a few feet away. “Do not move. Stay just where you are,” he called as he went. “I shall be there directly.”
Graeme’s eyes narrowed as he watched Bea smile and welcome his friend.
“You look out of sorts,” Max said as he dismounted.
“Do you not worry about how charming Shelton is being with your sister?” Graeme gave his horse’s neck a pat before allowing a groom to lead him away.
“I see no harm in it. He will be gone in a few days, and I doubt he can do much damage in so little time.” He smirked at Graeme. “Are you jealous?”
“No, I am not jealous. I am just well acquainted with my friend and his ways.” It was not a complete lie. He was well acquainted with how Shelton conducted himself with females. It was, however, a complete and utter untruth that he was not jealous. He did not like the way Shelton was smiling at Bea or causing her to giggle. That was Graeme’s job. He was the one who was supposed to tease her into a smile and shock her into laughter.
“He is flirting with Bea and not some more easily duped young lady,” Max replied.
His flirting with Bea was the point! It did not matter that Bea was more sensible than most ladies. Shelton knew that Graeme cared for her, and yet, the infuriating chap flirted despite that fact. Not that he was about to share any of those details with Max. Therefore, he clamped his teeth together and attempted to glare a hole through his friend as he followed Max through the hedge.
[from His Beautiful Bea]
Beautiful picture
It is, isn’t it? His painting are some of my favs.