The Surprise (A Collection of Valentines Ancient and Modern, c. 1876)

From the book The Quiver of Love: A Collection of Valentines Ancient and Modern, a collection of love poems published in 1876, illustrated by Walter Crane and Kate Greenaway (source)
. The illustration was created for “The Surprise”, a translation of a German poem by Heinrich Heine (source: Google Play eBook edition page 44, 45)
. It reads:

THE SURPRISE
I dreamt I saw you yesternight,
And claspt my hands about your eyes,
Nor dared to venture in your sight
Until you pardoned the surprise.
So take my letter, Valentine,
My name and mission quickly guess —
I fear to offer word or sign;
I wait until you whisper “Yes.”

(Public domain via Wikimedia Commons)

“You knew she was behind me?” There was a bit of venom in Darcy’s whisper.

Fisticuff might not happen in the garden, but Bingley was not certain he was going to survive this bit of trickery without some damage to his person.

[from Mr. Bingley Plans a Ball]

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Leenie Brown

Leenie Brown fell in love with Jane Austen's works when she first read Sense and Sensibility followed immediately by Pride and Prejudice in her early teens. As the second of five daughters and an avid reader, she has always loved to see where her imagination takes her and to play with and write about the characters she meets along the way. In 2013, these two loves collided when she stumbled upon the world of Jane Austen Fan Fiction. A year later, in 2014, she began writing her own Austen-inspired stories and began publishing them in 2015. Leenie lives in Nova Scotia, Canada with her two teenage boys and her very own Mr. Brown (a wonderful mix of all the best of Darcy, Bingley and Edmund with healthy dose of the teasing Mr. Tillney and just a dash of the scolding Mr. Knightley).

6 thoughts on “The Surprise (A Collection of Valentines Ancient and Modern, c. 1876)”

  2. Love the picture and the quote. Yeah, that Bingley was something else. I really liked him. Thanks for sharing. Blessings, stay safe, and healthy. Hang on as more weather is headed your way. Heavy sigh… where art thou oh, spring?

    1. Oh, Bingley is so fun to write. This one had good plans but struggled with thinking them all the way through. 🙂
      Spring can come any time now. I’d be quite happy if it did. Lol

  3. I love this Valentine! <3 I haven't followed this Charles Bingley story this time, I'm saving it for the published work. You know your book 'Finally Mrs. Darcy' was on sale last week. I was pretty sure I already had it and I did. But I couldn't remember it and it turns out I hadn't read it yet!?! Well, I loved it. Of course. 😀

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