Monica Fairview's Blog, page 26
August 2, 2024
P&P The Untold Stories: Midnight Express
August 2, 1812
The Bennet household had just settled down for the night after a day of industrious occupation. Mrs. Bennet had been to Meryton and argued not only with the butcher about her bill, but also with various ones of her neighbors who seemed to be circulating malicious rumors about that handsome officer she and her girls so much admired: Mr. Wickham. After exhausting herself in this manner, Mrs. Bennet had retired early, saying he...
P&P The Untold Stories: Denny Learns of Lydia’s Elopement
August 2, 1812
(Based upon Archibald Denny, from my novel, The Three Colonels .)
LIEUTENANT DENNY HAD JUST FINISHED HIS BREAKFAST when Lieutenant Chamberlayne walked in.
“I say, have you seen Wickham? He seems to be missing.”
Denny sat up. “Missing? Are you certain? Sometimes he sleeps in town.”
At that moment, an angry Captain Carter walked in, followed by Lieutenant Pratt. “There is no doubt about it,” he thundered without preamble. “Wickham has fled!”
“We ju...
August 1, 2024
P&P The Untold Stories: Jane Learns of Lydia’s Elopement
August 2, 1812
Loud voices and repeated pounding awakened Jane from a deep sleep. It took her a few moments to realize that someone was knocking on the front door. She could distinguish someone speaking from outside as well as her mother’s raised voice from inside the house.
Jane’s heart pounded as she tried to comprehend what could be happening, but whatever it was, she was certain it was not good.
She peered out her...
July 31, 2024
P&P The Untold Stories: Lydia Elopes by Diana Birchall
August 1, 1812
“Look here, Lydia,” said Wickham, getting out of bed and standing by the window, watching red coated troops march by on their way to the Downs. “I have got to leave town.”
Lydia sat up, clutching a bed-sheet to her bare shoulders. Her hair was tousled, her face flushed, her eyes bright.
“Darling Wickham! But why? What about your duty to your regiment?”
“Pish.” He dismissed it with a contemptuous gesture. “It’s nothing but the m...
July 29, 2024
P&P The Untold Stories: Wickham Tells Lydia He is Leaving
July 30, 1812
“George!” Lydia waved her hand excitedly. “Over here!” She placed both hands over her heart when she saw him look up and smile at her as he hurried to her side.
“Lydia! What brings you to the Steine? Is it the shops or the view of the sea?”
The young girl smiled and let out a laugh. “Both! You know I love looking out at the sea and shopping!” She gave a sideways glance at Mr. Wickham. “And what brings you here?”
“Do you really ha...
July 28, 2024
P&P The Untold Stories: Wickham’s Scheme of Elopement by Diana Birchall
July 29, 1812
About a month after Lydia’s removal to Brighton, Mr. Wickham sauntered into a handsome suite attached to the Prince Regent’s palatial quarters in Marine Parade. It was not where a young officer of a common militia regiment might expect to be admitted, but when he asked for Mrs. Younge, the servant girl dimpled at his handsome face, and admitted him.
The lady, an elegant slender creature between thirty and forty attired in fashionable...
July 21, 2024
Unmasked: The Darcys in Venice. Mocenigo Mayhem.
Allegra
“Papa! Papa!” shrieked Allegra. The pretty little three year old girl, her father’s dimple in her chin and with sparkling eyes, propelled herself into Lord Byron’s arms.
“Gently, gently, mia cara. What? You are pleased to see Papa again? But you know I said you should.”
“Will you stay with me this time, Papa?”
“We shall see. I think you will enjoy going into the country, in this hot weather, my Allegra. And here is Shelley you see – he will take you.”
“I don’t have to stay with Signora H...
July 17, 2024
P&P The Untold Stories: Lydia at Brighton Shortly Before the Elopement
July 18, 1812
It had been a month since Lydia Bennet’s sixteenth birthday, and she had been nothing but disappointed—no offers of marriage, no late night rendezvous with handsome officers, and only two kisses from anyone of worth. And even then, Denny’s breath had tasted like onions, and Sanderson had bit my lip. Lydia huffed and burrowed deeper into the corner of the couch facing the street in the sitting room. No, this was not turning out to be t...
July 16, 2024
Why I No Longer Mourn Jane Austen’s Untimely Death
Tomorrow is a dark date on the calendar. It’s the 207th anniversary of Jane Austen’s premature death – tragic, really, when you consider how young she was, all the years of promise she didn’t get a chance to live out, and the stories she never had time to write. So sad!
But I have good news! I no longer mourn over her untimely death, and you don’t have to either. Why not? Although the official record says Jane Austen died July 18, 1817, at age 41, there is a plausible alternative – one that I ch...
The audiobook of Spellbound at Pemberley is here!
I’m thrilled to announce that Spellbound at Pemberley is now available in audiobook format. Harry Frost, Elizabeth Klett, and the fabulous folks at Podium Audio did a fabulous job of bringing this magical story to life! Here’s a delightful taste of Harry as Fitzwilliam Darcy, Mage.
Curious about Spellbound at Pemberley, the first book of the Fitzwilliam Darcy, Mage trilogy? Here’s the blurb:
Experience a thrilling, magical twist on Jane Austen’s classic Pride & Prejudice in Spellbound at Pember...
