Nicola Cornick's Blog, page 13

The Frost Fair

It’s freezing! It seems appropriate that it has been snowing in London today. One hundred and ninety nine years ago there was a Frost Fair on the River Thames. The cold snap started at the end of December with a freezing fog that was so bad that even the Prince Regent had to call off a planned journey and return to Carlton House after one of his outriders fell in a ditch because the fog was so thick. People stumbled about the London streets unable to see in front of their noses. Then the river started to freeze.

There had been Frost Fairs on the Thames at a number of different times during history. This was one of the most spectacular. There were booths on the ice selling alcohol, hot drinks and hot food. There were entertainments; archery games and a roundabout and a flying boat. People flocked to the river to see the huge chunks of ice that had been thrown up as the water froze. At one point an elephant was apparently led across the river below Blackfriars Bridge. The event was commemorated in a book called “Frostiana: Or the History of the River Thames in a Frozen State.”

I use the Frost Fair as background for a scene in my 2008 RITA nominated book Lord of Scandal. I l0ve the book, with its theme of celebrity, and I love the idea of the Frost Fair because I could imagine the raffish, exciting atmosphere there would be out there on the ice.

Here is an extract from Lord of Scandal:

Suddenly the scarlet curricle was right beside them and Ben Hawksmoor was close enough for Catherine to touch.  The pavement seemed to shift slightly beneath her feet. She wanted to turn and run but she stood still, rooted to the spot. With a sense of inevitability, she looked up to meet Ben’s cool hazel eyes. He was looking at her with disturbing intentness.

“Catherine?” Lily said questioningly, and Catherine jumped and dragged her gaze away from Ben’s. He bowed to Lily, smiling.

“Miss St Clare.”

“Lord Hawksmoor.” Lily sounded ruffled, but not on her own account. She was looking from Catherine to Ben with a frown on her face. “Have you met? I didn’t think-”

Ben turned back to Catherine. His smile was warmer for her, intimate enough to make her stomach clench.

“Madam…” There was the very faintest hint of a question in his tone. Catherine realised that he would think that she, like all the other eager ladies in the crowd, had come deliberately to see the race.

“I did not know you would be here,” she blurted out, and blushed at her own gaucheness. “That is, I did not come especially to see you…”

That was even worse. She could feel herself getting hotter and hotter to see the amusement in Ben Hawksmoor’s eyes. He had passed the reins to his groom now and jumped down onto the pavement beside her. He took her hand and drew her a little apart, ignoring the calls of the crowd for the race to start.

“I am desolated to hear you did not seek me out,” he murmured, the spark of humour still in his voice, “when I would go a deal further than Oxford Street to see you again, Catherine.”

Catherine closed her eyes for a second against the potent awareness coursing through her. He had the most attractive voice she had ever heard, smooth, mellow and hopelessly seductive. For a moment she felt frighteningly adrift.

“I doubt that,” she said, rallying. She looked about her at the throng of people. “You do not need my approval when you have all this.”

Ben turned so that his broad shoulders blocked out the crowd. His physical presence was so powerful that Catherine felt a little light-headed. She had his whole attention now. The race, the crowd, the Regent himself, none of them mattered. They could have been alone.

“You mistake.” He spoke softly. “You are the only thing here that interests me, Catherine.”

Catherine’s mind went completely blank. She had little experience of flirting or playing games and she knew that was what he was doing. He had to be. He could not be sincere.

“That,” she said, “is absurd.”

He smiled again and the lines deepened at the corners of his eyes in a way that made her stomach flip.

“You won’t flirt with me?”

She took a deep breath. “No.”

“A pity. But this time I meant what I said.”

Catherine realised that her hand was still in his. She tried to free herself but he refused to let go. He was running his thumb over the back of her hand now in small, distracting strokes. Catherine could feel the insistence of his touch through the material of her gloves.

“You did come here to see me, didn’t you?” He murmured.

Catherine’s gaze jerked up to meet his laughing hazel eyes. “You have a monstrously high opinion of yourself,” she said.

He gave her a rueful half smile and her heart turned over. “Have I?”

She watched his smile fade and another very different, more disturbing emotion take its place. Then someone dug an elbow in Catherine’s ribs and she realised they were surrounded by a crowd growing more restless by the minute. She forced herself to look beyond the compelling demand in Ben’s eyes.

“You are keeping his Highness waiting,” she said.

Ben grinned. “It is worth it.”

“You take too many risks.”

“Always.” He gave her that dangerous, flashing smile, released her hand and swung himself back up onto the box of the curricle. The crowd gave an ironic cheer.

“A kiss for luck!” Someone shouted.

Ben leaned down. His gloved fingers touched her cheek.

“May I?”

She barely heard the words above the pounding of her pulse but she must have made some sound, for he tilted her chin up and then his lips brushed hers, lightly, a brief but insistentpressure. He was cold and tasted of fresh air and her mind reeled. He straightened and Catherine opened her eyes to see the blaze of triumph in his. “Thank you,” he said, and his voice was a little rough.

The winter sky was too bright. The light hurt her eyes. She felt shaky. The crowd roared its approval.”

Though they did not know it then, 1814 was the last Frost Fair. These days the Thames doesn’t freeze. The climate is warmer, the banks have been cut to allow the water to flow more freely and the new bridges have wider arches.  In the pedestrian tunnel beneath the Thames there is now an engraving by the sculptor Richard Kindersley that depicts the Frost Fair.

If the river froze do you think you would feel safe walking on it? I’m not sure I would. Apparently there were a number of accidents when the thaw came because it melted so fast!

©2013 Nicola Cornick. All Rights Reserved.

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Prizewinners!

It’s that time again, and congratulations to Sandra,  who is the winner of the December contest whose prize is a book bag and the Brides of Fortune trilogy! Thank you for all the entries! This month there are three copies of the anthology A Lady of Expectations up for grabs. Check out the details on the contest page.

Congratulations also to Cheryl, who won the prize of a copy of Mischief and Mistletoe and the gorgeous velvet Regency style scarf in my contest on the Not Another Romance Blog site. It was huge fun to be part of the Christmas historical event; I loved all the other stories and excerpts and thoroughly enjoyed writing a scene for Chessie Alton from the Scandalous Women of the Ton series!

Now that we are into the new year, look out for news of my 2013 trilogy Scottish Brides! The first book in the series, The Lady and the Laird, will be out in July and I am going to be posting up lots of Scottish related blog posts, contests, giveaways and features!

©2013 Nicola Cornick. All Rights Reserved.

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On Jane Austen – and aunts!

With the bicentenary of Pride and Prejudice fast approaching, there’s a lot of Jane Austen debate about. Over on the UK Regency Authors Blog we’re talking about our 10 favourite Jane Austen characters. (Yes, that’s a picture of one of mine!)  Click here to contribute your own favourites! On the Word Wenches I’m blogging in praise of aunts, historical and modern, fictional and real. Come and chat with us here!

©2013 Nicola Cornick. All Rights Reserved.

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Holiday Reading!

I can’t believe how quickly the holidays went by and I hope that everyone had a lovely break from routine and the leisure to enjoy some reading. At this time of year I always love to hear which books people got for Christmas. I usually end up expanding my “to read” list as a result of all the recommendations! This year I added the biography of Sir Stamford Raffles to my list as a result of seeing it on someone else’s pile of presents. Not that I didn’t get some great books too. Here is my haul:

Mrs Robinson’s Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady by Kate Summerscale. I was riveted by Kate Summerscale’s previous book,  The Suspicions of Mr Whicher. It mixed the details of a real Victorian crime with so much additional historical information in a masterly combination of detective story and history. This new book is also a true story about Isabella Robinson who conceived a passion for the husband of a friend of hers and recorded her feelings about their liaison in her diary. Her husband used it as evidence to divorce her. But were her writings truth or fiction? Again Kate Summerscale gives an account of a real legal case but also skilfully interweaves it with a great deal of fascinating period detail.

An unusual choice, perhaps, was Ghost Knight by Cornelia Funke, a children’s story about an eleven year old boy who is sent to boarding school and finds himself prey to vengeful ghosts who have picked off every one of his family down the centuries. To help him fight them he calls on the ghost of the long-dead knight William Longespee, illegitimate half brother of Richard Coeur de Lion. This was a great story and William Longespee was – almost literally – to die for. I am such a sucker for knights in shining armour!

Empress of Pleasure was my third book and it is the biography of Teresa Cornelys, an 18th century opera singer and adventuress. What a woman! This was such a great read about an outrageous character and the detail of 18th century society was also beautifully described.

So that’s my festive list – what about you? Any good reads and recommendations?

©2013 Nicola Cornick. All Rights Reserved.

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Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! What are you looking forward to in 2013? Come and share your plans on the Word Wench blog! http://tinyurl.com/ashcag6

©2013 Nicola Cornick. All Rights Reserved.

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Season’s Greetings!

I would like to wish  all my readers every happiness this festive season and to say thank you to everyone for making 2012 a very special year for me in my writing. Thank you!

©2012 Nicola Cornick. All Rights Reserved.

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Lady Alton’s Adventure!

My new free short story featuring Francesca Alton from The Scandalous Women of the Ton Series is now up on the Not Another Romance Blog site. I hope you will drop by to read it and that you like it! The link is here. Oh, and there is a giveaway of a copy of Mischief and Mistletoe and a beautiful Regency style velvet scarf! Happy holidays!

©2012 Nicola Cornick. All Rights Reserved.

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The Bluestocking Brides meet the Scandalous Women of the Ton!

Once upon a time, at least eight years ago, I wrote a series of books called The Bluestocking Brides. The series was set in Suffolk in the years of the Napoleonic Wars and featured the members of a ladies’ reading group and the dashing gentlemen who courted them.  I loved the Bluestocking Brides series, especially the Duke of Kestrel and his handsome, rakish brothers. When the series ended there was one Kestrel brother unmarried, Stephen, the youngest, who was only nineteen at the time and last glimpsed losing his clothes and a great deal more in a brothel in Covent Garden…

Flash forward a good few years in my life as well as those of my characters, and the Napoleonic Wars are ended and my Scandalous Women of the Ton are… well… scandalising polite society. As the series ended there were two scandalous ladies who had featured in the books but had yet to find their own Happy Ever After. These were Lady Emma Bradshaw, whose story I told in the novella Lady Emma’s Disgrace, exclusive to this website, and Francesca, Lady Alton.

Poor Chessie. In Notorious, Book 4 in the Scandalous Women series,  she made a terrible error of judgement in falling in love with Fitz, the deeply dislikeable Marquis of Alton. But every girl is allowed to make one mistake in love, right? So by the time the Scandalous Women series ended this summer with Forbidden, Book 6, Chessie was a widow and was betrothed to Lord Stephen Kestrel. But what happened in between? When did Chessie and Stephen first meet and how did they fall in love?

All will be revealed on Saturday 22nd December on Not Another Romance Blog when the story of Lady Alton’s Adventure is told! (Oh, and there is a lovely giveaway too!) In the meantime check out the blog for some wonderful short stories on a Christmas theme by a whole host of fabulous historical authors!

©2012 Nicola Cornick. All Rights Reserved.

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The Lost Prince

Firstly, congratulations to HJ on winning the blog contest and thank you to everyone who entered!

Today I’m talking about a trip to London I made this week to see the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery entitled The Lost Prince: The Life and Death of Henry Stuart.There are a number of historical characters who never live to fulfil their promise or who become largely lost from history.  One example would be Prince Frederick Louis, the father of King George III. Despite knowing my English royal genealogies fairly well I often forget that George III was the grandson not the son of George II. Frederick Louis, George’s father, is largely forgotten by history. Thus it is with Henry Stuart, Prince of Wales, the first son of King James I. We all know what happened when James I died; his son Charles inherited the throne and a very turbulent period of English history followed. But Charles was not the first born. Henry “born to make our eight Henries nine” as one contemporary put it, was Prince of Wales until he died tragically at only eighteen years of age.

This exhibition celebrates Henry’s life, his interests, influences, and his place in the wider world. It is a glorious display of art and artefacts from the early 17th century. From the letters Henry wrote to his parents as a child to the highly-decorated armour he wore, the exhibition splendidly illuminates 17th century life in the court of the young heir to the throne. There are full length portraits and tiny miniatures (including one of wicked Sir Walter Raleigh looking every chaperon’s nightmare!) There is even the wooden effigy that was made to lie on top of Prince Henry’s  coffin, now missing the head and hands, which had been modelled in wax.  The exhibition is sumptuous in its reflection of the riches of the Jacobean court but it is also tragic. It was fascinating to see the expectations that had been riding on Prince Henry and the way in which his public image as a heroic, martial ruler was being built. It was moving to see the genuine grief that erupted on his death, from the devastation felt by his parents to the outpouring of grief on the streets to see the brightest star of the next generation go out: “Our Rising Sun Is Set.”

On a lighter note, we took Rochester the Guide Dog Puppy with us and he behaved like an angel dog during the entire day. Thank you to the National Portrait Gallery for allowing him to train there and a special note on how delicious the lunch in the cafe was afterwards! Here is Rochester outside Buckingham Palace as part of his training that day!

Over on the Ashdown House Blog I will be blogging in more detail about those elements of the exhibition that involved Henry’s sister Elizabeth of Bohemia.

©2012 Nicola Cornick. All Rights Reserved.

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Prizes and More!

First of all, big congratulations to Jeanne on winning the November website contest! Jeanne is one of my most long time and loyal readers and I was thrilled when her name came out of the hat!  Jeanne wins a copy of A Lady of Expectations and also a copy of How To Tame a Willful Wife by fabulous author Christy English. Thank you to everyone who entered the contest. This month’s website contest has as its prize a copy of the first three Scandalous Women of the Ton books – Whisper of Scandal, One Wicked Sin and Mistress by Midnight – and a beautiful book bag to carry them in. Click here to enter the contest!

Today I am blogging on USA Today’s Happy Ever After blog about the most romantic house in England – Ashdown, of course! Please drop by to share your special Christmas traditions and magical places and for the chance to win a copy of The Penniless Bride! Just click here!

Recently I visited Powis Castle (blog piece to follow!) and picked up some gorgeous Christmas goodies. I wanted to share these with everyone so this month my blog contest is to win a copy of Mischief and Mistletoe plus a beautiful Christmas candle and gold, frankincense and myrrh soaps all from the special Powis Castle collection. To enter simply answer this question: Where would you most like to enjoy Christmas? In a snowy mountain cabin? On a tropical island? At a romantic castle – or anywhere as long as your family is there? Thanks for sharing! The draw will run until December 12th. Good luck and thanks for visiting!

©2012 Nicola Cornick. All Rights Reserved.

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