From Portreath to Scorrier, the Railway before the Train
From Portreath to Scorrier, the Railway before the Train.
Great post by a great guest blogger. (Okay, it was me 
The origins of The End of the World in history and in my fanciful imagination. But very nicely presented at Maria Grace’s blog, Random Bits of Fascination.
Here is an excerpt of the post (Click on the link at the top of the page to read the entire thing):
The research for The End of the World is something of a chicken and egg story. I should imagine that many tales that end up as novels have similar births. One thought leads to another and then a third and more. Finally a story of plot begins to germinate and then research follows.
For The End of the World I had long had an interest in Steam Engines. And then the age of locomotives that was shortly to come. Near the end of the Regency. But as I did research without thought to writing a Regency Romance I came across this line on the Wikipedia, ‘In 1809 a horse drawn tramway was constructed between Portreath andScorrier…’
I like Maria a lot. She has written:The Future Mrs. Darcy 
The regiment has come to camp in Meryton. Many young ladies are pleased, but not all share their enthusiasm. Among them, Mr. Carver, who decides to remove his family from Meryton’s savage society. He puts the blame, not on the militia officers, but on the shoulders of the Bennet family. The flirtations and boisterous ways of the youngest sisters are too much to be borne. Not even Jane’s renowned beauty and charm can make up for them.
Elizabeth denies the allegations at first, but rapidly uncovers the shocking truth. The Carvers are not the only family to cut the Bennets from their acquaintance. Their reputations have been materially damaged and the family borders on social ruin.
The news is too much for Mrs. Bennet who collapses from the shock. So, Elizabeth and her sisters must manage the estate until she recovers, a task for which none of them is prepared. Their duty becomes more challenging when Mr. Bennet is called away on business and allows Lydia to stay with the colonel’s wife, surrounded by officers.
Warned by Mr. Pierce, the local curate, that several of the officers have unsavory designs on the local girls, Elizabeth must find a way to honor her father, rein in her sister and salvage the family’s reputation, all in the most ladylike way possible.
and
Six months after his father’s passing, Fitzwilliam Darcy still finds solace in his morning reflections at his parents’ graves. Only in the quiet solitude of the churchyard does he indulge his grief. None but his unlikely mentor recognize the heartache and insecurity plaguing him as he undertakes the enormous task of assuming the role of Master of Pemberley.
Not all are pleased with his choice of advisor.
“You give him too much influence over you,” his aunt, Lady Catherine complains.
“Who is he,” his uncle, Lord Matlock argues, “to question the God-appointed social order?”
The compassionate wisdom Darcy finds in his counselor keeps him returning for guidance, even though it causes him to doubt everything he has been taught.
In the midst of his struggles to reinvent himself, his school chum, Charles Bingley, arrives. Darcy hopes the visit will offer some respite from the uproar in his life. Instead of relief, Darcy learns his father’s darkest secret is staring him in the face. Pushed to his limits, Darcy must overcome the issues that ruined his father and, with his friends and mentor at his side, restore his tarnished birthright.
