A Regency Invitation

Waiting...but still writing

2006-04-14T07:02:00.000-07:00

Kim Young, 6th January 2004

Dear Joanna, Nicola and Elizabeth,

Happy New Year!

Thank you for sending in both your individual and the overall synopses -- and in such good time! -- we are all really excited about the project and can't wait to see how you've worked together on this.

We will be in touch ASAP!

Best wishes,
Kim

Nicola, 9th January 2004

This is just to let you know that I have invented a hamlet called Lynd as the nearest village to Lyndhurst Chase and an inn where Peter almost seduces Cassie, called The Angel's Arms!

Joanna, 9th January 2004

Love the names, Nicola, especially the Angel's Arms. I'm assuming that, although the Chase isn't Anthony's principal seat, his family originally comes from the area around the village of Lynd, hence the family name. Maybe the family's original house was on the site of the Chase and, when they acquired their much grander property elsewhere (where?), they demolished the original house and built the Chase as a much-loved holiday/hunting home?

I'm having slight problems on the interior. I need to make decisions about locations of some features and would appreciate help. First, I need John and Sarah to have a bedroom that doesn't overlook the courtyard so they can't see who is arriving (in this case, GAH). Should I assume that, since they're the most senior guests, they have been given the best bedroom (F7) facing North and West? Or is that Anthony's room? I'd be content to give the Mardons F4, facing South and West, if that's more convenient. As an aside here, are we having any public rooms on the first floor, now that we've extended the house? Maybe a large, light sitting room for the ladies?

Second question: Ashdown doesn't have a back staircase. Should we have one in the extended house? It's obviously important for Amy. Actually, for ease of plot-making for me, it might be better not to have a second staircase. That way Amy will have more difficulty in avoiding the nobs, especially William. And we can do scenes of the servants melting into the wallpaper. Wonderful image, Nicola.

I think maybe we need a sketch floor-plan of the extended house, at least the ground floor and first floor. I'm doing a consultancy report for the next three days but I could have a go at a plan next week perhaps. What do you think?

Can you tell us, please, Nicola, where Lynd lies in relation to the house? I suggest we add a mention of it to our sketch map. I should also like, if possible, to add an East Lodge to the North Lodge we already have. Then we could make it clear that the usual entrance to Lyndhurst Chase is via the East Lodge gate on the Newbury/Oxford Road. The North Lodge entrance is little used and is therefore an ideal place to conceal Ned. I've decided there will be an unmarried lodge-keeper there (Roger the Shrubber, natch) who is a bit of an oddball/loner. His elderly and conveniently deaf (!) aunt keeps house for him. Everyone from the area knows that you are never invited into the North Lodge so no one is likely to stumble on Ned. Hardly any of the locals ever go near Roger the Shrubber who can be a bit quick to assume people are poachers and take pot shots at them.

Started writing the arrival of GAH yesterday, on the train. I keep having to find excuses for an abigail to be among the nobs so that I can write from Amy's POV. In this case, Sarah isn't dressed (having been frolicking in bed with John!) so she is sending Amy downstairs on the pretext of helping GAH after her arduous journey, since GAH hasn't brought a maid. GAH will give Amy pretty short shrift, of course, on the grounds that her companion, Miss Saunders, will do whatever is needful. And she'll pass some pithy comments on Amy's suitability as a high-class dresser in the process! Oh, I am looking forward to writing GAH. I had such fun writing Lady Luce in Rake's Reward that I'm probably going to have an old harridan in every book I write from now on!

Nicola 10th January 2004

Glad that you like the names, Joanna. I imagine that Anthony's family could either have come from the area or have owned land there for hundreds of years and the hamlet might have grown up near the house, just as Ashdown village did.

I think it sounds appropriate for John and Sarah to have the best bedroom. Maybe Anthony preferred the more spartan bachelor surroundings of a smaller room if the best bedroom reminded him too poignantly of the fact he didn't have a wife to share it with? I also like the idea of the ladies having a first floor sitting room. It might seem a bit odd for the extended house not to have a back staircase. At Ashdown the staircase takes up a quarter of the floor space so there isn't really room for a second staircase and in fact the one that's there seems out of proportion large for a house that size. But I think we could make it work either way, so whatever suits you best, Joanna and Elizabeth. I like the idea of the servants melting into the wallpaper too. It would be great if you could do a sketch floor-plan, Joanna. Thank you. Also a good idea to add the East Lodge.

I had planned Lynd to be to the south of the house. Peter is travelling from London and comes up the road from the Newbury and London direction. There is a fork in the road south of Lyndhurst Chase where another road goes off to the west. Quinn is coming from Bath, which is why it is Peter and not Quinn who bumps into Cassie on the road. I'll add Lynd and the road junction to the map. Perhaps I should have sent this to Kim with the outline and family tree?

It sounds as though your story is coming on, Joanna. I have just got to the point where Peter is plying Cassie with blackberry cordial in the inn, not realising yet that she shouldn't mix fruit and alcohol...

Joanna, 11th January 2004

Thanks, Nicola, that's great. I'll have a further think about the back stairs and let you know what I'd like to do. I don't think we should go final on it until Elizabeth's had a chance to say what she thinks. Maybe we should have sent the sketch map, but since we didn't, I suggest we now wait to hear what they have to say.

My story isn't exactly coming on. I've done about 4000 words and am just about to do the first sight and sound of GAH, but can't do any of it until I've finished my consultancy stuff. That will take all day today and tomorrow, since I've fallen behind on it. (Too many RNA interruptions!) Your story, on the other hand, sounds to be coming along a treat. I'm off to London on Monday so I'll have two uninterrupted train journeys during which I can write. I am tempted to take Elizabeth's book with me (The Regency Rakes one, Elizabeth) but I shall resist. Haven't started it yet and must not. Must save it as a treat for when I've done the first draft of the abigail, I think.

Nicola, 11th January 2004

I spoke to Kim last week and she was in the process of reading the House Party stuff then so I hope she'll be able to put Linda in the picture pretty quickly this week. I'm not exactly racing along with my story either -- I've done about 4,000 words and it is very light, and maybe too humorous. I know Linda mentioned a darker element in the original documentation. OTOH, it is a Regency House Party as DH pointed out this morning!

Joanna, 12th January 2004

You may be right about the humour, Nicola. However, we do have a darker element in William L-F and his nefarious doings, both to Anthony and to Marcus. He also gropes housemaids.

Still struggling with the consultancy stuff but am now about 75% complete. Having tea break at present!

Joanna, 13th January 2004

Managed to write Great Aunt Harridan's arrival while I was on the train from London yesterday. As soon as she alights from the carriage, she starts haranguing Anthony. She pokes him in the chest with her brass ear trumpet and nearly pokes his eye out with it, as well. She has insisted on having a bedchamber on the first floor, where the ladies' sitting room is, so Anthony has to agree to have William moved to an upper floor. Georgie has said absolutely nothing. She just stands there staring at the ground so that the poke of her bonnet hides her face. By the time GAH has actually got through the front door, Anthony appears (to Amy) to be on the point of exploding with rage. Hope that's OK, Elizabeth. I'll send the scene round when you're back from your travels and I've done some more work on it.

Amy is now going to volunteer to help the housekeeper to move William's belongings and that will give her a chance to have a good nose through them. I have called the housekeeper Mrs Waller.

That reminds me that we need to keep a list of characters' names, so that we don't end up with continuity errors. And I now have to work on the layout of the extended house because it's started to matter to my plot, what with GAH and backstairs and the like. Do you want Cassie to have a bedchamber next door to the Mardons' room, Nicola? It would seem likely, if Sarah is supposed to be Cassie's chaperon. OTOH, Quin and Peter Quinlan would get some of the best rooms too, and we wanted to be able to move Peter up a floor, later on, to a room next to Cassie. That suggests Cassie started on the second floor. I think the answer may be to put the Mardons in the best corner bedchamber on the second floor, leaving Anthony and the other men on the first floor. Cassie could then have the room next to the Mardons. Is that OK?

One other thing. When I extend the ground floor, I intend to put in a billiard room. Do I need anything else in particular? What about a smoking room? An office? (in addition to the study/library).

Nicola, 13th January 2004

Aargh! Whilst out walking the dog this morning I had a character crisis and decided that Peter Quinlan wasn't turning out quite right! Sorry! I have now got rid of Quinn and turned Peter into a reluctant fortune hunter who has to restore the family fortunes by marrying Cassie. The rest of the story is basically unchanged -- when he meets Cassie she doesn't know who he is and tells him all her secrets etc; John and Anthony find them in the inn in a compromising position and insist on an immediate betrothal; Cassie wakes up the next day to discover who Peter is and realises that not only has he deceived her but he's after her money etc etc. I hope this won't disrupt your stories too much. I didn't think it would have too much impact on them but I'm sorry to mess things about at this late stage.

Nicola, 13th January 2004

Great Aunt Harridan sounds magnificent, Joanna! Yes, it seems appropriate for Cassie to have the room next to the Mardons and with Quinn out of the way we only need one nice guest chamber for Peter! Definitely agree about the billiard room. And there could certainly be an estate office/study as well as a library. Can't think of anything else at present, unless we want to add a hothouse/conservatory on the south side to catch the sun and provide another rendezvous point? Looking forward to seeing the plan!

Nicola, 14th January 2004

I have sent Kim an amended synopsis for story 1 and thought I ought to copy it to both of you as well, of course! Not many changes and as I said earlier, I hope won't cause you any problems. Sorry for the late change. Kim indicated to me that they might well be getting back to us about the RHP tomorrow. Holding my breath!

[Note to blog readers: we haven’t included Nicola’s revised synopsis here because it wasn’t much different from the one you’ve already seen.]

Elizabeth, 14th January 2004

Okay -- I'm back. Have had a fabulous time and will write more later this evening when the inbox is sort of under control.
Joanna, 14th January 2004

Welcome back, Elizabeth. You may be just in time. Had this from Linda last night in response to my email:

Dear Joanna
Thanks for this. Pulled up the NT pic of Ashdown House and can see why it has inspired you. Am just typing up the notes from our meeting today and will whiz them off to you all tomorrow.
With best wishes
Linda

And tomorrow is today!!!

Elizabeth, 14th January 2004

Wow! Have you two been busy or what while I've been disporting myself in glorious New Zealand. So far all the stuff you have come up with sounds great. I'll need to spend a day really reading in detail to get up to speed, but I'm itching to go. I did some writing while there, since the muse struck while I was on the walk. Not exactly convenient, but I at least got the dialogue down.

Have just discovered that DH decided to make pumpkin soup while I was away. Sad to relate, instead of using the chicken stock I had frozen, he found the lemon juice! A culinary disaster, in fact.

Elizabeth, 15th January 2004

I've just spoken to Linda about another matter and I don't think we have anything to worry about with our synopses. Apparently they are all delighted with what we've come up with. We should be hearing the response to the general outline today and responses from our individual editors shortly after. Linda is terribly impressed at the level of collaboration and the way our characters weave in and out of the different stories.

Must remember to claim that phone call on my income tax!

Joanna, 15th January 2004

Now this is going to put your inbox even more out of control, Elizabeth. I am attaching the floorplans I've done for our house. They're all Word docs so I hope they open OK. You will see that, following the suggestion in Nicola's drawing (the one with the sheep) I have extended the square house on the West and South. Had to use quite a lot of space for corridors so, although it is bigger, we've haven't gained that much. We have got a billiard room and a first floor sitting room for the ladies though. Since the ladies got abandoned while they men indulged in sport, it's only fair that they should have the best room.

On bedrooms, I think it would go as follows (though I haven't marked it on the plans):

---Anthony F3 and F2

---William F6 and F7 in story 1 but moved up into S3 when GAH arrives and demands a room on the first floor

---GAH F6 and F7 from story 2

---Georgie in F7 for story 2 until joins Anthony in F3 and F2

---Peter in F4 then moved out in favour of Marcus at end story 2 into S4, opposite Cassie.
---F4 and S4 have no separate dressing room because it has only one window but it could have a dressing area

---Marcus in F2 for stories 1 and 2, then in F4 for story 3

---Cassie S7 and S8

---John and Sarah Mardon S5 and S6

---Amy in A4 for stories 1 and 2 then, from end of story 2, S2

---Free for other guests: F1 and S1 (both small and unattractive), and the attic rooms with sloping roofs etc. Visiting valets (for John, and for William and Peter if they have brought them) would be in A1 or A3. Marcus has brought no servants with him.

---The nursery (A2) is empty unless we can think of a use for it. There are no children at the house party.

---The attic spiral staircase leads to the cupola (not shown) which is bigger than the Ashdown one, with leather covered benches round the sides so guests can look out without getting wet.

---The basement is very loosely defined, with kitchens, other work rooms, servants' hall etc.

---I've moved the entrance to the north side. I imagine story 2 will be the only one that goes down there, so I'll make it up as I go along!

I hope that makes sense and goes with what you are writing/have written. You'll notice that I have put in a very small set of back stairs. Couldn't find anywhere else to put them. The blessed chimneys kept getting in the way. Also, there are too many windows so it's difficult to imagine where furniture would go. No blank walls!

Let me know if any of it doesn't work. Mind you, we don't need to be exact here. It's just for a general idea. I leave it to Elizabeth to decide the colours of the rooms and the furniture.

[Note to blog readers: as usual, we can’t import the plans of our house into the blog. Sorry if that makes this post a bit confusing to read, but it does show the lengths we had to go to in order to get the setting right. The house was designed with ground floor, first floor, second floor, attics (with access to roof), and basement, hence the abbreviations such as S2 = bedroom 2 on Second floor.]

Nicola, 15th January 2004

Wow, Joanna, you have been busy! I will have a wander around Lyndhurst Chase this evening!

Nicola, 15th January 2004

Welcome back, Elizabeth! I'm looking forward to hearing all about your trip.

Peter Quinlan is now a Viscount. Very confusing, I know! So both Linda and Kim have promised feedback today... It's 6.15pm UK time and it's not here yet, but I know Linda works very late...

Elizabeth, 15th January 2004

Yes, well. Nothing from Linda yet. Maybe tonight. She sounded very happy with everything anyway.

The trip -- was fabulous. We arrived in Christchurch at midnight and by the time we cleared customs got to our hotel at about 1am. The bus for Queenstown left at 7:45am, only by the time some other bus had ripped off the driver side wing mirror and we got a new bus it was about 8:30. There was some mad idea that we'd sleep on the bus but the scenery was too good.

Queenstown was lovely. Full of holiday makers and with all the cafes and bars on the quay beside the lake it looked like a cross between Scotland and the Mediterranean. The hills are too steep for much development around the lake -- they come straight down into the lake. One range of mountains there, The Remarkables, looks exactly like the walls of Mordor, really fierce and jagged.

We met up quite accidentally with an American who was doing our walk. Ron told us about this great practice walk out of Queenstown that we could do if we wanted to test out our hill climbing stamina. We did. Hill climbing okay, blisters a disaster. I started the walk with massive blisters on both heels. Luckily you can get this amazing stuff called second skin which looks a bit like a slice of set gelatine and is held on with elastoplast. It works and I could walk without any real discomfort. I also had the bliss of being tended each morning by the guides, three of the most gorgeous young men imaginable. And soooooooo gentle. Gave me all sorts of ideas! But I have to confess on the last morning the well-known novelist, Elizabeth Rolls, got caught spread-eagled on her stomach in the hotel foyer with ANOTHER man bending over her. Alan's technique was slightly different to the other two . . . they liked me standing up!

The walk itself was amazing. Wonderful scenery. We had sunshine for the first three days walking, including the climb over the pass, but then it rained for the last day of walking. Thirteen and a half miles in the pouring rain. Rain brings out all the waterfalls down the valley sides so it was still lovely, but I didn't stop for photos. I thought the camera wouldn't survive it.

We stayed in the hotel at Milford Sound that night. Very nice and comfortable, not that we had been exactly roughing it with comfy beds, hot meals provided and showers each night! After dinner I was dragged, kicking and screaming, I swear! to the pub. Can you imagine it? They made me, simply made me, down about 5 pints of beer. Good thing NZ beer isn't as strong as ours or I'd have had a shocking hangover. A good time was had by all.

We did a cruise on Milford Sound the next morning. Still raining and the peaks were shrouded in mist. It was stunning. So dramatic. And the waterfalls! Thousands of them, literally. Except for two they only come out in the rain. Which is most days since Milford Sound gets about 8 metres of rain a year. And yes, I have got that figure right! 8 metres. Staggering, isn't it?

Very entertaining boat driver. He lay back in his seat in the wheelhouse and steered with one foot. Not quite sure what he was using when he took us under one of the permanent waterfalls. (It was quite a big boat.) The noise was cataclysmic. And the wind created was really something. One or two hardy souls actually stayed out on the bow during this. I was not one of them. They had full waterproofs on, I didn't.

We were taken back to Queenstown by bus after that. Very sad!

I've spent the last few days with Helen Kirkman. Nicola, I think you'd know her? Had a lovely time relaxing with her and met the newest NZ recruit to the M&B historical line, Sophia James. Also caught up with a couple of other NZ writing friends.

NZ is definitely a must visit. Especially the South Island. It's the sort of scenery that makes you ache with pleasure. And so wild! I can see myself going back in the next few years and taking DH and the kids. Queenstown looks to be a great place to holiday with youngsters. Heaps to do and such a gorgeous setting.

Your postcards will arrive. Had a slight disaster there. I left my book in the luggage trolley when they picked me up. Entirely my fault. I should have checked. Anyway your postcards were tucked in the book since I'd been writing them on the flight. I had a little trouble finding South Island, Middle Earthish postcards on the North Island. But I have done so! And written them again. But don't be too surprised at the Aussie postmark.

I seem to have raved on a bit here. Could carry on about the birdlife, but you may have had enough! When I get my photos developed I will store them on the computer and send some to you as attachments if they are any good and you would like me to do so.

I am now going to stagger off for a morning cup of tea. I will get back to the furnishings tonight. I love the amended floorplan. And your account of GAH's arrival. Will tag that mentally and refer to it. Love that ear trumpet! Would it be possible to see an excerpt of that scene? I have one where she earwigs him again and would like to get the speech patterns matched. This is the scene where he realises Georgie didn't run off with another man.

Er, can you guys keep a secret if I'm really hopeless and can't? I'm not going to tell the loop yet because I was told to keep it very quiet for the next month, but The Unruly Chaperon has finalled for the RNA category award. Which was why I had to phone Linda. So she knows, but no one else except DH who heard the shriek from the far side of the house. Please don't tell anyone. I probably shouldn't tell you two, but we've been working so closely, I couldn't bear not to. And speaking of houses -- we've sold ours! The move is at the end of February. Six weeks away. I've told Linda that too. I'm thinking about buying a 2nd hand laptop so I get as little writing interruption as possible.

Linda Fildew, 15th January, 2004

Dear Joanna, Nicola and Elizabeth,

Thank you again for all your hard work over Christmas. All your furiously frantic e-mails have produced a winning set of three short stories and I attach our joint thoughts on the general outline. Kim will be in contact with you, Nicola, on your individual story and I'm about to do the same for you, Joanna and Elizabeth

Do, please, have a ponder and let us know your thoughts in due course.

What an exciting way to kick off the New Year!
Linda

[Note to blog readers: if you want to know what the editors said, you’ll have to read the next episode of this blog. We’ll try not to keep you waiting too long.]

The Proposal Goes Off at Long Last

2006-02-03T03:45:00.000-08:00

Joanna, 27th December 2003

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas. We certainly did, even though it rained. Have just finished my draft synopsis and must now go shopping and get ready to welcome another guest who is joining our house party (!) for the weekend.

Like yours, Elizabeth, my synopsis is long but I can always shorten it for the eds. Please let me know of anything I've missed or got wrong.

[Note to blog readers: we’re not including the synopsis here, because it differs only a little from the version you’ve already seen. However, the final version of all three synopses is given at the end of this blog post.]

Elizabeth, 27th December 2003

This looks great, Joanna and it's not nearly as long-winded as mine. I got carried away!

I don't think you missed anything -- but the excuse Anthony uses to go after Georgiana at the end is that Stella the dog needs to go out urgently. Stella is snoring under a foldover teatable between the windows.

Just to clarify Georgiana's concerns about sharing Anthony's bed. She isn't worried that he will break his word. She knows perfectly well that he won't. It is more the general intimacy of the situation and the anger between them. She is also scared of her own response to him. She still loves him and is afraid she won't be able to hide that from him.

Glad to hear your Christmas was wonderful, Joanna. We had a lovely time as well. The weather was glorious and we went to see The Return of the King last night. My sister looked after the boys. An evening off!

Joanna, 27th December 2003

Thanks, Elizabeth. I didn't include any mention of the dog for reasons of length, but when I write it, I promise it will be as you wanted it. I also forgot to include the bit about Marcus finding the miniature of Georgie in Anthony's dressing room. I will put that in, probably in the third paragraph of the synopsis of my story proper.

One of the problems I've created for myself relates to point of view. Neither of my POV characters is actually around for above stairs events like drawing-room conversations, dinner etc so either Amy has to observe/eavesdrop or I'll have to go into Sarah's POV. Since Amy is there to find things out, I've decided that she will eavesdrop on the conversation between William and Anthony mentioned in para 3 of the synopsis proper. Then--an additional scene--Anthony will go marching up to his bedroom and find Marcus with the miniature. Cue a tense scene between them, with the effects on Anthony that you described in one of your emails.

We've still got time to finalise these synopses, and also to make any changes to the overview. I'll send round a revised version of the family tree soon, possibly tomorrow or Monday. Then we should be nearly all set...apart from the writing, of course

I’m now about to cook the goose pie for supper -- leftovers, but you don't get much off a goose!

Nicola, 28th December 2003

We're knee deep into family Christmas events at present so am not around much until tomorrow afternoon (Monday) when I will read, learn and inwardly digest all that you have been working on! I'm glad to hear everyone has had a super Christmas. I hope you enjoyed Return of the King, Elizabeth!

Elizabeth, 28th December 2003

Mmmmm!! Return of the King was FABULOUS! Will no doubt be seeing it again in short order. Just in case I missed anything. It was all terribly stirring and emotional. Especially the charge of the Riders of Rohan and the death of Theoden. I wept. And nearly passed out over that whopping spider! UGH!! The stuff of nightmares.

Keep enjoying your Christmas, Nicola. Joanna -- goose pie sounds very tasty.

Elizabeth, 28th December 2003

Joanna -- I just had a thought. Would you mind very much if when John warns Anthony that William is unscrupulously manipulative, he refers to an attempt on William's part to sow distrust between John and Sarah before their marriage? Nothing specific. Just that it happened and John knows that it was because W is desperate for money. It would fit very neatly with his manipulation of Anthony and Georgie and his desperation for money. It also gives Anthony something very solid to think about.

Joanna, 28th December 2003

Don't mind at all Elizabeth. Seems totally in character, since John's second marriage was likely to end all William's hopes of inheriting.

Your email suggests you're getting on with the writing. I thought you would be (a) clearing up after Christmas and (b) packing for your NZ trip, but then...you never did need sleep

Elizabeth, 28th December 2003

Not very much clearing up to do. We had Christmas at my sister's place down on the coast. And I can't pack yet because she is lending me a backpack and won't be back with it until Thursday. I'll pack then.

I am getting on with the writing, trying to get a few scenes fleshed out before I go. Sleep? it's only eleven. The night's a pup! And I have a very bad coffee habit. After all if I don't write at night I get very little done. Hopefully this will change once Small Boy #2 goes to school, although the nightowl habit is an old one. Not necessarily a good one!

Joanna, 1st January 2004

A very happy new year, both!

I attach the final (I hope) revise of the family tree so that you can attach it to the overview when you send your own synopsis to Richmond. I have included all the detail from your individual synopses so it should be OK. I've also included info on why and when the Mardon family name became Lyndhurst-Flint, so the eds don't have to ask! Let me know if you find any typos etc.

Hope the HQN stuff has gone OK, Nicola. From what I know of the story, I reckon it's going to be a huge hit. Hope your packing is now well advanced, Elizabeth, and that you have a wonderful time in NZ. Meanwhile, Nicola and I will try to get as much as poss of the first two stories written. I've been so involved with holidays and children that I haven't done any more till now. Slap hand. Must do better.

Elizabeth, 1st January, 2004

Happy New Year!

I have done most of my packing. Just a few items to go in tomorrow morning, like my toothbrush. Um, oh, right. It's this morning already. Not sure how much sleep I'll get tonight anyway. I'm actually too excited to sleep. Having felt like this before on occasion, going to bed may be a complete waste of time. I'll try. I can always sneak out again to work if sleep eludes me.

Thanks for the revised family tree, Joanna.

I'm going to send my synposis through tomorrow morning. I'm sending copies to whoever is in the cc field of the last email Linda sent on this topic. The copy I have here of the background synopsis is draft. Would it be better to let you two send that in? I can just note that the background synopsis is coming from you in my covering email to Richmond.

Let me know what you think. I'll be checking my emails etc in the morning. I don't leave until mid afternoon, so can send the stuff before then.

Nicola -- if you send me your snail mail I shall get myself organised and send you a postcard from Middle Earth! I have Joanna's snail mail.

Nicola, 1st January, 2004

Happy new year! Many thanks for the family tree, Joanna.

I have just sent my HQN 3 chapters and synopsis to my agent, so fingers crossed. Looking forward to getting stuck into the short story now.

Have a wonderful trip, Elizabeth.

Joanna, 1st January, 2004

Fine by me, Elizabeth, if you want to leave it to Nicola and me to send in the overview stuff. It will all be at Richmond in a great heap before they all get back from their hols, anyway, so it's not as if the story 3 synopsis will be looking odd, sitting there on its own.

At the risk of putting damper on your wonderful holiday, Elizabeth, when are you back in Oz?

Joanna, 1st January, 2004

Have been going through our heaps of emails and outlines to ensure I don't miss anything. Looking at the Overview thing, Elizabeth, I wondered whether you want Anthony to be called Major Anthony Lyndhurst? Given the number of Lyndhursts and Lyndhurst-Flints around, it could be helpful (especially for Nicola and me) to be able to refer to him as the Major, at least sometimes, rather than always as Mr Lyndhurst. Let me know what you want to do, and I can, if necessary, change some of the references in the overview.

That was the only thing I found, so enjoy your holiday!

Elizabeth, 2nd January, 2004

Joanna, I think calling Anthony 'Major' is an excellent idea. By the way -- his valet is called Timms and used to be his batman. You'll be needing Timms in Marcus and Amy's story. He's a nice little man, very loyal and generally tells Anthony exactly what he thinks. He's not a very gentlemanly gentleman's gentleman. Certainly he always refers to Anthony as The Major. If you work it in, he would also be the one other person to recognise Georgiana. Apart from William who is too self-absorbed to have really noticed her as a person.

Elizabeth, 2nd January, 2004

I'll send the synopsis through to everyone including you two. It probably doesn't look any different to how it looked last week.

I'm back on the 14th in the evening. Should be functioning again by the following day. I've been doing a bit of writing over the last few days, tackling the opening couple of chapters. I've written about 6000 words. All of which needs revising, fleshing out and pruning, so don't get too excited! But it's better than blank pages.

I'd say, looking at the timeframe Linda gave us that she is planning on a fairly swift response.

Elizabeth to Linda Fildew, 2nd January, 2004

Please find attached a copy of my synopsis for the proposed Regency House Party trilogy. The rest of the material, background outline etc will be coming from Joanna Maitland and Nicola Cornick very soon. I'm sending this through now because I am off to New Zealand this afternoon. I will be back on the 14th.

Linda, I hope you had a wonderful time in Tenerife. By the time you see this I should be safely in Auckland, hopefully in one piece. The news for the last week has been all about people falling off mountains on NZ's South Island. So encouraging! I'm really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our house party.

[Note to blog readers: Elizabeth’s synopsis is included with the others at the end of this blog post.]

Nicola, 2nd January, 2004

I am working on my final draft of the synopsis for story 1 which I will copy to you and Elizabeth when it is ready. I just wanted to check whether the version of the back story outline that we have (draft 2) is the correct one, with the addition of Major as Anthony's title? I'm getting a little confused here and don't want to send in the wrong thing!

Thank you so much for putting the outline and the family tree together. You and Elizabeth have worked so hard -- I feel a bit lazy in comparison! I am going to get stuck in to the story when I get back from my final weekend of New Year merriment with my parents in Suffolk.

Joanna, 2nd January, 2004

Draft 2 is the most recent version. I plan to do the final update on it today and add in the family tree. If I send it to you again, you will then be able to scrap previous versions and use the final one. Is that OK? Do you need it earlier than this afternoon? I know you're planning to send your synopsis via your agent.

Sounds like you've had a great holiday and well deserved, too. No, you're not lazy. How can you say that? You had the HQN thingie to do and you've managed to do that as well as all the house party stuff. Deserves a medal, I reckon.

I'm going to stop copying things to Elizabeth now, except my stuff to Richmond, because I don't want her inbox to be overflowing when she gets back. I do envy her the trip. Haven't managed to see LOTR yet, either, Maybe this evening...

Nicola, 2nd January 2004

Thank you very much, Joanna. It would be great to have the final version when it's ready. There's no rush from my point of view. I don't think my agent is back from her holidays yet. She usually replies very quickly to my emails and I haven't heard from her yet on the HQN proposal.

I was glad to get the HQN proposal out of the way. I'd been tinkering around with it for ages and could have carried on doing so indefinitely, so had to take the plunge in the end. We'll see what my agent and Kim think. I do quite like the story so at least I am enthusiastic about writing it. I'm looking forward to writing the short story first, though. Reading through the synopses and back story this morning has got me quite excited about the whole project again! Can't wait to get going!

New Zealand is on my travel wish list as well. I would love to go there, expecially after seeing the awe-inspiring scenery in LOTR. I hope you like it if you do get the chance to see it. I haven't been a great Tolkien fan since I was force fed the books at school, but I thought the films were very inspiring.

Have a splendid 2004! Is it this month that Marrying the Major is out in the US? And Rake's Reward can't be far behind. How exciting! Do you think that you will get simultaneous UK/US publication for your subsequent books? That would be quite a thing!

Joanna, 2nd January 2004

Have now read through Elizabeth's revised synopsis. Poor gal must have been up to her eyes at the time because she's left in one or two things (like notes to you and me) that would have been better omitted. OTOH, eds are jolly lucky we managed to do anything like this over Christmas.

When I send in my own synopsis, I'll mention that Elizabeth has got the wrong name for my story, though, or someone will wonder what "The Unexpected Abigail" is!

Nicola, 2nd January, 2004

I've attached my revised Story 1 outline in the hope that you can have a quick look, just in case there's anything I've missed.

I've taken out all the specific details of the hints I'm going to drop for stories 2 and 3 - I didn't think this needed to be included in the editors' version. Having read through the back story and all 3 synopses this afternoon, I must say that I think it all hangs together very nicely. I'm sure Linda will think so too!

[Note to blog readers: yes, we’ve omitted this version too. The final version appears later, if you scroll down.]

Joanna, 3rd January 2004

I love the new idea with the elderberry/fruit allergy. Excellent way of justifying getting Cassie really drunk really quickly. No doubt she'll have a terrible hangover afterwards, too.

I found yet more continuity errors when I was revising my synopsis last night. I'd managed to refer to Ashdown several times, instead of Lyndhurst Chase. Heavens knows what else I've missed. I'm working on it now, and I'll send it through when I've done the next revisions.

And I agree, I think it all hangs together beautifully. My only concern now is to write it in 30,000 words.

Joanna, 3rd January 2004

I attach my revised synopsis. I hope I've caught all the silly errors, but no guarantees.

Are you happy with the passages about links back to your story? I've amplified what was there before. If you're unsure whether you'll include any of it, I'll take it out.

I've also added in the episode with the miniature of Georgie which helps, I think, to explain why Marcus doesn't tell Anthony who Amy is.

As I was reading this email through, it occurred to me that it might be fun to have the Marcus/Amy love scene on the roof, instead of in the cupola. I think Marcus may take the leather cushions from the cupola bench and lay them out on the roof under the stars for a bit of romantic atmosphere. So before I send the synopsis through to you, I'll add a sentence about that.

Done! So here it is. All suggestions welcome.

[Note to blog readers: scroll to the end of this post to read the final version]

Joanna, 3rd January, 2004

I forgot to answer your last para, Nicola, which was very rude of me. Thank you for being so kind and supportive. Yes, MM is out this month, and RR in March. (Also A Poor Relation in June.) As to simultaneous publication... I don't think anyone gets that, do they? Even you seem to have to wait a while.

What I would like, though, is simultaneous publication of this anthology. It would be a lovely Christmas present on both sides of the pond, especially if they do us a good cover. Could be great for our sales but it would only be possible in the time if both markets used the same cover, I imagine. Can you tell from your royalty statements (or other sources) how long your Regency Brides anthology stayed on the shelves for? I remember seeing it for quite a while in the UK.

Joanna, 5th January 2004

Hope you had a wonderful weekend with your parents. Are you planning to submit your synopsis today? Subject to any final comments from you, I hope to do so, too. I note that the eds are back! I've had "read" messages from Kim, Joanna, and Bryony for an email I sent about the Channel 4 series.

There was a mention on the Regency loop about shared characters, so I've dropped a hint about a joint project currently under way. I haven't said who the other two authors are, or what the subject is.

Nicola, 5th January 2004

Thanks for checking through my synopsis, Joanna. It's always better to have a fresh pair of eyes looking at something when you've been peering at it for ages. I only got back from Suffolk at about 5pm so I'll be sending the stuff to Kim tomorrow. She's already asked me where it is, so evidently they're very keen! Thanks also for your revised synopsis. I'm very happy with the links and will look forward dropping a few hints for your story and Elizabeth's.

Regency Brides was on the shelves until it sold out, as far as I can tell. I'm sure that had a big effect on the sales, which have been very good.

Nicola to Kimberley Young, 5th January 2004

The synopsis for Story 1 in the Regency House Party is attached. It has been great fun putting this together with the other authors and I hope you enjoy it too. I look forward to hearing from you!

Joanna to Kimberley Young and others, 5th January 2004

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday. We certainly did, in spite of a modicum of midnight oil-burning in Hereford (also Berkshire and Oz)

I attach the 4-page overview (including a family tree in colour!) that Nicola, Elizabeth and I have agreed. I also attach my own synopsis which has been discussed among the three of us. Elizabeth didn't see the absolutely final version of my synopsis, but there are only small changes from the last version she did see.

Just in case there is any confusion, I've called my story An Uncommon Abigail. In Elizabeth's story 3 synopsis, she refers to story 2 as The Unexpected Abigail. That was an early title which I ditched in favour of the current one.

Will now hold my breath until we hear what you all think!
____________________________________________________
[Note to Blog readers: below is the outline (excluding the family tree), plus the three story synopses as submitted to our editors on 2nd/5th January 2004.]

GENERAL OUTLINE:
REGENCY HOUSE PARTY ANTHOLOGY

It is September, 1819, more than four years since the Duchess of Richmond’s ball on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo and the fateful quarrel between Major Anthony Lyndhurst and his new young wife, Georgiana. Anthony has not set eyes on her since he returned from Waterloo. He has searched, but now despairs of finding any trace of her. After so many years, he has come to believe she must be dead.

Georgiana waited only long enough to be certain that Anthony had survived the battle uninjured before fleeing, with only the clothes she stood up in, to her godmother in Devon. There, Georgiana waited in vain for Anthony to come to find her. When it became clear that he would not come, Georgiana’s godmother persuaded a very reluctant Georgiana to take a post in Cornwall, as companion to Miss Harriet Lyndhurst, Anthony’s elderly great-aunt. Georgiana took the post on the understanding that her godmother would not disclose her real identity. In Miss Lyndhurst’s remote house, Georgiana is known as Miss Emma Saunders.

It is not enough for Anthony to believe that his wife is dead. Until he knows for sure, he can take no action. He needs a heir for his great wealth, but he is not free to remarry. Nor is he eligible: many in Society have spread rumours that he murdered his wife and her young lover. Anthony has at last decided to face his demons: he will select an heir from among the younger members of the extended Lyndhurst family (see page 4—Lyndhurst Family Tree). There is no single obvious candidate, and so Anthony has organised a house party for family and friends at his hunting box, Lyndhurst Chase, to judge, once and for all, which of them is most deserving.

Cassie Ward is the youngest contender and the only female. But could Anthony bequeath a fortune to a headstrong girl who has no husband to guide her and no prospect of finding one? Cassie is already an heiress, but no man in his right mind would choose to marry a girl with a reputation as a dangerous radical. On the other hand, if Anthony can find a suitor who really needs Cassie’s wealth, a match might yet be made for her—provided, of course, that Cassie can be persuaded to do as she is told, for once.

John, Earl of Mardon, the eldest of the cousins, has no need of Anthony’s wealth, though he would be an able steward of it. Now that John has found happiness in a second marriage to Sarah, he has everything that Anthony himself once wanted. Surely John doesn’t need more?

John’s younger brother, William Lyndhurst-Flint, is the only other family member who has ever met Georgiana and who knows more than the public version of the story of Anthony’s failed marriage. Though not in the army, he was at the Duchess of Richmond’s ball. William could certainly use Anthony’s wealth since he is always in debt. If he were the nominated heir, he would be borrowing against his expectations before the week was out. But Anthony, too, was a younger son once. He knows what it is like to have no prospects. Will he favour William out of fellow-feeling?

And then there is Marcus Sinclair, another cousin who already has wealth enough. However, Marcus has disappeared. In a very public quarrel with a man called Frobisher in a London gaming hell, Marcus was heard to threaten Frobisher’s life. Two days later, Frobisher was attacked and left for dead. A warrant has been issued for Marcus’s arrest. Surely he would not dare to show his face at Lyndhurst Chase when he could be arrested and carried off to gaol at any moment?

One man does know where Marcus is—feckless young Ned Devereaux, one of the early guests at the house party. Now Ned, too, has disappeared, having warned his practical older sister, Amy, that something smoky was going on at Lyndhurst Chase. Amy fears the worst. If Ned has been murdered, Amy will be alone in the world, and practically penniless. She must find out the truth, but she dare not appear at the Chase as herself. With the help of her friend, Sarah, Countess of Mardon, she will go to the Chase in the guise of a lady’s maid so that she can search both above and below stairs for clues to her brother’s disappearance.

Three interwoven stories (see individual synopses) gradually unpick the knots and tangles of THE LYNDHURST INTRIGUE:

1 LADY OF FORTUNE (Nicola Cornick)
How Cassie lights upon a suitor who is far from the sober and steady gentleman that her male relatives have in mind for her.

2 AN UNCOMMON ABIGAIL (Joanna Maitland)
How Amy resolves the mystery of her brother’s disappearance, discovers the proof of Marcus’s innocence and falls in love with him in the process.

3 THE PRODIGAL BRIDE (Elizabeth Rolls)
In which Anthony’s final decision is made for him by the return of his missing wife and the resolution of their many misunderstandings.

_____________________________________________________________________
ADDITIONAL NOTES BY THE AUTHORS

TITLES:

We propose the individual titles in the outline:
Lady of Fortune
An Uncommon Abigail
The Prodigal Bride
and the overall title of
The Lyndhurst Intrigue.

COVER ART:

Lyndhurst Chase is very loosely based on Ashdown House in Berkshire. Some of the details common to both the real and the imaginary house are crucial to the stories, such as the crowning cupola and balustraded roof. An artist’s impression along the lines of Ashdown could make a beautiful backdrop for the cover and would help the readers to understand certain parts of the story.

Prepared by:
Nicola Cornick, Elizabeth Rolls, Joanna Maitland
2nd January 2004

________________________________________________
SYNOPSES

Story 1 – Lady of Fortune

Back story for Cassandra Ward

Cassie Ward is 21 years old. She was born in 1798. She possesses dark blonde hair but with some of the auburn colouring of the Lyndhursts in it. Unlike her distant cousin Anthony, though, she has brown eyes. She is a strikingly pretty girl, quite small and with a complexion like a russet apple.

Cassie is an orphan. Her mother died 3 years previously after a long degenerative illness, and John, Earl of Mardon, and Anthony Lyndhurst are Cassie’s cousins and her trustees along with Edmund Burnside, her uncle. She lives with her mother’s sister and brother-in-law (The Burnsides) who do not feature in the story.

Cassie is heiress to a huge fortune but she can’t touch it until either she marries or reaches the age of 25. John and Anthony are generous to her and she loves them both and is especially fond of John’s wife Sarah, whom she sees as a surrogate sister. Because she has no close family of her own, Cassie has often stayed with the Mardons but as she grows older she feels uncomfortable about hanging on their coat-tails. In some ways she wants a home and family of her own, but her feelings on this are mixed up because she has seen that John was unhappily married the first time round and she senses that Anthony is also deeply unhappy over the loss of Georgiana, even though he never speaks of it. She envies John and Sarah the closeness that they have now, but she is not sure that marriage is worth the risk. Given a choice, Cassie would hold out until she is 25 and possessor of her own fortune, but she knows Anthony and John want her to wed because they want to see her settled and happy. Unfortunately finding a suitable husband for Cassie is not that easy.

When Cassie was 17 and her mother was an invalid and unable to keep a close eye on her she became embroiled in radical politics through the influence of an unsuitable governess. This led to an infamous incident where she attended a political meeting and was caught in a low tavern smoking a clay pipe. This was blown out of all proportion in the Ton and for a while threatened to ruin Cassie’s reputation. Despite her fortune, which is larger even than Society imagines, she is thought of as an unmarriageable hoyden.

At the house party Cassie is officially being chaperoned by Sarah, but since Sarah is somewhat preoccupied with helping her friend Amy Devereaux find her brother, Cassie has ample opportunity to run around and get into trouble. It is in fact Cassie’s no nonsense maid, Lizzie, who keeps her in line and in whom she confides.

Lord Peter Quinlan

Peter is the younger son of the Duke of Bellars and brother to Quinn, Marquis of Quinlan. He is 27 years old. He served as a junior officer under Anthony Lyndhurst at Waterloo and has always looked upon him as a hero.

The Quinlans have no money and Quinn, a steady character and acquaintance of Anthony Lyndhurst and John, Earl of Mardon, is the suitor the cousins favour for Cassie’s hand in marriage. Peter is invited to the House Party merely to make up the numbers and make it a little less obvious that Anthony has ulterior motives in gathering his friends and family together.

Peter is good-looking, charming and a general favourite. His easy-going manner, however, masks a strength of character that is not always immediately apparent. He has never considered matrimony before meeting Cassie Ward since he is a younger son with no money and no obligation to ensure the succession to the Bellars title. However, when he meets Cassie he realises that a man might choose to marry for love –- a singular notion for one who has never entertained the thought before. But if he is to marry Cassie not only will he run the risk of being branded a fortune hunter but he would also cut out his own brother, and surely that is impossible…

Note: Story 1 will set the scene for the house party and introduce the main characters as well as providing links that will be picked up in stories 2 and 3.

Story 1 – Lady of Fortune

Lyndhurst Chase, Berkshire, Summer 1819

In holding a House Party at Lyndhurst Chase, Anthony Lyndhurst is providing himself with the opportunity to choose an heir from amongst his close relations. (See story outline document).

Anthony also has another purpose. He wishes to find a suitable husband for his young cousin Cassandra Ward. In addition to family members, Anthony has therefore invited along a few comrades and friends to join the party.

The man that he and John, Earl of Mardon have identified as Cassie’s favoured suitor is Quinn, Marquis of Quinlan, heir to the Duke of Bellars. The arrangement has been mooted to Quinn, who has no money and would therefore like a rich wife. Quinn is a perfectly pleasant but rather staid man, and he has a dislike of headstrong women. He likes his females demure and malleable. Anthony and John are hoping that he will be a steadying influence on Cassie. Cassie, naturally, is not happy at the thought of them trying to marry her off and has already hatched a plan to put Quinn off her by showing just how bold she is.

Accompanying Quinn separately to the House Party is his younger brother, Peter. Peter has arrived in the village close to the Chase when he meets Cassie somewhat unceremoniously, when she falls out of a tree beneath his horse’s hooves as she is trying to affix a radical poster to the branches. Her intention is to embarrass Quinn and show she could not be a suitable wife for him.

Peter has no idea who Cassie is and assumes that she is a village maiden and a rather attractive one at that. Cassie is knocked unconscious in the fall and Peter carries her off to a local hostelry where she eventually comes round. Peter is torn between his obligation to aid Cassie by loosening her constricting clothing and his conviction that he is behaving like an absolute cad in finding her attractive under these circumstances. In order to help her come round he plies her with the landlord’s medicinal brew of brandy mixed with elderberries. He is unaware that Cassie has a very unusual allergy to fruit and that if she mixes it with alcohol she becomes very drunk very quickly and dangerously talkative into the bargain. This becomes apparent all too soon when Cassie starts to spill her darkest secrets to this stranger without even waiting to discover who he is.

Cassie tells Peter all sorts of things. She relates her own history, the fact that her cousin is trying to marry her off, and her feelings on marriage and men in general. She gives him a run down of her opinion of all the members of her family, including her thoughts on Anthony and his brief marriage to Georgiana, and her dislike of William Lyndhurst-Flint.

Peter is utterly riveted and unchivalrously plies her with more brandy to keep her talking. He knows that he should take her home but he keeps putting off the moment as he falls further under her spell. He finds himself telling her things about himself that he has never told anyone before. Their conversation moves on to even more dangerous territory when they start to discuss the seven deadly sins and ways in which one might commit them. Finding himself hopelessly attracted to Cassie, Peter has just given in to the impulse to kiss her when the door flies open and Anthony Lyndhurst and John, Earl of Mardon rush in, having been alerted by the villagers to Cassie’s danger at the hands of this evident rake.

Peter is in deep trouble. Cassie has fallen asleep, the whole situation looks deeply compromising and Lyndhurst and Mardon are furious at his ungentlemanly conduct. In desperation, Peter protests that his intentions are honourable, realising as he says so that he is telling the absolute truth and he genuinely wishes to marry Cassie. The news is a shock to both himself and to Cassie’s relatives. Peter has never, ever considered marriage before, whilst Anthony and John had assumed that Quinn would be the one courting Cassie. Peter realises that in pursuing Cassie he will be trying to cut out his elder brother and feels particularly bad since he knows Quinn’s parlous financial situation.

Cassie is also in shock when she wakes up the next morning back at the Chase and remembers what has happened. She is excruciatingly embarrassed to remember all the secrets that she has vouchsafed to Peter and is also furious with him for not telling her who he was and for encouraging her indiscretions. Since one of the secrets she has told him is that she is far richer than society suspects, she now thinks he may be a fortune hunter and she refuses his proposal, even to save her reputation. Quinn is not very pleased either to have his younger brother apparently trying to steal an heiress from under his nose and starts to make serious attempts to woo Cassie away from Peter.

With Quinn, Anthony, John and Cassie all believing him insincere, Peter wants to court Cassie and prove his love for her, but he feels guilty about going against Quinn’s interests. Cassie has withdrawn from Peter and is distant and chilly as a result of both her anger and her embarrassment. Their meetings are fraught with unresolved tension.

Peter is inadvertently assisted by William Lyndhurst-Flint who still hasn’t given up hope of Cassie marrying him and keeping all that lovely money in the family. He deliberately hits Peter on the head with the cricket ball during a match on the estate and Peter is carried off the pitch with concussion. Cassie insists on tending to him and later creeps back to his chamber to make sure that he is all right. Now the tables are turned –- Peter, in his delirium –- tells her all sorts of secrets such as his life will never be complete if he cannot persuade him to marry her. Cassie, knowing he must be telling the truth, admits to herself that she is in love with him. When Peter wakes up in sound mind and finds her in his bed in the morning he is furious, especially since he’s been trying to avoid the temptation of taking her to bed ever since he met her. No matter that Cassie tells him that she loves him, it seems he will refuse her proposal of marriage out of principle –- until Cassie takes steps to persuade him that marrying her would be the best thing that he ever did….

On seeing that both Cassie and Peter are incandescently happy (and suspecting some of the things that have been going on) both John and Anthony give their blessing to the marriage. Quinn reluctantly admits that Cassie would be far too spirited a bride for him –- and besides, he has his eye on a local heiress whom he has met at an impromptu dance at the Chase. Cassie and Peter’s wedding is planned to take place shortly after the end of the House Party.

____________________________________________
(Story 2 The Lyndhurst Intrigue)

Synopsis: An Uncommon Abigail

Backstory

Amy Frances Devereaux is 25 (born 1794). Both her parents are dead, her father when she was 19, her mother when she was 21. Her only season was interrupted by her father’s illness and death. It was during that season that she first became friends with Sarah, Countess of Mardon, who had been married for less than a year and was being treated as an upstart by some members of the ton. Amy helped Sarah to establish herself in society and the two became very close.

After her mother’s death, Amy found herself effectively responsible for her younger brother Ned (born 1798, then 17, now almost 22) and his inheritance. She, being the practical one, and a mere female, gave up her future prospects to stay at home to run the estate while Ned went to Oxford. Since he reached his majority, Ned has been squandering his inheritance. He has mortgaged the estate for ready money and to pay his gambling debts. Amy’s modest dowry is still safe, just, but may have to be used if Ned does not mend his ways. Amy loves Ned in spite of all his faults and still feels responsible for him. She has an optimistic, sunny nature, and is sure that, eventually, her feckless brother will grow up. However, it seems that he has disappeared. He wrote to her that he was leaving Lyndhurst Chase and that something smoky was going on there. He would tell her all about it when he got home. But he never arrived. Nor has she heard any more of him. Practical as ever, Amy has decided to go to the Chase to search for Ned, and has enlisted the help of Sarah. Amy will go disguised as Amelia Dent, Sarah’s abigail. At first, the masquerade seemed to be a great lark, especially as Amy would be conspiring with her great friend, but Amy is becoming increasingly worried that something really has happened to Ned.

As Amelia Dent, the abigail, Amy is hiding her striking silver-blonde hair under a very unflattering cap, wearing loose-fitting clothes to hide her figure, and thick glasses to disguise her violet-blue eyes. Always a keen amateur actress, Amy has even put pads in her cheeks to disguise her fine bone structure and slightly change her voice. Below stairs, Amy is aloof and relies on being the highest servant to cover up any mistakes, but she is finding it much more difficult that she expected. She affects a degree of piety to account for her plain, unflattering attire to the higher servants; she refuses to acknowledge the lower ones at all. In her increasing anxiety about Ned, however, Amy is taking more and more risks above stairs and failing to avoid the gentlefolk as much as she should. William Lyndhurst-Flint has already groped her at least once, and Cassie has noticed that, for a high-class abigail, Dent is much too dowdily dressed.

Marcus Alexander Sinclair is 29 (born 1790). Like his older cousin Anthony, Marcus was in the army, and loving it, but his mother insisted he sell out in 1811 when his father died, since Marcus was the only child. Marcus was only 21 at the time and had to grow up fast, as he was taking on huge responsibilities and had suddenly become a highly eligible parti. He quickly learned to be less open and easy-going and adopted a veneer of cynicism, partly as a defence mechanism against those in Society (including ladies on the catch) who wanted to take advantage of a very young man with a lot of money. He has learned, from the bitter experience of being hunted, not to trust women. He can be brusque, sometimes cutting, especially with those he does not trust. With his close friends, such as Anthony and John, he is more open and good-humoured. He has a strong sense of duty and family loyalty, particularly to Anthony, who saved him from falling into a disastrous marriage trap when Marcus was just 21.

Some weeks before the story opens, Marcus had been involved in a seriously drunken gambling session in his London club. One of the players, Frobisher, deep in his cups, had made disparaging remarks about Anthony and his inability to keep his wife in his own bed, or at all. Marcus, also much the worse for wear but not totally drunk, had lost his temper. He said that only Frobisher’s drunkenness was saving him from being called out and, if Frobisher ever crossed Marcus’s path again, Marcus would kill him. All those present (including Ned Devereaux and William Lyndhurst-Flint) heard the threat. Within two days, Frobisher had been attacked by an unknown assailant and left for dead. Frobisher did not see his assailant, but reported that the man repeated the threat and sounded like Marcus. A warrant was immediately issued for Marcus’s arrest.

Marcus fled to the Chase to hide until his innocence could be proved. He gave Anthony his word that he had not committed the attack, but could not tell Anthony the true cause of the quarrel because of the terrible insult to Anthony’s honour. Anthony felt there was something fishy about it all but agreed to hide Marcus while his friends tried to clear his name. When the story opens, Marcus has been cooped up in Anthony’s dressing room for weeks and is feeling thoroughly frustrated by inaction and lack of exercise.

An Uncommon Abigail — Berkshire, late summer, 1819.

Links from Lady of Fortune

Marcus has been hidden in Anthony’s dressing room for weeks. Anthony’s valet brings his meals and looks to his needs. In the house, apart from the valet, only the butler and the housekeeper know of Marcus’s presence. Marcus has to hide in the huge clothes press if anyone else enters the room. He is thoroughly frustrated by the lack of exercise and the lack of progress at clearing his name. Anthony, too, is preoccupied and frustrated. Not only is he concealing Marcus from the law, but Ned Devereaux, who had come to suspect that Marcus was in the house, has been summarily put under ‘house arrest’ in the North Lodge to ensure that his gossiping tongue cannot betray Marcus.

Sarah, Countess of Mardon, is officially Cassie’s chaperon at the house party, but Sarah is so preoccupied with Amy’s problems that she is allowing Cassie more freedom than is wise. Cassie, meanwhile, has noticed that Sarah’s abigail does not dress or behave quite as a Countess’s high-class dresser should; and also that the abigail resembles Ned Devereaux, the rude young man who quit the house party without taking his leave of any of the guests. The situation is bound to become even more fraught since Great Aunt Harriet has announced she will be arriving soon.

An Uncommon Abigail

Amy, having already searched all the other bedchambers in the house, comes to search Anthony’s bedchamber while guests are at dinner. It is not yet dark enough to need candles. She enters the room to find the curtains drawn and the room gloomy but not totally dark, because a fire is burning. A screen stands between door and fire. Amy surmises that it, and the fire, were for Anthony’s bath. She realises that the bath may not have been emptied; she may be caught by the maids. She goes round the screen and finds Marcus, standing naked in the water, about to get out. He is clean but unkempt with many days’ growth of beard and long, wet hair. Amy is largely hidden by a huge, ugly cap, thick spectacles and inelegant clothes. She also avoids looking directly at his face and tries (but fails) not to look at his very attractive body. She is so shocked at seeing her first ever naked man that she cannot move or speak.

Marcus, in a cold fury at being caught, treats her like a flighty servant. He doesn’t cover himself, he orders her about, and he almost kisses her, but resists at the last moment. Insulted and horrified at her own response, Amy reacts like a lady instead of a servant and then has to talk her way out of her predicament by claiming she risks dismissal. Marcus offers her a bargain: he will not shop her to her mistress, if she doesn’t mention his presence to anyone. Amy agrees. And then flees. When she gets back to her room, she realises Marcus has seen her distinctive silver-blonde hair.

Great Aunt Harriet arrives with her companion, “Miss Saunders”. Great Aunt Harriet continually needles Anthony who becomes increasingly short-tempered; his vaunted self-control seems to have vanished. William knows Marcus will not have told Anthony the whole truth about the quarrel with Frobisher, so without actually telling a lie, William allows Anthony to infer that the quarrel resulted from Marcus having said something disparaging about Anthony's wife. Anthony doesn't want to believe it, but the suspicion has been planted; he realises it would account for Marcus's strange reticence about the quarrel. Anthony goes to confront Marcus and finds him looking at a miniature of Anthony’s missing wife. Stunned at his own reactions, and furious with Marcus for having provoked them, Anthony lets rip at Marcus. Marcus recognises Anthony’s anguish and doesn’t respond. Anthony becomes polite and withdrawn.

The following evening, late, Amy goes back to search again, assuming Marcus will be gone. He appears, still bearded, from Anthony’s dressing room. Removing her cap and spectacles, he recognises her, then berates her for her masquerade. He says that he has seen her before, in London, though they have not been introduced. That is untrue; they have met, but he doesn’t want her to realise who he is, because she might inadvertently betray him. He forces her to tell him why she is in disguise. Though Marcus knows where Ned is, he doesn’t tell Amy, but swears to her that Ned is safe and that she needn’t worry. She looks so concerned that he kisses her and they get carried away. Marcus is horrified at what he’s done—he’s a fugitive. He resolves to have nothing more to do with her unless he’s been exonerated. Marcus and Anthony are now barely on speaking terms, so Marcus, who is also feeling guilty about his treatment of Amy, doesn’t tell Anthony who Amy really is.

Amy is trapped by William Lyndhurst-Flint (who gropes, and worse, anything in a skirt). Marcus hears what’s going on and rescues Amy, even though he’s blowing his cover by doing so. A fight ensues between Marcus and William. William, though soundly beaten, swears he’ll call the constable and have Marcus thrown into jail where he belongs. Amy is horrified; it’s all her fault. Anthony arrives, alerted by his valet. Amy won’t let Marcus tell Anthony what William tried to do to her because she feels guilty. Anthony, as a compromise, agrees that Marcus should be locked up in the dressing room, pro tem, and forces William to agree not to call the constable until Anthony has reached a view on whether Marcus is guilty. William has to agree because, otherwise, he’d risk the inheritance.

Amy finds out below stairs that a suspicious character has been seen lurking near Lyndhurst Chase and had sent a message to William. Amy manages to sneak in to see Marcus, to offer help. Anthony has insisted that Marcus resume the guise of a gentleman, so Marcus is now clean-shaven and properly dressed. Amy recognises him, and is shocked that she didn’t do so before. They had not only met, they had danced together and she had been much attracted to him. Marcus explains that there must be evidence somewhere to prove his innocence, but he has been unable to find it. He suspects William but has no proof. Amy says that when she searched William’s room, she found a half-finished letter to William’s banker, asking for a large amount of money immediately against his expectations of becoming Anthony's heir. It's not proof of William’s guilt but it's suspicious. Marcus immediately works out what William needed the money for. Amy remembers the delivery of the note to William and also that she saw William push a paper into a hiding-place in the cupola. Maybe it was the note? So she volunteers to go and search. Marcus won’t let Amy go alone. It’s too dangerous. She might encounter William again. He’ll get out somehow and go himself to search. Amy resolves to go too, without telling him.

They meet in the cupola (having dodged William) and find enough evidence to exonerate Marcus, though not enough to indict William. Out on the roof, under the stars, they also find each other. Marcus admits it’s not an appropriate place for a man to propose, but will she have him? Amy says she doesn’t care about the place or the state of him, but she won’t be proposed to in an abigail’s cap and gown. Together, they concoct a plan.

Sarah’s abigail has vanished. Her husband John (now in on the secret) says he fired her after finding his papers disturbed. Marcus has been proved innocent of the attack on Frobisher though the assailant’s paymaster remains unknown. William is incandescent with rage and frustration but can do and say nothing without giving himself away. Amy’s brother has been freed. (He’s having such fun drinking and gambling with his ‘jailer’ that he doesn’t want to leave his ‘jail’ so he’s not living in the main house.) Sarah announces that her dear friend Amy has been worried sick about her brother Ned and is already on her way to Lyndhurst Chase to search for him. She will be in transports when she sees with her own eyes that he’s all right.

Amy arrives as herself. She sees, not Ned, but Marcus. She and Marcus do a pantomime of reunited long-lost lovers. Marcus asks Ned’s permission to marry Amy. Ned says it’s not a matter for him but if Amy wants Marcus, he won’t object. Great Aunt Harriet insists that Anthony organise a firework party to celebrate the two betrothals. Anthony, though much relieved that Marcus has been exonerated, now focuses all his frustration on his wife, Georgiana, who is acting as companion to Great Aunt Harriet and has so far refused to allow Anthony even a moment alone with her. Aunt Harriet has just ordered Georgiana off to bed. Determined to have some privacy with his wife, Anthony orders Marcus’s belongings to be removed from his dressing room into the room next to Amy’s and makes a pathetic excuse to go after Georgiana. Ned, disgusted by all the lovey-dovey stuff at Lyndhurst Chase, says he will take himself off back to London. Threatened by Amy, he promises never to reveal what has happened at the Chase. Satisfied, Marcus and Amy go for a lovers’ stroll in the shrubbery.

_________________________________________________________

THE LYNDHURST INTRIGUE –

STORY 3: The Prodigal Bride

Backstory

Anthony David Lyndhurst was an officer in Wellington’s Army. He served in the Peninsula and also in the Waterloo campaign before selling out early in 1816. He has inherited his family property unexpectedly and the entail has run out.

In the lead up to Waterloo Anthony has married the seventeen year old daughter of one of his fellow officers.

Georgiana is an orphan. Her mother died many years ago and her father died at the Battle of Toulouse. Georgiana has been in the care of another officer’s wife. Unfortunately she fancied herself in love with a young officer on Wellington’s staff and was briefly betrothed to him until his family found him an heiress. He has caved in to pressure and asked Georgie to release him.

She does so, but finds that she is viewed as a jilt and shunned. Anthony knows the truth of the matter and steps in with his own offer of marriage. He is acquainted with Georgiana and is fond of her. Having inherited the family property from his brother, he needs an heir. She accepts his offer.

His cousin, William Lyndhurst–Flint is also in Brussels and is counting on Anthony, who has often vowed to remain a bachelor, leaving the property to him. He is nursing the hope that Anthony will not survive the inevitable show down with Napoleon.

At the Duchess of Richmond’s ball Georgiana Lyndhurst is horrified when the call to arms goes out. She sees her erstwhile betrothed, Justin, in the crowd and turns to William, asking him to find Anthony and tell him she is looking for him and will be in the garden with Justin.

She wants to say farewell to Justin and assure him that she is happy in her marriage and wishes him Godspeed.

William, determined to make mischief, edits the message so that it sounds like Georgiana is involved in an assignation. Anthony finds her in the garden, kissing Justin on the cheek and explodes. He says any number of things in the heat of the moment which would have been much better left unsaid.

When Anthony returns, wounded, from Waterloo, he discovers his lodgings deserted. Georgie is gone, leaving behind nearly everything except a very valuable pearl necklace that had been in his family for generations.

At first he assumes she has fled with her supposed lover, Justin Finch-Scott. He discovers after investigation that Justin died at Waterloo. Devastated, he returns to England unable to trace Georgiana. He retires largely to his smaller country house, Lyndhurst Chase, perched high on the Berkshire Downs

After four years he has concluded that Georgiana is gone, probably dead. He can’t bear the thought of marrying again. Indeed, he can’t, since there is no way to prove what happened to his wife. Society has cast him out due to the appalling rumours that have circulated about the fate of Georgiana and her alleged lover. Anthony is popularly supposed to have either murdered Finch-Scott on the field at Waterloo or contrived to send him to his death. He has become increasingly withdrawn and bitter except towards his closest cousins, John Earl of Mardon and Marcus Sinclair. He must however select an heir, so he invites all his cousins to a house party to help him make up his mind once and for all.

The Prodigal Bride – Berkshire, late summer, 1819.

Link from The Unexpected Abigail

After all the fuss of Cassie’s betrothal to Lord Peter, Anthony is beyond shocked when he receives a letter from his Great Aunt Harriet, announcing the imminent arrival of herself and her companion, and her deep sense of indignation that she was not invited in the first place. He is now fully occupied with trying to find out exactly what hell broth Marcus Sinclair has got himself into and has little time to consider the impending visit of his aunt and her companion.

He is stunned to discover that the ‘companion’ is none other than his estranged wife. Despite his best efforts, he finds it impossible to speak to her privately until Marcus’ innocence is proven.

As the house party celebrates the betrothal of Amy and Marcus in the drawing room, Great Aunt Harriet notices that her companion “Miss Saunders” is looking badly upset. She orders the companion off to bed, telling her that she looks as though she could do with a good night’s sleep.

“Miss Saunders” obeys after a short protest in which she keeps glancing nervously at Anthony. Who professes himself all concern and adds his word to Harriet’s, saying that she should take the chance to get as much sleep as possible, since she never knows what may chance to disturb it. (Joanna, can you manage to fit that into your penultimate scene?)

Anthony makes an absolutely pathetic excuse to follow her. He claims that his setter bitch, Stella, needs to go outside urgently. Stella of course is sound asleep under the tea table, showing no signs of life, let alone urgency. Anthony disappears with the dog, leaving the rest of the party wondering what maggot has entered his head now.

Opening – The Prodigal Bride

Anthony storms out of the drawing room, determined to run “Miss Saunders” to earth. He realises that he has outsmarted himself in taking Stella with him as he now has to take her out to the stables. By the time he returns his quarry is no where to be found in the house.

Having searched from the cellar to the cupola and not found her, Anthony is worried that she may have gone outside. He goes up to his bedchamber to find a coat and change into his boots.

There he discovers “Miss Saunders” waiting to speak with him. Furious, and frustrated, Anthony informs her that speaking can wait and that other things are more important. In the ensuing argument it becomes plain to the reader that ‘Miss Saunders” is none other than Georgiana Lyndhurst, Anthony’s missing bride.

Anthony takes her to bed under the mistaken impression that she has spent at least part of the past four years as some other man’s mistress. It never occurs to him that she could possibly have been with his great aunt all that time.

It swiftly becomes evident to Anthony that Georgie is as experienced as she was the last time she shared his bed. That is –- not very. He realises, far too late, that he has actually frightened her and even hurt her in his haste to claim her as his wife again.

Feeling as guilty as hell, Anthony insists that she remain in his bed, but gives his word that he will not bed her again unless she wishes it. She is very upset that he thought she would betray him. He tells her that he was warned she was in the garden with Finch-Scott. She informs him that his cousin William could have put him right –- that she asked William to tell him where she was. That she sought out Justin to wish him Godspeed and to assure him that she bore him no ill-will.

Anthony is shocked, since it was William who implied that Georgiana’s assignation was far less innocent than that, and certainly never mentioned that she had asked him to pass the message on to her husband.

When he awakes the following morning she has left his bed. He decides that he needs to think before seeing her again and telling the rest of the party who she is. Before going for a ride Anthony seeks out William alone. Without telling him about Harriet’s ‘companion’ Anthony asks him how he knew that Georgie was in the garden with Justin Finch-Scott. William is quite taken aback and says that he really doesn’t remember. Did he say that?

Anthony goes riding alone. He is bitterly hurt that, even after their quarrel, Georgie could have left him just as he went off to battle and given him no assurance of her safety in the past four years. How the hell can he ever trust her again? Even if she didn’t spend any part of those four years in someone else’s bed!

Yet to his fury he still loves her and wants her. His head tells him to let her go since that seems to be what she wants, but he can’t do it. As far as he is concerned Georgie is HIS. On the practical side, it does, he hopes(!) solve his problem about an heir.

He is mulling over this when he meets John, also out riding. John takes advantage of their situation to give Anthony a bit of advice. Namely that Anthony ought not to consider William as his heir for a moment. That he has no sense of responsibility and would be borrowing on the expectation within a week and would squander the estate in no time if he inherited. He points out that William likes to twist things to his convenience, that he has always done it. John believes that William is playing on Anthony’s empathy for another younger son. This is very difficult for John to say about his brother, but he feels that he has no choice. He has paid William’s debts several times and the only time he has ever known William to be beforehand with the world was just after Waterloo. ‘Naturally one hesitates to accuse one’s own brother of plunder . . .’

Anthony has further food for thought – could William have garbled the message on purpose? Tried deliberately to use the situation to destroy the marriage?

Anthony finds Georgie in the library reading by herself. He informs her of his decision, that despite her foolish flight and selfish lack of regard for the worry she put him through, their marriage should stand. That the whole thing blew up out of a misunderstood message.

Georgie is horrified since she believes that Anthony doesn’t really want her at all and obviously never trusted her. After all, despite her note telling him she has gone to her godmother in England and thanking God that he survived, he did not trouble to contact her in four long, bitter years. She is furious that Anthony blames her for everything.

Anthony insists that they can, and should, sort it out. And that she is to move her belongings from Harriet’s dressing room immediately. To which Georgie demands to know where he thinks she is to sleep since the last spare room in the house has just been allotted to Marcus.

Taken aback at her obtuseness, Anthony replies along the lines of, ‘Damn it, Georgie! You’re my bloody wife! You sleep in MY bed, of course!’ At which point the rest of the house party stroll in from the drawing room and Anthony wonders how long it will take for the floor to catch on and open up to swallow him.

He is embarrassed and Georgie is obviously upset. For which he is sorry. He never meant to expose her in such a way. Still it does present her with a fait accompli, which she knows he didn’t intend.

The only person who doesn’t appear in the least shocked at the revelation is Great Aunt Harriet. It transpires that she knew all along who “Miss Saunders” was and that she and Georgiana’s godmother planned the whole thing. That Harriet was to await her opportunity to reunite the couple when the time was right.

Naturally Great Aunt Harriet backs Anthony up, wisely telling Georgie later on that the best thing she can do is give herself and Anthony a chance. That they need some privacy and that a bedchamber is the best place for achieving it!

All afternoon and evening Anthony treats her with the greatest deference as his wife. Presenting her to the staff, having her formally shown over the house etc. She has also sat at the end of the table opposite her husband at dinner, displacing Sarah.

At dinner it is plain that Anthony’s leg has stiffened up badly as a result of his ride and Harriet comments on it, blaming it roundly on “That Monster Napoleon.”

Georgie is quite startled and blurts out that Anthony wasn’t hurt at all at Waterloo. Anthony is stunned that she is so certain. He informs Harriet that he broke his leg hunting a couple of years back.

By the time Georgiana retires for the night she is seriously scared. Now she is to share his bed. Unless she can persuade him to let her sleep on the bed in the dressing room.

She finally goes up to bed long after Anthony, hoping that he might have fallen asleep, but discovers him reading in bed, plainly not wearing anything at all. A nightdress is laid out for her on the opposite side of the bed. Stunned to recognise it as one of the nightgowns Anthony bought for her in Brussels. Anthony tells her that he brought her clothes back from Brussels. They have been packed away, but she will find them in the dressing room and they will do until she can buy more fashionable clothes. Shaken, she grabs the gown and retires behind the screen to change. Anthony doesn’t say a word as she heads for the dressing room, but she is back a moment later, demanding to know where the bed is.

He informs her that it has been removed to the attics since it is not needed.

Georgie enters the bed very, very reluctantly. Not because she fears Anthony, but because she can’t believe he wants her there at all except out of his sense of family duty, or worse, his duty to her.

Anthony is unwilling to discuss their situation at this point. At least he has her back in his bed. Now all he has to do is seduce her again and hope that she has grown up enough to be a wife to him.

He does however ask her why she was so certain that he was not wounded at Waterloo and she tells him that she was assured by a junior officer that he left the field of combat with nothing worse than a couple of sabre cuts.

Starts Anthony thinking as he realises that she stayed long enough to assure herself of his safety. Still furious about the necklace and the lack of a note.

The following morning Georgie goes out for a walk in the park where she runs into Cassie. Cassie insists on being very formal with her, despite having been quite informal when she was merely Emma Saunders. She is very cool with ‘Cousin Georgiana’ informing her that she is very fond of Anthony and has been very concerned about him for the last couple of years. It is Cassie who tells Georgie about the rumours that have circulated about Anthony.

Georgie is devastated to think that she has brought such ruin on Anthony. It makes her more puzzled than ever that he does not wish to divorce her. And really puzzled that he never sought her out to refute the rumours.

The pair of them are distracted at the sight of William entering the woods. Cassie is particularly puzzled since she knows William better than Georgie does and knows how out of character it is for him to do such a thing.

Cassie, now puzzled by Georgie, suggests that they take a walk as well. Georgie agrees. When they return for a luncheon with the other ladies they discover that William has come in and taken his leave for a couple of days. He has gone to London in Anthony’s travelling carriage. On business apparently, although Cassie comments that the only business she has ever known William to apply himself to is gambling and pinching chambermaids’ bottoms. Amy bears this out. All the ladies are rather disgusted that William should be sponging off Anthony so blatantly.

Cassie is moved to mutter that at least with Georgie back, William’s chances of being Anthony’s heir are markedly reduced.

At dinner Great Aunt Harriet comments on Georgie’s slightly outmoded clothes and informs Anthony that he ought to take his wife up to town and buy her some new ones. She also demands to know when he intends to present his bride with the family jewels. No one is quite sure exactly HOW the old girl means this to be taken, but she continues, saying that the pearl set is particularly fine and would become Georgiana admirably. Anthony turns it off very abruptly. He still believes that Georgie must have taken the necklace.

Later, in their bedchamber, he tells her that under the circumstances she may as well wear the necklace. His intention is to shame her into confessing that she sold it.

She is rather blank, but agrees to do so if he wishes it.

‘Then I can expect to see it tomorrow, can I?’

‘If you give it to me, sir.’

He is furious and his reaction gives her the truth. That he thinks she stole the necklace. It also comes out that he never found the note she left for him.

She is really hurt by the fact that he thinks her a thief, but she has to believe that he never found the note. Otherwise, she tells him, he would have been after her if only to recover his property.

Still suspicious, Anthony demands to know how she made her way to England with the pathetic amount of money she had at her disposal. She informs him that she sold her mother’s wedding ring, nothing of his.

Close to tears, Georgie gets into bed and blows out her candle.

She manages to cry herself to sleep without Anthony realising until he rolls over to lift her into his arms and discovers the tearstains.

The next morning it is pouring with rain and the gentlemen retire to the billiard room. Anthony plays extremely badly. Most unlike him and he is subjected to a fair bit of ribbing about how much sleep he has had. He is starting to have some very strange thoughts. About William and what John has said about William’s skill at manipulating people and situations. He has little doubt that William garbled Georgie’s message on purpose. William knew all about Marcus’s scrape. Could he have had anything to do with the attack in London?

And what the hell happened to the necklace and Georgie’s note? That a thief took the necklace he could believe. But surely not without turning the lodgings upside down. And why would a thief take the note? William on the other hand would have known exactly where to look for the necklace. And he was the only one who might stand to gain from that note never being found.

Georgie is similarly shaken to discover that there have been so MANY misunderstandings between them. As if someone planned them. But who? And why? She is not familiar enough with anyone to hazard a guess. Except of course that she is suspicious of William since his ‘mistake’ had such disastrous consequences. She confides in Cassie? Or Harriet? Both? Neither of whom would have the least hesitation in giving their own opinion of William. They immediately call in Amy and Sarah.

William returns that night and pretends to be delighted that Georgie and Anthony are to all appearances happy together.

With their differences and misunderstandings nearly cleared up, Anthony manages to finish seducing his wife. He does make one mistake though. When Georgie asks him if he thinks it possible that William took the necklace, he says no. Not because he doesn’t believe it, but because he doesn’t want Georgie involved. He is fairly sure that William orchestrated the attack on Marcus’s opponent and is terrified that William may attempt to harm Georgie directly.

This doesn’t occur to Georgie, so when she sees William sneaking off to the woods again late the following afternoon, she follows him.

She manages to sneak up on William’s meeting with the assailant who is now blackmailing him. She hears enough to realise what has been going on and that William has been to London to borrow money to pay the fellow off. He is now quite desperate and tells his blackmailer that the only way he can get more money is if Anthony is killed. Georgie can’t repress a gasp and she is discovered. Fortunately she has a very small pistol with her, legacy of a childhood following the drum, and she manages to hold them off briefly. She only has one pistol and when they rush her, she can only bring down one of them –- the assailant. Which leaves William, who has a knife.

The shot however has alerted Anthony to their whereabouts and he and the other gentlemen come running. William is fairly caught, his attempts to accuse Georgie of murder are laughed at. Since she told the butler where she was going and whom she was following, it is ludicrous to suggest that she intended murder.

William is taken back to the house and locked in his bedchamber with the promise of being shunted off to India post haste.

The rest of the party spend the evening enjoying the fireworks on the rooftop. Except for Anthony and Georgie who have unaccountably disappeared.

The final brief scene is by the lake where Anthony has taken Georgie to have their own very private view of the fireworks.

And there we are. One synopsis. Rather long, I’m afraid, but I stuck in lots of detail for my own benefit. I can always shorten it for editorial consumption. Feel free to poke holes etc.

About William’s eventual fate – I wondered if a letter purportedly from some official in the East India Company would answer the purpose. To say that they regret to inform Mr Lyndhurst that his cousin is dead from snake bite. It could go on to intimate that Mr Lyndhurst-Flint is not at all missed. There could even be some hint that someone put the snake in his bedchamber on purpose . . .

If we want to indicate what eventually happens to William, then this letter would balance the opening invitation rather nicely. What do you think?

Christmas is coming . . .

2006-01-15T08:05:00.000-08:00

[This is the rather classy Greek cover for A Regency Invitation. Other covers in previous posts]

Joanna 23rd December 2003

A suggestion, Elizabeth, re Anthony's limp, now that I've had another read of your backstories (which I love). You are absolutely right that Georgie wouldn't have left if Anthony had been wounded at Waterloo. But what if he's had a hunting accident, or some such, in the intervening period that has left him with a slight hesitation as you described it earlier? One of the house guests (or GAH, if she hasn't seen him since Waterloo) could blame it on the battle and Georgie might blurt out something about knowing he wasn't injured there. If Anthony were to overhear that, he would work out that she'd stayed behind long enough to make sure he was all right and it might start to colour his view of her??

If this doesn't suit your plot etc, please just bin it.

Joanna 23rd December 2003

Nicola, can you answer a couple of questions about Ashdown, please?

First, how do you get on to the balustraded roof? It's not clear from the website photos. Is it via a stair in the cupola?

Second, what is the cupola like inside? And how big is it? Haven't quite got a feel for it yet, and will need it because at least some of my plot takes place there. Of course, if the real cupola doesn't suit my fell purposes, I'll just change it

Final question, can you give us an idea of the room sizes?? Or just tell us how long one side of the house is, and we'll work it out from there.

Nicola 23rd December 2003

There is a wooden spiral staircase that goes up into the cupola, Joanna. The actual area of the cupola is small because the top of the stairs takes up most of the space. There's room to hide an incriminating document (!) but not space for more than two or three people to stand together at the top of the steps. However, you could easily make this bigger if you wanted to and fit it out with a circular seat going all the way round, for example.

A door leads out of the cupola onto the balustraded roof. The cupola itself is made of wood with windows like a lighthouse. The flat roof area is quite large. The balustrade is about hip height (you could fall off if you over-balanced) and the two chimney stacks are huge.

I'm not sure about the size of the rooms as the hoi polloi aren't allowed to see in them. I'm also bad at guessing these things but I would say that the staircase is about 2.5 metres wide and the drawing room about 9 metres long. I'm told that the rooms are airy and well-proportioned but not large. When you are inside the house it does feel very compact indeed.

Hope this is a help!

Joanna 23rd December 2003

Thanks, Nicola. Those dimensions are just what I need.

As to the cupola, I think it will have to be bigger (big enough for some goings-on between Amy and Marcus. A circular seat sounds just the thing. Leather-covered, probably, so that it's hard wearing.

Thanks for the info about the balustrade. If we hadn't already decided to send William out to India, we could have had him falling over (possibly pushed). But I still think he has to be kept alive. Perhaps he can die out in India, after the book ends, of some terrible fever?

I’m feeling pleased, because my acceptance cheque for My Lady Angel has just arrived.

Elizabeth 23rd December 2003

What a brilliant idea about Anthony's limp! A hunting accident would suit the purpose beautifully. I thought up there he was bound to breed horses, so it fits really well. Thanks. I didn't want to ditch the limp per se, but simply couldn't see Georgie leaving without being certain he was safe.

Looking at the family tree again I have a question -- was Frederica Lyndhurst-Flint, Countess of Mardon (John's mother) a countess in her own right? Otherwise I can't see how John gets to be an Earl, unless of course he is only the 2nd Earl of Mardon, because his father was awarded an earldom for some unspecified reason. Sorry if I've missed something along the line. I know we did talk about how the name became hyphenated when John's father married an heiress -- the countess business must have slipped past me!

Anyway, I'm quite happy to have Harriet remain Miss -- although I'll bet she insists on Madam!

Must go and check the shortbread.

Joanna 23rd December 2003

Shortbread? Good grief! I'm the Scot around here and I never make shortbread. I have tried, but I've never got it light enough.

Glad you like the limp idea, Elizabeth. I'm assuming you'll put the encounter I described in book 3? (I could put it in book 2, if you like, but since I'm not going to use either Anthony's or Georgie's POVs it might not make much impact.)

Yes, you did miss something but, what with the shortbread and all, I'm not surprised. Frederica Lyndhurst, John's mother, married John Flint, Earl of Mardon. Because she was bringing the money into the impoverished earldom, her father (Grandfather Lyndhurst) insisted that the Mardon family name be hyphenated to Lyndhurst-Flint. Voila. Easy really I'll make it clearer on the family tree to prevent the same question arising in Richmond.

Elizabeth 23rd December 2003

Suggest William can be bitten by a snake. A cobra would do the job for us, wouldn't it?

By the way - if this is a shooting party, are we going to write in dogs? I suspect Anthony definitely has a few hanging around. And not just dogs in the kennels used for hunting. He also has an old English setter bitch who spends all her time asleep in front of fires and under tables. She is incredibly decrepit, smelly and can't stand William. She originally belonged to Anthony's brother Harvey and her name is Stella.

How nice to have your acceptance cheque, Joanna! Lucky you. I've yet to hear back that my revisions for His Lady Mistress are okay. Linda is planning on getting to them in the New Year. I did suggest that if she alerted me earlier to any possible requests I could consider them on the flights to and from NZ but she told me to have a nice holiday.

Still attempting to do some Christmas cooking, but how I am meant to make the brandy custard when DH keeps putting the butter back in the fridge so it won't cream, is beyond me!

At least the turkey is done . . . and the shortbread is now out of the oven. DH is muttering that I didn't make enough. He'd better make more than a dozen mince tarts this year is all I can say.

Elizabeth 23rd December 2003

Joanna - I will use the limp idea. I think perhaps the morning after Anthony corners Georgie in his bedchamber he will go for a very long ride. His limp will be much in evidence when he returns, causing GAH to comment. At that point Georgie will blurt out as you've suggested. Great idea, because it explains the limp and tells Anthony that Georgie didn't run off without the least thought for him.

Not sure what your standards are for shortbread, but I suspect mine might not measure up. Fortunately the boys are so used to Mum's biscuits and only rarely get bought ones, that they aren't fussy!

Nicola, I've seen the trailer for Return of the King and my tongue is hanging out. Can't wait for Saturday night.

The room dimensions at Ashdown sound fine. Pity the riffraff aren't allowed to see the rooms, but I suppose it means I can do what I like inside them. I will get to that before going away! My instinct is, since it is a shooting box and not Anthony's principal seat, that it is rather old fashioned. Probably full of old furniture, rather than up to the minute Regency stuff. Obviously Anthony doesn't care if it's all out-dated and he would feel comfortable with all the old, familiar things around him.

William could comment unfavourably about all this gloomy, rubbishing old stuff, suggest to Anthony that he could brighten it a trifle, a crocodile-legged sofa here, an Egyptian mirror there. That sort of thing. If he suggested spending lots of money, that would definitely give Anthony pause in considering William as his heir. Especially if William wanted to fell a lot of the trees for timber!

Back to the synopsis!

Joanna 23rd December 2003

Now that I've had a chance to read Elizabeth's extended backstory, I've done a redraft of the overall outline, adding in material about Georgiana and GAH, plus a bit more about Anthony and William. I attach draft #2, in .rtf format, with all the changes highlighted in blue. (Or they should be. If it doesn't come out, I can resend in .doc format.) The bit about titles and cover art has now been relegated to a separate page.

Let me know what you think.

How's the shortbread, Elizabeth? My DH has just collected the goose, so I'm about to make goose stock and stuffing. Made the braised red cabbage yesterday, so the whole house now smells of it!

[Note to blog readers: We haven’t included Joanna’s revised outline in the blog since it’s not hugely different from the one we’ve already shown you.]

Joanna 23rd December 2003

Hadn't thought of dogs but you're absolutely right. Smelly Stella has my vote. Do you want to put your own dog in the story, Nicola?

Do I take it from your description that you have cold turkey for Christmas dinner, Elizabeth? And home-made mince pies! Wow! Actually, that reminds me that I didn't buy any, and my son loves them, so I'd better get some. Local supermarket is open till midnight, so that should be OK. Will also buy shortbread, since you've given me the notion.

Actually, I *do* agree with Linda. Enjoy your holiday and don't worry about the writing while you're in NZ. Except to keep notes so you can tell us all about it, of course. DH and I plan to do an antipodean trip soon (maybe 2004) and it will include NZ as well as all my Aussie relatives (and friends).

Love the ideas about William. Very subtle and just right. We can fight over who gets to use them! Now deciding that cobras do have their uses.

Elizabeth 24th December 2003

Shortbread is fine, Joanna. Nice and light. DH has made two dozen mince pies and our turkey is cooked. We have it cold these days. What's this braised red cabbage? Sounds interesting. I'd love to try goose some day, but summer doesn't seem like quite the right time. Maybe for DH’s winter birthday one year.

Er, I don't appear to have an attachment to your email, Joanna. Was it meant to come through then, or are you flagging that it is about to arrive? I'm up for a while anyway since the synopsis is going along nicely. Why break the flow for mere sleep?

Joanna 24th December 2003

Of course, it would help if I'd attached the ********** thing! Christmas getting in the way up here, too, Elizabeth!

Elizabeth 24th December 2003

I'm glad you like Smelly Stella, Joanna. Our own old dog is very smelly and is permanently asleep in front of whichever cupboard door I need to open. Not sure how she manages that.

I'd see Stella as being the only house dog. All the others could be strictly used for shooting purposes which saves us having to go into details with them. I just thought it would be odd if there were no dogs.

We do have a cold Christmas dinner. Some years it can be too hot even to consider turning on the oven on Christmas day. Most people buy mince pies, but DH likes cooking and I made a big batch of mince early in the year. Will add to it in the New Year. More brandy and spices so it matures nicely! And they are out now and smell divine.

You do realise that Beau Brummell would have to cut your acquaintance since you eat cabbage?

I'll look forward to your antipodean trip. Why don't you come in the winter like Sophie Weston did and take in the conference? Then you can claim it as a tax deduction.

By the way, I have my copies of next month's Regency Rakes. Don't read the back cover blurb!!! It gives away part of the plot that I spent the first three chapters trying to hide. ARRRGGHHH!

Nicola 24th December 2003

Okay, so I went out again! I really must stop doing this...

Congrats on the acceptance, Joanna. I am raising a glass of mulled wine to you!

I love the idea of all the dogs about the place. I will definitely build them in. Perhaps they could like Anthony, John, Peter and Marcus but dislike William because you know what they say about dogs being a good judge of character.

Your ideas for furnishing Lyndhurst Chase sound exactly right, Elizabeth, and they would fit with Ashdown as well.

Many thanks for the outline, Joanna. I am printing it off now to take away and digest along with my mulled wine and Crunchie bar!

Elizabeth 24th December

Okay - here's something for you two to mull over. My synopsis. Sorry it's long. I stuck in quite a bit of detail for my own sake as it came to me.

Let me know what you think. I'll be heading off tomorrow morning and will be incommunicado until Saturday. Sorry. Turkey calls and the mince pies!

Have a wonderful Christmas both of you if we don't communicate again before I go in the morning, er, later this morning.

_____________________________________________________________________

The Prodigal Bride

Backstory

Anthony David Lyndhurst was an officer in Wellington’s Army. He served in the Peninsula and also in the Waterloo campaign before selling out early in 1816. He has inherited his family property unexpectedly and the entail has run out.

In the lead up to Waterloo Anthony has married the seventeen year old daughter of one of his fellow officers.

Georgiana is an orphan. Her mother died many years ago and her father died at the Battle of Toulouse. Georgiana has been in the care of another officer’s wife. Unfortunately she fancied herself in love with a young officer on Wellington’s staff and was briefly betrothed to him until his family found him an heiress. He has caved in to pressure and asked Georgie to release him.

She does so, but finds that she is viewed as a jilt and shunned. Anthony knows the truth of the matter and steps in with his own offer of marriage. He is acquainted with Georgiana and is fond of her. Having inherited the family property from his brother, he needs an heir. She accepts his offer.

His cousin, William Lyndhurst-Flint is also in Brussels and is counting on Anthony, who has often vowed to remain a bachelor, leaving the property to him. He is nursing the hope that Anthony will not survive the inevitable show down with Napoleon.

At the Duchess of Richmond’s ball Georgiana Lyndhurst is horrified when the call to arms goes out. She sees her erstwhile betrothed, Justin, in the crowd and turns to William, asking him to find Anthony and tell him she is looking for him and will be in the garden with Justin.

She wants to say farewell to Justin and assure him that she is happy in her marriage and wishes him Godspeed.

William, determined to make mischief, edits the message so that it sounds like Georgiana is involved in an assignation. Anthony finds her in the garden, kissing Justin on the cheek and explodes. He says any number of things in the heat of the moment which would have been much better left unsaid.

When Anthony returns, wounded, from Waterloo, he discovers his lodgings deserted. Georgie is gone, leaving behind nearly everything except a very valuable pearl necklace that had been in his family for generations.

At first he assumes she has fled with her supposed lover, Justin Finch-Scott. He discovers after investigation that Justin died at Waterloo. Devastated, he returns to England unable to trace Georgiana. He retires largely to his smaller country house, Lyndhurst Chase, perched high on the Berkshire Downs.

After four years he has concluded that Georgiana is gone, probably dead. He can’t bear the thought of marrying again. Indeed, he can’t, since there is no way to prove what happened to his wife. He must select an heir, so he invites all his cousins to a house party to help him make up his mind once and for all.

The Prodigal Bride – Berkshire, late summer, 1819.
Link from The Unexpected Abigail

After all the fuss of Cassie’s betrothal to Lord Peter, Anthony is beyond shocked when he receives a letter from his Great Aunt Harriet, announcing the imminent arrival of herself and her companion, and her deep sense of indignation that she was not invited in the first place. He is now fully occupied with trying to find out exactly what hell broth Marcus Sinclair has got himself into and has little time to consider the impending visit of his aunt and her companion.

He is stunned to discover that the ‘companion’ is none other than his estranged wife. Despite his best efforts, he finds it impossible to speak to her privately until Marcus’ innocence is made manifest.

As the house party celebrates the betrothal of Amy and Marcus in the drawing room, Great Aunt Harriet notices that her companion “Miss Saunders” is looking badly upset. She orders the companion off to bed, telling her that she looks as though she could do with a good night’s sleep.

“Miss Saunders” obeys after a short protest in which she keeps glancing nervously at Anthony. Who professes himself all concern and adds his word to Harriet’s, saying that she should take the chance to get as much sleep as possible, since she never knows what may chance to disturb it. (Joanna, can you manage to fit that into your penultimate scene?)

Anthony makes an absolutely pathetic excuse to follow her. He claims that his setter bitch, Stella, needs to go outside urgently. Stella of course is sound asleep under the tea table, showing no signs of life, let alone urgency. Anthony disappears with the dog, leaving the rest of the party wondering what maggot has entered his head now.

Opening – The Prodigal Bride

Anthony storms out of the drawing room, determined to run “Miss Saunders” to earth. He realises that he has outsmarted himself in taking Stella with him as he now has to take her out to the stables. By the time he returns his quarry is nowhere to be found in the house.

Having searched from the cellar to the cupola and not found her, Anthony is worried that she may have gone outside. He goes up to his bedchamber to find a coat and change into his boots.

There he discovers “Miss Saunders” waiting to speak with him. Furious, and frustrated, Anthony informs her that speaking can wait and that other things are more important. In the ensuing argument it becomes plain to the reader that ‘Miss Saunders” is none other than Georgiana Lyndhurst, Anthony’s missing bride.

Anthony takes her to bed under the mistaken impression that she has spent at least part of the past four years as some other man’s mistress. It never occurs to him that she could possibly have been with his great aunt all that time.

It swiftly becomes evident to Anthony that Georgie is as experienced as she was the last time she shared his bed. That is – not very. He realises, far too late, that he has actually frightened her and even hurt her in his haste to claim her as his wife again.

Feeling as guilty as hell, Anthony insists that she remain in his bed, but gives his word that he will not bed her again unless she wishes it. She is very upset that he thought she would betray him. He tells her that he was warned she was in the garden with Finch-Scott. She informs him that his cousin William could have put him right – that she asked William to tell him where she was. That she sought out Justin to wish him Godspeed and to assure him that she bore him no ill-will.

Anthony is shocked, since it was William who implied that Georgiana’s assignation was far less innocent than that, and certainly never mentioned that she had asked him to pass the message on to her husband.

When he awakes the following morning she has left his bed. He decides that he needs to think before seeing her again and telling the rest of the party who she is. Before going for a ride Anthony seeks out William alone. Without telling him about Harriet’s ‘companion’ Anthony asks him how he knew that Georgie was in the garden with Justin Finch-Scott. William is quite taken aback and says that he really doesn’t remember. Did he say that?

Anthony goes riding alone. He is bitterly hurt that, even after their quarrel, Georgie could have left him just as he went off to battle and given him no assurance of her safety in the past four years. How the hell can he ever trust her again? Even if she didn’t spend any part of those four years in someone else’s bed!

Yet to his fury he still loves her and wants her. His head tells him to let her go since that seems to be what she wants, but he can’t do it. As far as he is concerned Georgie is HIS. On the practical side, it does, he hopes(!) solve his problem about an heir.

He is mulling over this when he meets John, also out riding. John takes advantage of their situation to give Anthony a bit of advice. Namely that Anthony ought not to consider William as his heir for a moment. That he has no sense of responsibility and would be borrowing on the expectation within a week and would squander the estate in no time if he inherited. He points out that William likes to twist things to his convenience, that he has always done it. John believes that William is playing on Anthony’s empathy for another younger son. This is very difficult for John to say about his brother, but he feels that he has no choice. He has paid William’s debts several times and the only time he has ever known William to be beforehand with the world was just after Waterloo. ‘Naturally one hesitates to accuse one’s own brother of plunder . . .’

Anthony has further food for thought – could William have garbled the message on purpose? Tried deliberately to use the situation to destroy the marriage?

Anthony finds Georgie in the library reading by herself. He informs her of his decision, that despite her foolish flight and selfish lack of regard for the worry she put him through, their marriage should stand. That the whole thing blew up out of a misunderstood message.

Georgie is horrified since she believes that Anthony doesn’t really want her at all and obviously never trusted her. After all, despite her note telling him she has gone to her godmother in England and thanking God that he survived, he did not trouble to contact her in four long, bitter years. She is furious that Anthony blames her for everything.

Anthony insists that they can, and should, sort it out. And that she is to move her belongings from Harriet’s dressing room immediately. To which Georgie demands to know where he thinks she is to sleep since the last spare room in the house has just been allotted to Marcus.

Taken aback at her obtuseness, Anthony replies along the lines of, ‘Damn it, Georgie! You’re my bloody wife! You sleep in MY bed, of course!’ At which point the rest of the house party stroll in from the drawing room and Anthony wonders how long it will take for the floor to catch on and open up to swallow him.

He is embarrassed and Georgie is obviously upset. For which he is sorry. He never meant to expose her in such a way. Still it does present her with a fait accompli, which she knows he didn’t intend.

The only person who doesn’t appear in the least shocked at the revelation is Great Aunt Harriet. It transpires that she knew all along who “Miss Saunders” was and that she and Georgiana’s godmother planned the whole thing. That Harriet was to await her opportunity to reunite the couple when the time was right.

Naturally Great Aunt Harriet backs Anthony up, wisely telling Georgie later on that the best thing she can do is give herself and Anthony a chance. That they need some privacy and that a bedchamber is the best place for achieving it!

All afternoon and evening Anthony treats her with the greatest deference as his wife. Presenting her to the staff, having her formally shown over the house etc. She has also sat at the end of the table opposite her husband at dinner, displacing Sarah.

At dinner it is plain that Anthony’s leg has stiffened up badly as a result of his ride and Harriet comments on it, blaming it roundly on “That Monster Napoleon.”

Georgie is quite startled and blurts out that Anthony wasn’t hurt at all at Waterloo. Anthony is stunned that she is so certain. He informs Harriet that he broke his leg hunting a couple of years back.

By the time Georgiana retires for the night she is seriously scared. Now she is to share his bed. Unless she can persuade him to let her sleep on the bed in the dressing room.

She finally goes up to bed long after Anthony, hoping that he might have fallen asleep, but discovers him reading in bed, plainly not wearing anything at all. A nightdress is laid out for her on the opposite side of the bed. Stunned to recognise it as one of the nightgowns Anthony bought for her in Brussels. Anthony tells her that he brought her clothes back from Brussels. They have been packed away, but she will find them in the dressing room and they will do until she can buy more fashionable clothes. Shaken, she grabs the gown and retires behind the screen to change. Anthony doesn’t say a word as she heads for the dressing room, but she is back a moment later, demanding to know where the bed is. He informs her that it has been removed to the attics since it is not needed.

Georgie enters the bed very, very reluctantly. Not because she fears Anthony, but because she can’t believe he wants her there at all except out of his sense of family duty, or worse, his duty to her.

Anthony is unwilling to discuss their situation at this point. At least he has her back in his bed. Now all he has to do is seduce her again and hope that she has grown up enough to be a wife to him.

He does however ask her why she was so certain that he was not wounded at Waterloo and she tells him that she was assured by a junior officer that he left the field of combat with nothing worse than a couple of sabre cuts.

Starts Anthony thinking as he realises that she stayed long enough to assure herself of his safety. Still furious about the necklace and the lack of a note.

The following morning Georgie goes out for a walk in the park where she runs into Cassie. Cassie insists on being very formal with her, despite having been quite informal when she was merely Emma Saunders. She is very cool with ‘Cousin Georgiana’ informing her that she is very fond of Anthony and has been very concerned about him for the last couple of years. It is Cassie who tells Georgie about the rumours that have circulated about Anthony.

Georgie is devastated to think that she has brought such ruin on Anthony. It makes her more puzzled than ever that he does not wish to divorce her. And really puzzled that he never sought her out to refute the rumours.

The pair of them are distracted at the sight of William entering the woods. Cassie is particularly puzzled since she knows William better than Georgie does and knows how out of character it is for him to do such a thing.

Cassie, now puzzled by Georgie, suggests that they take a walk as well. Georgie agrees. When they return for a luncheon with the other ladies they discover that William has come in and taken his leave for a couple of days. He has gone to London in Anthony’s travelling carriage. On business apparently, although Cassie comments that the only business she has ever known William to apply himself to is gambling and pinching chambermaids’ bottoms. Amy bears this out. All the ladies are rather disgusted that William should be sponging off Anthony so blatantly.

Cassie is moved to mutter that at least with Georgie back, William’s chances of being Anthony’s heir are markedly reduced.

At dinner Great Aunt Harriet comments on Georgie’s slightly outmoded clothes and informs Anthony that he ought to take his wife up to town and buy her some new ones. She also demands to know when he intends to present his bride with the family jewels. No one is quite sure exactly HOW the old girl means this to be taken, but she continues, saying that the pearl set is particularly fine and would become Georgiana admirably. Anthony turns it off very abruptly. He still believes that Georgie must have taken the necklace.

Later, in their bedchamber, he tells her that under the circumstances she may as well wear the necklace. His intention is to shame her into confessing that she sold it.

She is rather blank, but agrees to do so if he wishes it.
‘Then I can expect to see it tomorrow, can I?’
‘If you give it to me, sir.’

He is furious and his reaction gives her the truth. That he thinks she stole the necklace. It also comes out that he never found the note she left for him.

She is really hurt by the fact that he thinks her a thief, but she has to believe that he never found the note. Otherwise, she tells him, he would have been after her if only to recover his property.

Still suspicious, Anthony demands to know how she made her way to England with the pathetic amount of money she had at her disposal. She informs him that she sold her mother’s wedding ring, nothing of his.

Close to tears, Georgie gets into bed and blows out her candle. She manages to cry herself to sleep without Anthony realising until he rolls over to lift her into his arms and discovers the tearstains.

The next morning it is pouring with rain and the gentlemen retire to the billiard room. Anthony plays extremely badly. Most unlike him and he is subjected to a fair bit of ribbing about how much sleep he has had. He is starting to have some very strange thoughts. About William and what John has said about William’s skill at manipulating people and situations. He has little doubt that William garbled Georgie’s message on purpose. William knew all about Marcus’s scrape. Could he have had anything to do with the attack in London?

And what the hell happened to the necklace and Georgie’s note? That a thief took the necklace he could believe. But surely not without turning the lodgings upside down. And why would a thief take the note? William on the other hand would have known exactly where to look for the necklace. And he was the only one who might stand to gain from that note never being found.

Georgie is similarly shaken to discover that there have been so MANY misunderstandings between them. As if someone planned them. But who? And why? She is not familiar enough with anyone to hazard a guess. Except of course that she is suspicious of William since his ‘mistake’ had such disastrous consequences. She confides in Cassie? Or Harriet? Both? Neither of whom would have the least hesitation in giving their own opinion of William. They immediately call in Amy and Sarah.

William returns that night and pretends to be delighted that Georgie and Anthony are to all appearances happy together.

With their differences and misunderstandings nearly cleared up, Anthony manages to finish seducing his wife. He does make one mistake though. When Georgie asks him if he thinks it possible that William took the necklace, he says no. Not because he doesn’t believe it, but because he doesn’t want Georgie involved. He is fairly sure that William orchestrated the attack on Marcus’s opponent and is terrified that William may attempt to harm Georgie directly.

This doesn’t occur to Georgie, so when she sees William sneaking off to the woods again late the following afternoon, she follows him.

She manages to sneak up on William’s meeting with the assailant who is now blackmailing him. She hears enough to realise what has been going on and that William has been to London to borrow money to pay the fellow off. He is now quite desperate and tells his blackmailer that the only way he can get more money is if Anthony is killed. Georgie can’t repress a gasp and she is discovered. Fortunately she has a very small pistol with her, legacy of a childhood following the drum, and she manages to hold them off briefly. She only has one pistol and when they rush her, she can only bring down one of them – the assailant. Which leaves William, who has a knife.

The shot however has alerted Anthony to their whereabouts and he and the other gentlemen come running. William is fairly caught, his attempts to accuse Georgie of murder are laughed at. Since she told the butler where she was going and whom she was following, it is ludicrous to suggest that she intended murder.

William is taken back to the house and locked in his bedchamber with the promise of being shunted off to India post haste.

The rest of the party spend the evening enjoying the fireworks on the rooftop. Except for Anthony and Georgie who have unaccountably disappeared.

The final brief scene is by the lake where Anthony has taken Georgie to have their own very private view of the fireworks.
__________________________________________

And there we are. One synopsis. Rather long, I’m afraid, but I stuck in lots of detail for my own benefit. I can always shorten it for editorial consumption. Feel free to poke holes etc.

About William’s eventual fate – I wondered if a letter purportedly from some official in the East India Company would answer the purpose. To say that they regret to inform Mr Lyndhurst that his cousin is dead from snake bite. It could go on to intimate that Mr Lyndhurst-Flint is not at all missed. There could even be some hint that someone put the snake in his bedchamber on purpose . . .

If we want to indicate what eventually happens to William, then this letter would balance the opening invitation rather nicely. What do you think?

Joanna 24th December 2003

Well done Elizabeth! Will read and inwardly digest. I was right when I said you clearly don't sleep. I take it you sent this at 3.30am, your time?

I'm deep in cooking this afternoon, and though I've started my synopsis, I don't guarantee to finish it before you leave in a few hours' time. OTOH, I do guarantee it will be with you by the time you get back on Saturday.

So, in case we're not in touch again, do have a marvellous Christmas, both of you. Mulled wine for Nicola, and chilled wine for Elizabeth. Here it will be Buck's Fizz first thing on Thursday morning, followed by all sorts of other alcoholic things for the rest of the day, ending with stickies and vintage port. Just decanted it --- 1977 -- so it's actually older than my son.

Nicola 24th December 2003

Happy Christmas, Elizabeth! Happy Christmas, Joanna! You have both done a splendid job with all the house party stuff and deserve all the chilled wine and vintage port you can quaff!

Joanna 24th December 2003

Have had a quick mull, Elizabeth. Love it. I should be able to include the points you've asked for in my story.

Very few points to make on your synopsis, but here they are, for what they're worth.

I've changed the name of my story to AN UNCOMMON ABIGAIL (see the outline). You need to amend your cross-reference. I may change my title again, since I don't think it's nearly as good as your title and Nicola's, but I'll probably have to submit the synopsis with that title, unless I have a brainwave very soon.
After their first encounter in bed, Anthony promises Georgie that he won't bed her again unless she wishes it. So why is she so scared to share his bed after she's been identified as his wife? It could suggest that she doesn't trust his given word. Unless she's afraid of her own passions getting the better of her with a husband who doesn't love her?
GAH's outburst about 'That monster Napoleon'. I think she's more likely to have called him 'Bonaparte'.
Absolutely love the missing bed in Anthony's dressing room, especially as the readers will know it was there before, since Marcus had been using it.
Also love the suggested letter from India. Nicely rounds it all off. Very satisfying. I suppose it would have to be dated some time in 1820, but I don't see that it matters. It's a great idea.

I just hope we can all three get all this plot into 30,000 words each. Something of a challenge, methinks!

On which happy note, merry Christmas again, both.

Joanna 24th December 2003

One other point I missed first time round, Elizabeth. Occurred to me while I was doing the stuffing!

Anthony's sabre cuts. Would Georgie really have left Anthony if he had *any* wounds at all? They might always become infected and he might lose a limb or even his life. I'd have thought it would be safer to have him utterly exhausted, badly bruised (perhaps from having a horse or horses shot from under him), but not actually wounded. Also, for the GAH outburst to work, Georgie would have to have known that the sabre cuts weren't in his leg. That might be stretching it, since she's depended on hearsay which was notoriously unreliable after Waterloo.

If you decide you want the sabre cuts left in, Elizabeth, I'll change the outline to suit since, in the second draft, it says Anthony was uninjured. Let me know what you decide to do. No rush, though. We're well ahead for our deadline of 5th January.

Now I *will* stop emailing and get on with Christmas!

Elizabeth 24th December 2003

I think you are right, Joanna. Cut the cuts.

I'm signing off now until Saturday. Have a wonderful Christmas, both of you. Enjoy your geese, mince pies and a truly wonderful Christmas Day with your families. We're off to the beach as soon as I can get this machine turned off, the car packed and the house locked.

I have a really good feeling about this whole project. It feels right. Let's hope Richmond agrees with me!

Apology -- not part of main blog

2005-12-30T05:40:00.000-08:00

[Note to blog readers. Apologies for the post below. It refuses to move up the page, or across to the right where it should be. I have tried to correct it -- believe me, I have tried -- but without success. So, if you want to read the latest excerpt from our blog, please scroll down past this apology. Of course, you may not find this post either, since this one also refuses to be in the right place.

That's what happens when the blogger, like me, is not very experienced. One day, I might find out what I've done. Best wishes, and apologies again. Joanna]

And yet MORE synopsis and character development...

2005-12-27T04:55:00.000-08:00

[Note to blog readers: This is the cover of the Australian/NZ version which came out in December 2005. US and UK covers on previous posts.]

Joanna
21 December 2003

Elizabeth, you said (yesterday, I think) re your opening scene:

>>Glad you approve of Anthony's outburst. I can see him being very, very embarrassed. Perhaps you two might like to flag your characters likely responses to me? GA Harriet of course is delighted.<<>

Reactions:

Sarah, delighted and bubbling over with it, is about to say something she probably shouldn't. She gets as far as a delighted laugh and "But that's--" when
John, seeing the danger, gets hold of her arm and escorts her out of the room and back to their chamber where they can discuss the development in private. He's grinning non-stop while he does it, though.

Marcus raises his eyebrows, grins fleetingly, and then leans back against the door jamb, crossing his arms, to watch what happens next. Throws a speaking look at Amy. May even wink. Amy is just astonished (and struck dumb) since she hasn't caught up with this part of the Lyndhurst family history. She's trying to come to terms with the idea that she wasn't the only one playing a part in the household. At Marcus's speaking look/wink, she blushes violently.

William is momentarily horrified in case Georgiana can queer his pitch with Anthony and John, but covers it up so quickly that (probably) no one else notices. They're all too busy goggling at Anthony and his wife. William will then try to be the soul of discretion, shepherding everyone else out so that husband and wife can be alone.

At least, that's how I see them. You may have different ideas, especially about William, since he'll be all yours by then

Nicola
21 December 2003

Agree that we should definitely have the invitation at the beginning to set the scene, Joanna. I will ask Kim if she will let us have a map as well. My mil's calligraphy is considerably nicer than my style of drawing!

Elizabeth, I think Quinn can disappear after Peter snaffles the heiress if you both want him to. He's only really there as a foil for Peter and someone for him to confide in and I imagine you have enough characters populating your two stories not to need a hanger-on. However if you want him for background, then please do keep him!

I'd put all the servants in the main house and only have the permanent outdoor ones in the village. You'll notice I've taken the lodges away except for the North Lodge which could be Ned's "prison", Joanna. We can put the lodges back in if you like but since the house is now a L shape rather than a square, there should be room for them all inside!

Many thanks for the character notes, Joanna, and for putting together the back story. I have to go back to my HQN book now. How I wish I had both of you to help with that plot!

Nicola
21 December 2003

Map is attached. Please don't laugh at my sheep! I told you I couldn't draw! If there are any changes you'd like to make, just let me know.

[Note to blog readers: sorry we can’t import that drawing for you. It was not nearly as bad as Nicola claims!]

Joanna
21 December 2003

Thanks for the drawing. Nothing wrong with it, to my mind, Nicola.

I've finished the first draft of the outline. (See below) When we've decided how to do it, we can attach the family tree but I haven't done it with this version. BTW, there is a mistake on the family tree. I got Marcus's date of birth wrong. It should be 1790. I'll change it (and make any other changes we need) before we send the family tree to Richmond.

I can see a number of problems with the approach I've used for the outline. In particular, it says hardly anything about Georgiana, Great Aunt Harriet and Georgiana's backstory. There are lots of other things missing, too. Please feel free to propose a different approach.

Tomorrow, I'll try to turn my scene synopsis into a synopsis that could be sent to Richmond, but for now I'm calling it a day. Speak to you both tomorrow.

FIRST DRAFT

GENERAL OUTLINE: REGENCY HOUSE PARTY ANTHOLOGY

It is September, 1819, more than four years since the Duchess of Richmond’s ball on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo and the fateful quarrel between Anthony Lyndhurst and his new young wife, Georgiana. Anthony has not set eyes on her since he returned from Waterloo. He has searched, but now despairs of finding any trace of her. He has come to believe she must be dead.

Belief is not enough, however. Until he knows for sure, Anthony can take no action. He needs a heir for his great wealth, but he is not free to remarry. He has decided to face his demons: he will select an heir from among the younger members of the extended Lyndhurst family (see family tree). There is no single obvious candidate and so Anthony has organised a house party for family and friends at his hunting box, Lyndhurst Chase, to judge, once and for all, which of them is most deserving.

Cassie Ward is the youngest contender and the only female. But could Anthony bequeath a fortune to a headstrong girl who has no husband to guide her and no prospect of finding one? Cassie is already an heiress, but no man in his right mind would choose to marry a girl with a reputation as a dangerous radical. On the other hand, if Anthony can find a suitor who really needs Cassie’s wealth, a match might yet be made for her—provided, of course, that Cassie can be persuaded to do as she is told, for once.

John, Earl of Mardon, the eldest of the cousins, has no need of Anthony’s wealth, though he would be an able steward of it. Now that John has found happiness in a second marriage to Sarah, he has everything that Anthony himself once wanted. Surely John doesn’t need more?

John’s younger brother, William Lyndhurst-Flint, is the only other family member who was at the Duchess of Richmond’s ball and knows more than the public version of the story of Anthony’s failed marriage. William could certainly use Anthony’s wealth since he is always in debt. If he were the nominated heir, he would be borrowing against his expectations before the week was out. But Anthony, too, was a younger son once. He knows what it is like to have no prospects. Will he favour William out of fellow-feeling?

And then there is Marcus Sinclair, another cousin who already has wealth enough. However, Marcus has disappeared. In a very public quarrel with a man called Frobisher in a London gaming hell, Marcus was heard to threaten Frobisher’s life. Two days later, Frobisher was attacked and left for dead. A warrant has been issued for Marcus’s arrest. Surely he would not dare to show his face at Lyndhurst Chase when he could be arrested and carried off to gaol at any moment?

One man does know where Marcus is—feckless young Ned Devereaux, one of the early guests at the house party. Now Ned, too, has disappeared, having warned his practical older sister, Amy, that something smoky was going on at Lyndhurst Chase. Amy fears the worst. If Ned has been murdered, Amy will be alone in the world, and practically penniless. She must find out the truth, but she dare not appear at the Chase as herself. With the help of her friend, Sarah, Countess of Mardon, she will go to the Chase in the guise of a lady’s maid so that she can search both above and below stairs for clues to her brother’s disappearance.

Three interwoven stories (see individual synopses) gradually unpick the knots and tangles of THE LYNDHURST INTRIGUE:

1 LADY OF FORTUNE (Nicola Cornick)
How Cassie lights upon a suitor who is far from the sober and steady gentleman that her male relatives have in mind for her.

2 AN UNCOMMON ABIGAIL (Joanna Maitland)
How Amy resolves the mystery of her brother’s disappearance, discovers the proof of Marcus’s innocence and falls in love with him in the process.

3 THE PRODIGAL BRIDE (Elizabeth Rolls)
In which Anthony’s final decision is made for him by the return of his missing wife (who is companion to Great Aunt Harriet Lyndhurst) and the resolution of their many misunderstandings.
_____________________________________________________________________
(Material to include at end of outline, or in covering note to editors)

TITLES:

We propose the individual titles above [in the outline], and the overall title of
The Lyndhurst Intrigue.

COVER ART:

Lyndhurst Chase is very loosely based on Ashdown House. Some of the details common to both the real and the imaginary house are crucial to the stories, such as the crowning cupola and balustraded roof. An artist’s impression along the lines of Ashdown could make a beautiful backdrop for the cover and would help the readers to understand certain parts of the story.

A picture of Ashdown can be seen at on the National Trust website:
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/

Nicola
21 December 2003

Joanna, I think your outline is splendid and I'd be very happy to go with that. Thank you very much for all your hard work!

Elizabeth
21 December 2003

Joanna this looks great. I'll be sending more of Georgiana's backstory through, along with Anthony's, later this evening so it can be added to what you have here. By the way, one of the reasons that Marcus is so loyal to Anthony is that Anthony saved Marcus from a scheming Mama shortly after he inherited. One of the officers' wives. And of course the usual wartime bonding.

It sounds like we also need backstory on Great Aunt Harriet Lyndhurst.

Thanks for the reactions, Joanna. I can just see them all trying to hide the delighted grins while Anthony waits for the floor to open up.

Love the map Nicola. It will be really useful. And your sheep are obviously the same breed as mine.

Joanna
21 December 2003

Does Elizabeth's comment mean that Nicola has drawn Australian sheep? How can you tell?

I'll be happy to include a paragraph about Georgiana in the outline. Maybe it could go in after paragraph 1 if I change the beginning of the existing paragraph 2? Or would you prefer it to come towards the end? More stuff about Anthony, too, is fine if you tell me where you want it to go.

Thank you for confirming that Anthony saved Marcus. I knew he must have done something like that. Older brother-type stuff. The bonds between them will be very strong, I think, though always understated in speech. (Stiff upper-lips, natch!)

GAH backstory. Actually, I had thought of a backstory while lying in bed this morning staring at the ceiling. What if GAH had fallen in love with a poor army officer in, say, about 1766-7 when she was under age? Her family would have disapproved, of course, and he would have been shown the door. GAH, strong-minded, then refused to marry any of the other suitors put forward by Great-grandfather Lyndhurst (being by far the youngest and a girl, she'd always been spoilt so they wouldn't force her to marry) though she wasn't prepared to go against her family, even once she was 21, by eloping with him. Also, a practical point, since she didn't come into her modest inheritance till she was 25, and he was poor, she couldn't afford to marry without family sanction.

She did carry on a secret correspondence with her soldier for some years (till she was, say, 24 or so) but then he married, a much wealthier woman than GAH, and the correspondence stopped just as she came into her inheritance. She decided that marriage was overrated and she would stay single. She heard, years later, that her soldier had been killed during one of the battles (which?) of the American War of Independence. By then, she'd become increasingly bitter and acid-tongued on the whole subject of love and, especially, men!

Of course, her support of Georgiana will show that she still has a soft spot for lovers, but perhaps she could try not to show it, covering it up with caustic remarks? So in the opening scene of book 3, GAH would be delighted because she'd been right and because her scheming had worked, rather more than because the lovers were back together?

One correction on the character stuff I sent round yesterday. It can't be right to say (second last para) that William uses cant in front of ladies. He wouldn't. He's much too controlled and Machiavellian to make such a mistake, especially if it would undermine his ability to charm them. So please delete that bit. The drawl is probably right, though, and he would use cant with men to show that he's up to snuff on everything, even things like shooting that he's no good at. He has an inferiority complex and a huge chip on his shoulder, it seems. OTOH, he *was* led to believe he'd be the heir, so he has some justification. I hope that helps to make him a rounded character.

I think we need to be very subtle in how we present William. It would be easy to signal that he's the villain early on and he could seem a bit two-dimensional. Maybe in book 1, he could be thoroughly charming whenever he appears in the flesh, Nicola? Cassie really dislikes him, as you said, but maybe she complains to Peter that she can't get any of the other family members to take her reservations seriously? They simply say that William needs to find a rich wife so he was bound to make a play for Cassie. They make allowances (including, to a degree, for his gambling and his debts) because he's a younger son with no prospects? Then at the start of book 2, via Amy, William's servant-groping would become clear, at least to the reader. Later, his possible involvement with the attack on Frobisher would come out. Finally, in book 3, his full villainy would be exposed. Does that work??

The sun is shining here and it's a gorgeous day, though cold and a little windy. The tree (fake) is up in the hall and cards will be hung around later today (possibly). Have to go and pick some holly later, though not sure that there are any berries left on ours. Unfortunately, we don't have mistletoe on any of our trees, even though Herefordshire is full of it. Shades of Asterix in this part of the world. Now where did I put my golden sickle?

Joanna
21 December 2003

Have been revising today. Anything rather than trying to write my synopsis!

I've decided that Amy needs more of a disguise. So she's still wearing loose-fitting clothes and an ugly cap that totally hides her silver blonde hair, but now she's also wearing thick glasses in an attempt to hide her unusual violet-blue eye colour. Also, she pretends to be very demure, never looking directly at anyone, so they don't look directly into her eyes. Of course, failing to look someone in the eye can appear shifty. Perhaps Cassie might comment on that, as well as the strange clothes, Nicola?

Elizabeth
22 December 2003

Joanna - on the subject of Amy not looking directly at anyone; weren't the servants supposed to avoid looking directly at their betters.? I read that somewhere recently. I'm not sure how far that would go with a lady's maid. Perhaps it just relates to the lower and not the upper servants. Obviously it doesn't matter if she meets Sarah's eyes.

If Amy is wearing thick glasses it will make it quite hard for her to see. Sorry, not wanting to poke holes, but just thought I should mention it. Wearing glasses that don't fit your eyes also tends to give one a headache. Unless you were planning for her to have had a pair made especially that are just flat, plain glass. Even those might cause headaches for her if they were thick enough to hide her eyes. And if she doesn't wear glasses normally, she probably wouldn't realise that. So she'd just grab whatever her Papa used for reading. And find out all the disadvantages later! A very human error.

Perhaps Cassie can notice that Amy removes her glasses rather frequently to rub her eyes? I actually think the glasses are a great idea, but you might need to take the headaches into account!

I like the backstory for Harriet. I had something similar in mind to explain her attitude.

Getting my character notes sorted. Slight interruption to clean up for an inspection this morning.

Joanna
22 December 2003

Re the glasses. I'd thought that Amy would already have some plain glass specs because she loves getting involved in amateur theatricals. (Sarah comments that's Amy's a terrific actress.) So there shouldn't be too much of a problem of headaches. Nonetheless, Amy might well remove them to rub her eyes and it's a great idea to have Cassie notice. (Very noticing young woman is our Cassie ) And thanks, Elizabeth, for poking holes. Better that we do it to each other now than that we get it from ye eds later.

You're right about servants not looking at their betters. That was certainly in the Edwardian Country House TV series where female servants had to turn their backs if the mistress happened upon them so that the mistress was not forced into acknowledging the menial servant's presence. In one scene, the female servant had to hide under the table when the master came in. That didn't apply in the same way to the lady's maid, though, I don't think. My Amy is just being ultra careful, because she knows what she's doing is very risky. Her reputation would be shot if she was caught. She's playing the part as quiet, very demure, and also very stuck-up/snobbish/aloof about her position as the highest visiting servant so she can avoid difficult situations.

Hope the inspection goes/went well, Elizabeth.

MUST DO my synopsis today.

Nicola
22 December 2003

Sterling work yet again, Joanna. Thank you. Are you taking any time off for Christmas?!

Apparently at Ashdown, the lower servants had to pretend to be invisible and melt into the wallpaper if the Earl or Countess of Craven happened to pass by. A bit like some film stars these days, who insist no one make eye contact with them! I've been having a look at some of the Ashdown census returns and love the fact that Lady Evelyn Craven referred to her occupation as "Countess". Must have been a full time job!

Back to my HQN book, the first 3 chapters and synopsis of which have to be in to Richmond at the start of January! I've changed it about 21 times so far.

Joanna
22 December 2003

Yes, I will be having time off but I'm very conscious that Elizabeth's time is limited and it's not fair on her if we don't get our collective finger out. My children are arriving on Wednesday so I shall be having time off then. They are all leaving on Sunday and Monday, at which time I'll no doubt collapse in a heap and scuttle back to my computer. Also I'm committed to consultancy stuff from 7th -12th January. Need to get all this done before then. That's my excuse anyway.

Pity we can't say that no one could make contact with the nobs lest they give them the evil eye! A bit medieval, but satisfying

Elizabeth
22 December 2003

Here are the promised backstory and characteristics.

Shall send them off, check my inbox and then collapse. I have made some alterations in their appearances for various reasons. It's all explained, what and why, in the document.

Anthony David Lyndhurst is 31 born in 1788, he was the younger son of David Gillespie Lyndhurst and his wife Alison Jane Lyndhurst, nee Winton. He is tall, about 6’2 with dark auburn hair and grey eyes.

He appears very calm and reserved for the most part, although in unguarded moments, such as when he sees his cousin John’s wedded happiness, he appears sad and bitter. There is still a touch of humour about him. He is very active and fit. He has remained largely at Lyndhurst Chase since selling out his commission in late 1815, eschewing society and grieving the loss of his bride. He goes to London very occasionally, but prefers to remain at the Chase breeding horses and adding to his library, or to visit his cousins, Marcus Sinclair and John, Earl of Mardon at their country seats.

Even if he wished to enter society fully it would be impossible. There are some very unsavoury stories circulating about what happened to his wife. (Hope that helps, Joanna!) Rumours such as that he caught her with her lover and murdered them both – the lover on the field at Waterloo . . . that’s the wildest, but they are all fairly nasty and salacious.

This house party has sprung out of his determination to make the best decision he possibly can about how to leave his estate and fortune.

Anthony joined the army in 1807 and served right through the Peninsula campaign and at Waterloo. From being a rather wild and impetuous youth, he matured into a responsible and talented officer. He was promoted to the rank of Major after Toulouse. His adored mother died in 1809 and his father, David, died in 1812, leaving the bulk of his estate to his eldest son, Harvey. Anthony continued to serve in the Peninsula. Harvey wanted Anthony to sell out and come home, concerned about the succession since he had not yet married, but Anthony insisted on remaining in the army. He assumed that Harvey would now marry and set up his nursery. Harvey died of typhoid in November 1814. About to sell out, when Napoleon escaped from Elba the following March, Anthony decided that his greatest duty lay with the army and remained in Brussels waiting for Napoleon to cross the frontier.

Anthony was very much conscious of the need to marry, and marry fast. Not just to secure the succession, but to protect himself from the machinations of all the Mamas with hopeful daughters lurking in Brussels. He met the seventeen year old Georgiana Milne at a picnic in late April and was enchanted with her. Unfortunately Miss Milne was betrothed to a younger officer, Justin Finch-Scott. Naturally Anthony dismissed her from his mind. A week later, Justin, under severe pressure from his family, jilted Georgiana, who, having honourably undertaken to release Finch-Scott, found herself shunned as the jilt. Disgusted by the hypocrisy, Anthony stepped in when Georgiana was subjected to a number of catty remarks at a ball and swept her off to dance. His original impression was confirmed and he married her towards the end of May, to the shock and chagrin of all the fashionable English women in Brussels, who had viewed the immensely wealthy and charming Major Lyndhurst as THEIRS.

Anthony’s is an immensely chivalrous nature, but he does have a temper and his fair share of pride. He finds that he doesn’t much like the thought that his bride is probably still in love with another. So much so that, despite his urgent need for an heir, he delays introducing Georgiana to her marital duties, wishing to be quite sure that it is him she wants, not Finch-Scott. He hates the idea that he may in some way be forcing himself on her and seduces her slowly, but surely, during the fortnight leading up to the Duchess of Richmond’s ball.

In all the confusion of the ball when the call to arms comes, Anthony is misled by his cousin, William Lyndhurst-Flint, into believing that Georgiana is about to engage in an affair with her ex-suitor. He catches Georgiana kissing Justin Finch-Scott in the garden. Unfortunately his temper, compounded of jealousy and incipient battle nerves, gets the better of him and he says a great many things that he ought not to have said.

He returns from Waterloo to discover Georgiana gone, along with a valuable necklace. His attempts to trace her are fruitless. Her erstwhile guardians have seen nothing of her and have no idea where she might have gone.

He returns to Lyndhurst Chase, a saddened and altered man after failing to find any trace of Georgiana. He knows that she did not flee to Finch-Scott, since the younger man died at Waterloo. He cannot believe after four years of silence that she is alive and is convinced that she was caught up in the flight from Brussels and died.

When she appears at the house party he is furious. Four years of guilt and grief and the little minx was with Harriet all along. Laughing at them all, no doubt. He is determined to teach her a salutary lesson, which involves getting her back where she belongs. Namely, in his bed.

His temper, which no one has seen unleashed for years, is on a very short leash as his frustration mounts. A house party is an appalling venue to seduce a lady who does not want to be seduced and resorts to hiding in your great aunt’s bedchamber mending handkerchiefs to avoid even speaking to you privately.

Everyone notes his suddenly twitchy temper, but puts it down to the constant needling to which Harriet is subjecting him. He is also of course seriously worried by the scrape Marcus has got himself into.

NB I have deleted Anthony’s limp. I can’t believe that Georgie would have left Brussels without waiting to know that he was safe. If he had been injured then she wouldn’t have left. So, no limp.

Georgiana Milne was born in 1798, only child of Frederick Milne and his wife, Elizabeth Milne, née Saunders. She spent her childhood following the drum with her father and mother until the latter’s death in 1812. After that Georgiana remained in the care of friends in Lisbon. Georgiana is of medium height, slender with very dark brown, wavy hair and hazel eyes. She has very fair skin.

She is intensely loyal, but has been very lonely, since her father’s diplomatic friends in Lisbon, the Carringtons, are extremely formal. She was devastated to learn that her father had fallen at Toulouse at the very end of the war.

The Carringtons took her to Brussels with them in April 1815, determined to find an eligible situation for her. Mrs Carrington has little hope that Georgiana will marry, indeed, it would be most improper since she has no dowry to bring to her marriage and nothing in the way of connections. They feel obliged to keep her until they can find her an eligible position as a companion. She is not qualified to be a governess since she spent her childhood following the drum and has absolutely no ladylike accomplishments, except that she reads aloud beautifully and can sew and knit extremely well. (Joanna – if you can find a way to use any of these accomplishments in your story . . . perhaps GAH might be doing a little meddling! I can see Georgie reading aloud to the company after dinner, rather like that scene in the Emma Thompson movie of Sense and Sensibility. I also envisaged her avoiding Anthony by doing GAH’s mending all the time. In GAH’s bedchamber.)

Realising that she is slated for a life as a companion, Georgiana accepts when the charming and handsome Justin Finch-Scott offers marriage. She does not love him, but longs for a family and place of her own.

Under pressure from his family to secure his future with the heiress they have picked out, Finch-Scott asks her to release him from the betrothal. She does so and finds that she is cast as the jilt and a presumptuous little hussy, no better than she should be, attempting to snare a husband.

When Major Anthony Lyndhurst steps in to give several society ladies a set down and sweeps her off to dance, she is overwhelmed. He is kind, chivalrous and makes her laugh. She tumbles into love with the greatest of ease and accepts his offer of marriage with joy, believing that he loves her. With no dowry and no connections, she can imagine no other reason for his offer. Her joy is shattered when Anthony makes it plain that he is entering a marriage of convenience – for an heir on his part and, he assumes, security on hers. He believes, so he tells her – that they may suit very well.

Georgiana is only seventeen. She is far too young and naïve to understand the mix of emotions spurring Anthony’s temper at the Duchess of Richmond’s ball. Shattered by his evident lack of trust she waits only until she is certain of his safety after the battle to return to England. She takes only the clothes and personal possessions that she owned before her marriage. She leaves a note informing Anthony that she has gone to her godmother in Devon and gives him the address.

When he doesn’t come looking for her, she assumes that he does not want her back. What she doesn’t know is that Anthony’s cousin, William Lyndhurst-Flint, has destroyed the letter and also stolen the pearl necklace that had belonged to Anthony’s mother.

After six months in Devon Georgie accepts that Anthony does not want her back and, at her godmother’s urging, accepts a position as companion to one of her godmother’s oldest friends. Knowing that Lady Harriet Lyndhurst is Anthony’s great aunt, Georgie takes the position under the name Miss Emma Saunders. She has no idea that Lady Harriet knows perfectly well who she is and that the two old ladies are scheming mercilessly and awaiting their chance to put the marriage back together.

When Lady Harriet announces that she intends to descend upon a house party at Lyndhurst Chase, Georgiana is horrified, but cannot avoid the visit without resigning her position which she cannot afford to do. Her godmother has died and she has nowhere else to go. She assumes that since Anthony does not want her back, he will ignore her presence to avoid any scandal.

Unfortunately Anthony has different ideas and she finds herself constantly having to avoid him.

NB I have altered Georgie’s appearance. At first she had very blue eyes which I thought might be pushing it a bit given that Joanna’s Amy has such striking blue eyes. Also I thought that her originally tawny hair might be a little close to Cassie’s dark blonde.

Joanna
23 December 2003

Have just had a quick read, Elizabeth, and I think it's great. Love the very young girl totally overwhelmed by what happens in Brussels. All very convincing and with lots of hooks that I can pick up in story 2 after GAH and Georgiana arrive. I had been wondering how you'd justify Georgiana's having taken a position with a lady called Lyndhurst, but it makes perfect sense to me as you have it. I'll put all your names and dates into the family tree, too.

Just one point, you have GAH as Lady Harriet Lyndhurst. I think she has to be Miss. Otherwise Great-Grandfather would have been at least an earl, and the title would have descended to Anthony which would be an inconvenience for the plot.

Thanks for doing the various physical changes. Didn't mean to screw you up with Amy. I was trying to make her different from Georgiana. No reason why you can't have blue eyes if you want. I do think Amy has to be striking enough, as herself, that it is vaguely plausible that she's not recognised as having been the abigail. The cap, glasses and demurely downcast eyes may also help there.

The Dreaded Synopsis continues...

2005-12-03T05:59:00.000-08:00

[Note to blog readers: this is the cover from the UK edition of A Regency Invitation, published December 2004. If you want to see the North American cover, it’s with the previous post. More covers in future posts!]

Joanna Maitland
17 December 2003

Thanks for this, Nicola. Haven't read your synopsis yet but will do. I agree we should make it 1819, well away from royal mourning, provided Elizabeth agrees. That makes your Georgiana 21, doesn't it, Elizabeth? (On the basis of 1819, I'll put some suggested dates on the family tree and resend it.)

I suppose I've had quite a few titles in my books so far. I could always elevate Marcus, I suppose. His grandmother could have married a title instead of just money But I think I'll hold that in reserve. Obviously, for the reasons Elizabeth gave earlier, her Anthony can't have a title.

I think Lady of Fortune is a lovely title. Did you try to use it once before, for your lottery story? Or am I misremembering? Only one slight problem. Linda might veto "Lady" in the title since we've had lots of them of late and My Lady Angel is coming out in November. OTOH, if "lady" is not in the book title, surely it won't matter?

Looking forward to your synopsis. Have fallen a bit behind with my character details. Sorry. Must try harder

Joanna Maitland
17 December 2003

Nicola, I've now read your synopsis and it's terrific! Love it. The bit with the clay pipe is a touch of genius. As is Peter plying Cassie with brandy to make her talk.

It sounds like you really want great-aunt Harridan to be a spinster. I don't have a problem with that if Elizabeth's happy. Elizabeth?

I will immediately kill off Cassie's mother, as required. Also (sorry to be a pain) I'm having second thoughts about Kitty as a name for the Countess. Haven't thought up another one yet. It just sounds to me as if we've got too many names ending in the -ie or -y sound. I'll have a think and go through my names book.

Working out ages and so on, I reckon GAH must be about 72. I now have Cassie and Georgiana both at 21, Anthony at 31-32, Marcus at 28-29, William L-F at 33, the Earl at 42, the Countess at 30 (with two sons aged 5 and 3 but off stage), and everybody else in the Lyndhurst family mercifully dead! Please shout if I've got any of that wrong. I was making some of them up this afternoon.

Elizabeth, how did you get on with your potential house-buyers?

Elizabeth Rolls
17 December 2003

Thanks for all the details, Nicola. Am I right in assuming that it's chalk up there? The house is built of chalk so I wondered. Love the bluebutterflies you get with chalk!

I'd like to go with 1819. It avoids all the mourning as you say and also gives Anthony time to have accepted that he has lost Georgiana. That she may even be dead. 1816 would be too soon.

Elizabeth Rolls
17 December 2003

The house BUYERS?? Did you say BUYERS?? Yesterday was a really hot, horrible day. I spent two hours of my writing day cleaning, they came, walked out to the enormous (and immaculate!) living space, heard the sound of students out for recess time over the fence and the woman announced it was far too noisy! They walked straight back out.

I was absolutely furious. Total waste of time. Okay if they didn't want to buy, but to just walk out without even looking at the house! Complete waste of a morning when I should have been either writing or Christmas shopping. GRRRRR!!!!!

Now, are you sorry you asked?

All your ages are fine with me, Joanna. I'm quite happy for harridan to be a spinster. Who is chaperoning Cassie? The Earl's wife? As for titled heroes - wait till they ask.

Love Lady of Fortune. Wish I was. Then I could afford to give all pesky non-buyers what my son calls 'the rude finger!'

Elizabeth Rolls
17 December 2003

Thanks Joanna for the Word tree!

If you two are happy with Lyndhurst Chase, then let's go with that.

Joanna - have you already furnished/done Anthony's bedchamber? Your Marcus is going to spend quite a bit of time there after all. I know it has a dressing room and a firescreen. Any preferences? Humungous bed and I think a couple of chairs a chest of drawers and a dressing table. Probably a night table and a candle stand. There would also need to be candlesticks on the chimneypiece and a lamp on the night table. Fairly plain furniture, but I don't think we have enough space to go into massive detail.

There is no separate bedchamber for the mistress of the house. Ashdown is small anyway and it suits my plot if once Georgiana is unmasked she has to share Anthony's chamber.

Nicola Cornick
18 December 2003

How utterly infuriating about your house viewing, Elizabeth. I can't bear these time-wasters. Grrr!

Glad that the story 1 synopsis got the thumbs up. Thank you! I read the bit about radicals smoking clay pipes in a reference book, Joanna, and knew Ihad to put it in.

Yes, the Earl's wife is nominally chaperoning Cassie at the house party, Elizabeth, but since she's a bit preoccupied with Amy's situation it gives Cassie plenty of opportunity to roam around getting in to trouble.

The downland is chalk and the house was built from locally quarried stone. It is a beautiful creamy white colour and when it rains hard the water runs down the outside as white as milk. Surprising it's still standing, really! Iwas doing a bit more reading up on it yesterday and noted that there are lots of springs in the chalk downs. Perhaps one could have been dammed to make our stream/lake? And yes, the butterflies are absolutely beautiful. Oh Elizabeth, I really want you to be able to come and visit with Joanna and me! We should make Linda finance a book signing tour for you!!

Joanna Maitland
18 December 2003

Elizabeth, I'm muttering into my proverbial beard about your house viewers. Hanging is too good for them. We had some like that when we were selling. And some of our viewers were just local nosey parkers who wanted to see the inside of our house and poke around. Absolutely no intention of buying. Made me want to throw things.

Very happy with the date of 1819. It occurs to me that we can make the date clear on the invitation page. (We'd need to decide the month. Late August, early September? Partridge shooting begins on 1st September, I think, and pheasant shooting not till 1st October. It could be assumed that guests would stay for both.) As in something like:

Mr Anthony Lyndhurst
requests the pleasure of your company
at a House Party
at Lyndhurst Place
from xxth September 1819
RSVP

No, I haven't furnished Anthony's bedchamber. He's your character so I'll go with whatever you want. I imagine the dressing room is pretty small and that Marcus is sleeping on a very narrow bed there, and hiding in a very large clothes press if he hears anyone coming. I am assuming that the butler, the housekeeper and Anthony's valet all know Marcus is there, but maids/footman bringing coal, bathwater and the like don't know, so Marcus has to hide. Anthony's valet brings Marcus's food while all the nobs are at breakfast/dinner etc. In story 2, after Amy has endured the bath scene (!) she will start to notice such odd things and wonder why she hadn't noticed before.

I had written separate bedchambers for the Earl and Countess but I can change that. BTW, I woke up this morning with Sarah in my mind for her. Hope that's OK. I'll try not to do any more name changes.

What are we going to do with William? I woke up with that thought, too. At the end of story 2, Marcus has been more or less exonerated (clearly, the warrant for his arrest still has to be formally rescinded), the hired assailant is still out there somewhere and has threatened to expose his master (William) if he doesn't pay up, William probably can't afford to pay, and William must also know that the use of the assailant has been discovered because the letter has been found. Marcus will be vowing, somewhere at the end of story 2, to find the assailant and force him to confess the name of his paymaster. I can see William lurking by the door, blenching at Marcus's venomous words.

William could go to meet assailant and they could shoot each other, perhaps? (Problem: it then puts the family into mourning.) Or there could be a fight and the assailant is conveniently killed, William perhaps injured. It would have to be overheard/seen by someone else (Anthony? perhaps Ned, if the encounter takes place near his hiding place when he's just leaving?) so that William's guilt was established once and for all, but he was seen to have killed the assailant in self-defence.

If I put something like this in story 2, it would undermine William's plausibility for story 3, so I think the resolution of the William problem probably has to happen latish in story 3. What do you think Elizabeth?

I'm assuming the family wouldn't want William to go to jail and would fix it so that the dead assailant was seen to be solely guilty of the original attack. Once William's guilt over Georgiana is also established, would John banish William to the colonies, or something? (That's your lot, Elizabeth!!) We can't send him off to the army because it was being downsized too much. I don't think we can let William off too lightly. Any better ideas, both?

Some other questions for Elizabeth. (Sorry, Elizabeth.) What name is Georgiana using? Not, I assume, Mrs Lyndhurst? and not her maiden name either? Is she still wearing her wedding ring? (I could envisage a very effective scene with Anthony taking it from the chain around her neck and putting it back on her finger, possibly while she's not wearing anything else. ) And was William actually in the army at the time of his treachery to Anthony or was William just a hanger-on? If William was in the army, he'd have become very unpopular, to say the least, if he was failing to pay his gambling debts.

Final question for now. When are you going off on your hols Elizabeth? In other words, how long have we got to finalise the overview story and the three synopses and send them to Richmond? I imagine they'll all be off for Christmas now and not back until about 5th January. Assuming we send them the stuff in early January, I wonder how long it'll take them to respond?

Elizabeth Rolls
18 December 2003

Thanks for your kind words of support, Nicola. And if you can get Linda to finance a book signing tour, I'm in.

I'm sure in your connection with Ashdown House, you know this, but I just bought myself a book on Harriette Wilson the courtesan - you know, the one Wellington told to 'publish and be damned!' when she blackmailed him over her memoirs. Her first protector was the then Lord Craven and guess where he took her . . . Ashdown. There is an engraving in the book showing thehouse and quartering rides, absolutely surrounded by trees. The engraving is dated to 1716.

Do we know when the trees came down? Or even if they were really there in such quantities. Love your synopsis! It definitely ties in with the way I see Anthony. As for Cassie flagging the arrival of Great Aunt Harriet, that would befabulous. Anthony might even evince some surprise that Harriet HAS acompanion. Since she is fully aware of who her companion is, she would have been careful never to mention her.

Would Cassie's affection for Anthony be enough to have her behave a little coolly towards Georgiana at the start of Story #3? Not nastily so, just a little protective of Anthony. Marcus probably needs to be hoofed out of the dressing room at the very end of Story #2, since Anthony is about to stalk out in pursuit of Harriet's companion.

My opening scene is in Anthony’s POV as he leaves the 'drawing room' or wherever Joanna stages her denouement, to find Georgiana who has already disappeared. If possible, Joanna, could Anthony ring the bell and request that Marcus' belongings be removed, before he leaves? Then we won't have readers wondering where Marcus spent the night since Anthony is in bed with Georgiana.

It sounds as though the three heroines are all going to be markedly different from each other. It'll be a wonder if the house is left standing, never mind the rain. Does anyone know about early nineteenth century fireworks? If we want a display at the end of Story #3, I'd better find out.

Elizabeth Rolls
18 December 2003

Great if we can go with 1819 and set the date in the invitation.

It would be better if William is not exposed until somewhere near the end of Story #3. I was envisaging that perhaps Georgiana could see him heading off from an upstairs window and follows him to demand the truth about the lost pearls from him. She does have enough sense to ask a footman to tell Anthony where she has gone.

So if Anthony et al go after her, everyone will be apprised of William's guilt.

William wasn't in the army. He was just one of the hangers on in Brussels that spring. And no, the family would not want the affair to come out and cause a scandal. I can either kill him off or we could shunt him off to India with the East India company, to assist in the moral degradation of the Chinese through opium! Which is about his style!

I'm off on the 2nd for NZ. (Before that I'm down at my sister's holiday house from the 24th-27th.) If we get the synopses and overview story to them by the 2nd, I think we can be pushy and ask for a fast response. Suspect you will find that Linda is still at her desk at least until Monday. Maybe we should email her and ask. She'll be there today at all events.

Joanna Maitland
18 December 2003

Elizabeth, how soon does Cassie discover Georgiana's real identity? She might indeed be cool towards her, once she knows who Georgiana really is.

I've got Harriette Wilson's memoirs. I'll have a look for what she actually says about Ashdown, since it should be roughly contemporary with our story.

And on the subject of Ashdown, Nicola, can you tell us which direction is north in relation to the front and back of the house, please?

Elizabeth, Anthony will indeed have Marcus's belongings removed. I was planning to do that anyway and Lord Peter was going to be turfed along the corridor next door to Cassie (or perhaps up to the next floor, Nicola?) I can stage my denouement in the drawing room so that it gives you a setting for your opening scene. I'm sure you need to get it all down on paper. I certainly do. I'm having to rewrite some that I've already done but I couldn't help starting. Itchy fingers.

Fireworks? Gosh, hadn't thought about the techie side. Can't Anthony have a bailiff/steward who organises such mundane things?

Elizabeth Rolls
18 December 2003

Sorry, Joanna. Georgiana is using the name Miss Emma Saunders. And you are quite right - she is wearing her wedding ring on a chain around her neck. Hidden of course by the very modest gowns a companion was expected to wear. She sold her mother's wedding ring to get herself back to England.

Thanks for the idea about when Anthony could put it back where it belongs. Mmm! Definitely has possibilities.

Joanna Maitland
18 December 2003

Elizabeth, don't you ever sleep?

Happy with what you propose on William as long as we also dispose of the paid assailant somewhere along the line. I think India is the best solution since family deaths have too many consequences.

If you like, I'll email Linda and ask about dates when she's in the office. I can say we're well on with the synopses and should be finished very soon. If she's going to be in the office on Monday, do we think we'll have it nailed down enough to send it all in then?

Elizabeth Rolls
18 December 2003

Joanna - Cassie discovers Georgiana's real identity along with the rest of the houseparty because they walk in on Anthony trying to persuade her to remain in his bed - metaphorically speaking - and he is saying something along the lines of, 'Dammit, Georgie! You're my wife for God's sake! Of course you're going to sleep in my bed!' I can see everyone except GA Harriet being dumbfounded. She, of course, is unutterably pleased with her role as matchmaker.

Will certainly tie up the loose assailant one way or another. Can't have him arrested of course. He'd sing like a canary. I think he'll have to be shot dead.

I can get my synopsis nailed down enough by Monday. Assuming that I don't sleep . . . only joking. I do sleep, but late at night is a good time for me to work because I don't get hi-jacked by the kids or feel that I really ought to be doing something productive, like cleaning the bathroom for unappreciative non-buyers.

I'll be up for a while. Let us know when/if you get a reply.

Joanna Maitland to Linda Fildew
18 December 2003

I'm pleased to say that Nicola, Elizabeth and I are making good progress on the outline and synopses and we hope to have them finished soon. (The email "wires" from UK to Australia are red-hot!) Can you let us know when you and Kim (and others) are in the office before/after Christmas, please, so we have an idea of when you are all available to receive them? And should everything be copied to everyone on this email list?

Obviously, if we are to have a chance of meeting the delivery deadlines for the stories, the outlines/synopses will have to be agreed very quickly, ideally by the middle of January. If the response were delayed much beyond that, especially if changes had to be made, it might be impossible to finish the writing by the end of February. Actually, it's going to be a midnight-oil job, whatever we do! (And my poor family is going to go a bit short in the Christmas department, since I've been scribbling instead of shopping!)

BTW, the order we're working on is Cornick, Maitland, Rolls after all.

Joanna Maitland
18 December 2003

Yes, Linda is in on Monday. However, even if we've finished it all by then, I'd be tempted not to send it, in case it gets lost among all the Christmas stuff. What do you both think? Or should we surprise her?

Nicola Cornick
18 December 2003

Okay, you’ve done it again! I go out to see Lord of the Rings III (admittedly for 3 and a half hours!) and when I come back there are another 14 messages! Please…

Joanna, I think Sarah is fine for the Countess. Sounds very appropriate – and different from all the “ie” names.

Elizabeth, spooky coincidence about Harriette Wilson! I did know that Lord Craven was her first lover but until yesterday I hadn’t known that he had taken her to Ashdown. I was reading a book about Jane Austen and it quotes her writing to Cassandra that she had met Lord Craven when she was staying in Berkshire and that he seemed a very pleasant man but it was a pity he had his mistress staying with him at Ashdown! From the memoirs, it seems Harriette found him a bit of a bore. He went on to marry an actress. BTW, you may have read that when he parted from Harriette he accused her of being unfaithful to him, to which she replied: “Had I wished to deceive you I assure you that I should have had the wit to do it successfully.” Great girl!

That must be Kip’s engraving (?) of 1716. Yes, there really were such quantities of trees because it was originally a hunting forest. It must have looked amazing. It’s still pretty impressive today. The trees were still there in the nineteenth century, only thinned out through farming and storms in the twentieth.

Good idea about Anthony expressing surprise over Great Aunt Harriet’s companion in book 1. I also think it’s entirely plausible that Cassie might be a bit cool with Georgiana until she realises what a nice person she is and that she will make Anthony happy. Then I am sure she will love her!

Joanna, the drawing room and stair hall face North ie. it’s to the right of the front door. Hope this makes sense.

Elizabeth, I love the way everyone discovers Georgiana’s identity by walking in on Anthony telling her she’s going to share his bed! Brilliant!

Joanna Maitland
19 December 2003

Have I missed one of yours, Elizabeth? Not quite following the thread here. Who is Roger the Shrubber? The mind is boggling even as I type. All sorts of connotations of the word Roger! Nuff said. Except that it sounds like a wonderful name for a character. Can he have something to do with Ned's imprisonment? Please?

Joanne Carr phoned me this morning about a couple of other things and I told her we were all very excited about this project and sparking off each other no end. I said that the heroines were an heiress, a fake lady's maid, and a companion, but I wouldn't say more than that. I said we had the overarching story and were pretty near to the synopses as well. And that we even had ideas for titles, the overall title, and the cover. But I didn't say (or even hint) what they were. She sounded very enthusiastic and implied that they'd picked the three of us because we were sparky writers (or something along those lines). I said I doubted that we would be submitting stuff before Christmas. She said, in effect, that the eds wouldn't thank us if we did, because they're all trying to clear their desks for Christmas.

Checked up on Harriette Wilson last night and was disappointed to find no references to Ashdown in her memoirs. Pity. She was obviously out to bad-mouth Craven so wouldn't have wanted to describe any good times with him, I suppose.

Yes, Nicola, I think we do need to send the overarching story with our synopses. We obviously need to all agree the text. I think we've got most of it already, spread over various emails. I'd suggest that we include the family tree in it as well. Then, belt and braces, I'd recommend that each of us send the overarching thing with our individual synopsis.

Elizabeth Rolls
19 December 2003

Roger the Shrubber is in the Holy Grail film, I think. I was following up on the Monty Python theme!

I think it's an excellent idea to send the family tree and the overarching synopsis from each of us.

The Harriette Wilson biog - not memoirs - is called The Courtesan's Revenge. It mentions the Jane Austen letter to Cassandra as being the source telling us where Harriette was that year. How amazing that we discovered it like that. The engraving is the Kip one. Shall we have the grounds heavily wooded? Maybe one quarter might be clearer to allow for the stream and shrubbery (Joanna!) and various other activities.

Glad you approve of Anthony's outburst. I can see him being very, very embarrassed. Perhaps you two might like to flag your characters' likely responses to me? GA Harriet of course is delighted.

Elizabeth Rolls
19 December 2003

Definitely like the idea of Roger the Shrubber! I did have Roger the Footman in my first book. I made him Roger as a joke and it passed without so much as a murmur.

Joanna - I have never read the HW memoir, but I understand she doesn't provide much in the way of place or date.

Do I take it then that we are not trying to get the synopses and overarching story in by Monday? I'll aim to get mine through to you before I head off to my sister's on Christmas Eve.
Afraid I'm going to bed early tonight. Big day tomorrow with an inspection and a Christmas tree to buy and deck.

Have read your last, Joanna. It just popped in. Which quarter of the grounds shall we save for clearer parkland? Nicola told us about the tree types in an earlier email.

Joanna Maitland
19 December 2003

You must be spitting, Elizabeth. Perhaps you need a trap-door in your house, so that nasty viewers can fall down into a pit of writhing snakes?

I don't think we need to aim for Monday to send things to Richmond. Let's aim for the date that suits you, Elizabeth, to get everything agreed between us and then we can send off to Richmond individually. I imagine you'll want to email yours on Christmas Eve, Elizabeth, so that you can enjoy your hols. No one will do anything with them till 5th January, I imagine.

I think we need some of the wooded bit to be suitably gloomy for my nefarious assailant, Elizabeth, so how about the Northern bit being thickest, the East and West bits being clearer, with wide rides where there are lots of butterflies, and the South being like Parkland, with just the odd splendid tree in the rolling grassland? Does that fit the park, Nicola? Where are we putting the trout stream and/or lake? I think we may need a sketch map to show paths, rides etc. Would you be able to do that, Nicola?

Hope you get a great tree, Elizabeth. As of last year, we've migrated to a fake one but it's not down from the loft yet. The house is very unfestive at present but must improve before the young adults arrive next week or we'll be in trouble.

Sorry did no work on this today. Will try to do better tomorrow. Definitely falling behind.

Nicola Cornick
20 December 2003

>I think we need some of the wooded bit to be suitably gloomy for my nefarious assailant, Elizabeth, so how about >the Northern bit being thickest, the East and West bits being clearer, with wide rides where there are lots of >butterflies, and the South being like Parkland, with just the odd splendid tree in the rolling grassland? Does >that fit the park, Nicola? Where are we putting the trout stream and/or lake? I think we may need a sketch >map to show paths, rides etc. Would you be able to do that, Nicola?

This fits the park very well, Joanna. I will draw up a very amateurish map with the woods featured and a suggestion of where the lake and shrubbery etc could be. It won't look too much like Ashdown since a) we will have added/moved features and b) my drawing is rubbish! I will try to do this by tomorrow (weekend a bit busy, as no doubt it is for all!)

I did wonder whether we wanted to include a map of the estate in the front of the book? My m-i-l has done a terrific calligraphy map to accompany my trilogy that is coming out next year. I'm sure she could be persuaded to do one of Lyndhurst Chase. Just an idea...

Joanna Maitland
20 December 2003

I think a calligraphy map is a terrific idea if your mil would do it, Nicola, though I'd like the invitation to the house party as well. Hope we could have both. In the meantime, a rough sketch of a plan would be really helpful for Elizabeth and me. At present I don't have a feel for where things are on the ground.

I've now done about 2 pages of characters note on Marcus, Amy, John, Sarah and William. Hope to finish that today and send it round. I've also done a first draft of an overview piece. Not sure what sort of format it should take so I've been making it up as I went along. Should be able to send that round later. It is currently just a couple of paragraphs about Anthony and why he's invited all the heirs, plus a para about each of the heirs and how Anthony views them. It ends with a list of the stories (and their titles) but doesn't say what the plots are, except that the question of the heir is resolved in story 3. There may be a much better way of approaching this, so please feel free to suggest we bin this one. If we do decide to work from this one, can you view what I've said about Anthony with a very critical eye, please, Elizabeth?

Have put up the first (fake) tree this morning. It was a freebie with a large stationery order. It's about 18 inches high, and comes complete with gold decorations and lights already fitted. I *have* seen trees that are much more naff. However, it has been relegated to the (newly decorated) garden room. Visitors to the house will see a rather better, and much bigger, tree in the hall.

Elizabeth Rolls
20 December 2003

That layout sounds wonderful, Joanna and Nicola. A sketch would be great. Then we all know where everything is. Are we still going to have the formal parterres in the immediate vicinity of the house? About the servants' quarters - should we put the bulk of the servants in the lodge houses and keep the personal servants, valets, ladies' maids and possibly the housekeeper in the main house? How would they have handled it?

I'll aim for Tuesday night - antipodean time - to send in my synopsis. But what I might do is send it to you guys first. I'll be back by the 27th and if there are any changes I can make them before going to New Zealand and send it to Richmond.

Good luck with the decorating Joanna. We now have a gorgeous, and seriously overdecorated, tree, paper chains and tinsel draped everywhere and a pervasive odour of pine needles. Kids are thrilled. Cats too. So far dog has refrained from the obvious doggy response to a tree.

Just got your latest Joanna. I'll write up character notes on Anthony for you both. Except for Georgiana, I think all the other characters are well and truly on stage by the time we get to The Prodigal Bride. Think I'll dig my heels in over that title. Given that Anthony thinks that she has sold his mother's necklace, it seems appropriate.

Queries? The minor character, Quin - is he going to be around for the entire house party, or does he vanish after Peter snabbles his heiress? I'm assuming that he is a good friend of John and Anthony's and that the latter would be perfectly happy to have him around, but do we need him? Or does he get written out once he has served his purpose?

And what about John and Sarah's children? I note that they have two little boys. God help them! Where are they?

Back to the synopsis and character notes. Which have to happen on paper with a pen. God knows why, but they do.

Joanna Maitland
20 December 2003

Great stuff, Pam. I attach my draft character notes (some if it cribbed from you, as you will notice!) I need some time away from the notes now, so it seems simplest to send them round. You are both spared the Mardon children. They are at home with their nurse/tutor, though the Mardons (doting parents) are missing them.

I think Nicola said that the servants weren't accommodated in the main house at all, but we will need some to be there, eg Amy the abigail. Don't see that's a problem since we're going to have an extra wing.

Will now get back to the overview and send that round soon.

*****************************

Characteristics and Backstories: Marcus, Amy, John, Sarah, William

Marcus Alexander Sinclair—tall, very dark/black hair, blue-grey eyes, strong hands with long fingers, athletic build. He is 29, born 1790. He’s very fit—all the manly sports, including boxing, at which he excels (and will use on William, later). He reads, too, having inherited a love of the classics from his father. He has little else to do while hiding in Anthony’s dressing room. The lack of physical activity is doing nothing for his temper which is now on a very short fuse.

Like Anthony, Marcus was in the army, and loving it, but his mother insisted he sell out in 1811 when his father died, since Marcus was the only child. Marcus was only 21 at the time and had to grow up fast, since he was taking on huge responsibilities and had suddenly become a highly eligible parti. He quickly learned to be less open and easy-going and adopted a veneer of cynicism, partly as a defence mechanism against those in Society (including ladies on the catch) who wanted to take advantage of a very young man with a lot of money. He is now anything but a soft touch. In public, it suits him to give the impression of being totally laid-back, fazed by nothing, perhaps bored, but underneath he is as sharp as a tack. He has learned, from the bitter experience of being hunted, not to trust women. He often takes refuge in watchful silence. He can be brusque, laconic, sometimes cutting, especially with those he does not trust. With his close friends, such as Anthony and John, he is more open and lets his sense of humour show. He has a strong sense of duty and family loyalty, particularly to Anthony. (They served together in the army and Anthony, being 3 years older, helped Marcus a lot. Did Anthony save Marcus’s life at some stage, Pam, or something equally important?)

Amy Frances Devereaux is 25 (born 1794). She is a little above average height. She has striking silver-blonde hair which, as abigail Amelia Dent, she takes pains to keep hidden under a very unflattering cap. She has deep blue, almost violet eyes. As Dent, she is trying not to look directly at people so they won’t notice the colour. Constantly looking down gives her a demure appearance but it can also seem flirtatious. That can be dangerous with roués like William. Amy has always loved acting, so knows how to alter her appearance. She has put pads in her cheeks to disguise her fine bone structure; they also change her voice a bit, which helps too. Her figure is curvy rather than slender. She’s wearing loose clothes to disguise it. That will be one of the things that makes Cassie wonder about her, since a Countess’s abigail would normally be dressed almost as fashionably as her lady. Below stairs, Amy is aloof and relies on the fact that she is the highest servant to cover up any mistakes, but she’s finding it much more difficult than she expected. She affects a degree of piety to account for her plain, unflattering attire to the higher servants; she refuses to acknowledge the lower ones at all (even though that’s not a very pious way to behave). If Cassie comments on Amy’s dress, Sarah can mention Amy’s unusual religious views. Cassie would be unconvinced—why is Amy a dresser at all, then?—but probably too polite to argue.

Both Amy’s parents are dead, her father when she was 19, her mother when she was 21. Her season was interrupted by her father’s illness and death. (It was during her season that she first became friends with Sarah who had been married for less than a year and was being looked down on by some members of Society who saw Sarah as an upstart.) After her mother’s death, Amy found herself effectively responsible for her younger brother Ned (born 1798, then 17, now almost 22) and his inheritance. She, being the practical one, and a mere female, gave up her future prospects to stay at home to run the estate while Ned went to Oxford. Ned (also fair-haired and rather angelic-looking before he became dissipated) had been spoilt rotten by his mother who took the view that girls should do their duty but males could do no wrong. Since he reached his majority, Ned has been squandering his inheritance. He’s mortgaged the estate for ready money and to pay his gambling debts. Amy’s modest dowry is still safe, just, but may have to be used if Ned doesn’t mend his ways.

Amy loves Ned in spite of all his faults and still feels responsible for him. She has an optimistic, sunny nature, and is sure that, eventually, her feckless brother will grow up. She also has a lively sense of humour. At first, this masquerade seemed to be a great lark, especially as she’d be conspiring with her great friend, Sarah, but she is becoming increasingly worried that something really has happened to Ned. In her anxiety, she’s taking more and more risks above stairs and failing to avoid the gentlefolk as much as she should. William has already groped her at least once. Having been surrounded by servants all his life, John tends to ignore them which is why he hasn’t registered who Amy is. He hasn’t seen her for nearly 5 years; the friendship between Amy and Sarah has been continued by letter since Amy’s mother’s death.

John Frederic Lyndhurst-Flint, Earl of Mardon is 42 (born 1777). He has the family height, though he’s rather more solidly built than his cousins. He has dark hair, grey at the temples, and brown eyes. He began to go grey during his first (arranged) marriage (from 1797-1808). His first wife was demanding, mercenary, and impossible to live with, but his sense of duty made him continue to do his best by her, even though he grew to hate her. Their sex life soon became non-existent (his sense of duty did not run to bedding a woman he detested and who detested him) and they had no children. He had become socially withdrawn, taciturn with the servants and immersed himself in work. He kept fit by riding his estates, checking up on their management. He gave up hunting and all other sports except (solitary) fishing. He would not talk about his troubles, even to his brother, William.

Sarah Alice, Countess of Mardon is 30 (born 1789). She is tiny, vivacious, and full of fun. She has brown hair with reddish glints and mischievous hazel eyes. Although she is a lady, her background was relatively poor. She didn’t have a Season. John met her in 1810 when she was teaching in a village school on one of his estates. His first wife had been (mercifully) dead for over a year by then. John was captivated by Sarah’s bubbly personality but it took him a long time to take the risk of falling in love. Sarah didn’t think she was good enough for him and, after they married, the Society matrons made clear that they agreed. With help from Amy and John, however, (and also GAH, before Georgiana joined her) Sarah established herself, though she still doesn’t go to London except when she has to. Sarah and John have now been married for about 8 years and are very happy. He provides the anchor she needs. She has given him back his zest for life. She loves to tease him, especially when they are alone. He remains sensible and totally dependable, but now he is able to laugh again. To his family, he now seems younger than he was before he met Sarah, whom he adores. His hair is no greyer than it was ten years ago and he now has laughter lines at the corners of his eyes. He takes immense joy in his two sons, John, 5, (Baron Langhorn) and Hugo, 3, and is a very involved father, having taken up all his old sporting pursuits again so that he can start to teach them. He is missing them and wondering what mischief they are getting into back home. He feels very sorry for Anthony and slightly guilty that he has so much happiness in his marriage while Anthony has none. As a result, John finds it difficult to talk to Anthony about his marriage and how it went wrong.

William James Lyndhurst-Flint is 33 (born 1786). He is of medium height, with dark brown hair and brown eyes. He is of more slender build than John and passably good-looking. He takes great pains over his appearance and spends more than he should on clothes. He has poor eyesight (short-sighted) and as a result he is a lousy shot and doesn’t really enjoy the shooting season. He does play cricket but doesn’t bat terribly well, particularly if the bowling is fast. William spent his teenage years believing he would inherit the earldom since John had no children and his wife was in good health. Even after she died, John said he would never marry again so William, by then aged 22, began to trade seriously on his expectations. John’s remarriage, less than two years later, was a horrible shock, especially when the children came along. William is very resentful at being cut out. (John feels slightly guilty about it because he knows he’s partly to blame for having encouraged William to see himself as the heir. Because of that, John has paid William’s debts more than once though his patience is now being sorely tried. John thinks William should have the strength of character to accept what has happened and make a decent life with what he has. John is not prepared to settle money on William because he will need it for his own second son.)

William drops a lot of cant into his speech, sometimes in front of ladies when he shouldn’t. He has also adopted a fashionable drawl. He is clever and manipulative, very quick to capitalise on someone else’s mistake and twist people’s thinking, but he always ensures that he’s close enough to the truth that he can’t be caught out. (He did that in Brussels, over Georgiana.) He is smooth-tongued and plausible. Some people, such as Cassie, have suspicions about him, but no one, not even John, has yet been able to pin anything on him, apart from his gambling and his unsettled debts.

William is very much a favourite with the ladies of the ton because he looks the part, dances beautifully and pays nicely-turned compliments. They know he’s too poor to be a potential husband, however, and that, too, rankles with him. With women of the lower classes, and servants, he is predatory, taking revenge for the way upper-class ladies treat him. Unfortunately, John has not discovered this because he pays so little attention to servants. Sarah suspects, though, and learns the truth from Amy in the course of the house party. She doesn’t feel she can tell John until she has concrete proof which William is too clever to provide (until book 3, if at all).

*********************

The Dreaded Synopsis...

2005-11-17T06:07:00.000-08:00

Joanna Maitland
16 December 2003

I haven't done a proper synopsis yet, but I've done an outline scene plan for story 2, covering only the scenes between hero and heroine. I've amended my earlier plan so that villain C is not unmasked, only suspected. I'm not absolutely sure it works and would welcome advice.

The other problem is that I'm still not sure what Will is accused of. It needs to be serious enough that he could be tried and perhaps hanged for it, but also something that Anthony might believe Will could have done. What about a serious assault by an unknown assailant on someone that Will had threatened publicly? A sworn enemy of Will? I imagine that the documentary proof will show Will couldn't have been at the scene of the crime because he was somewhere else, with someone important. Alternatively, perhaps better, the proof could be a letter from the actual assailant to an unknown paymaster, demanding money for his silence; if assailant doesn't get paid, he'll reveal that Will has been fitted up by the paymaster. (The paymaster was C, of course, in order to remove Will as heir, but that wouldn't be disclosed in story 2. The reader might suspect, though, given various hints.)

Any advances on the above gratefully received. BTW, I very much like your take on villain C's character: plausible, manipulative. I've added lecher, groper etc but only of servants who can't fight back.

Except at the very end, I haven't included the Earl, Cassie, Georgiana or Lord Peter in my scenes, though they'll probably figure in the linking scenes. Also I need some below stairs stuff. You'll see, Elizabeth, that Anthony has quite an important role in story 2. That's why I want to have a good idea of how you see him. I imagine his manner with Georgiana will be rather different from his manner with the men.

Tomorrow I'll try to set down a bit more information about the individual characters. I can see them, but I haven't actually done any physical descriptions. I also have to get the individual backstories a bit clearer.

It's now 2.30 am so I'm going to bed. We've got carpet-layers arriving at 8.00 am. Joy.

***********************************
Synopsis #2: The Abigail’s Tale
Scenes between Amy & Will (other scenes to be interpolated)

Opening Scene

Amy, having already searched all the other bedchambers in the house, comes to search Anthony’s bedchamber while guests are at dinner. It is not yet dark enough to need candles. She enters room to find curtains drawn and room gloomy but not totally dark, because a fire is burning (even though it’s not cold). A screen stands between door and fire. Amy surmises that it, and fire, were for Anthony’s bath. Sudden concern that bath may not have been emptied; she may be caught by the maids. She goes round screen and meets Will, standing naked in the water, about to get out. He is clean but unkempt: several days’ growth of beard and long, wet hair. She is largely hidden by a huge, ugly cap and inelegant clothes. She also avoids looking directly at his face and tries (but fails) not to look at his very attractive body. She is so shocked at seeing her first ever naked man that she cannot move or speak.

Will treats her like a flighty servant. He doesn’t cover himself, he orders her about, and he almost kisses her, but resists at the last moment. Insulted and horrified at her own response, Amy reacts like a lady instead of a servant and then has to talk her way out of her predicament by claiming she risks dismissal. Will offers her a bargain: he will not shop her to her mistress, if she doesn’t mention his presence to anyone, even Anthony. Amy agrees. And then flees. When she gets back to her room, she realises Will has seen her silver-blonde hair which she had been trying to conceal under the cap because it is so distinctive it might betray who she is.

Scene 2

Following evening, late, Amy goes back to search again, assuming Will will be gone. He appears from Anthony’s dressing room (where Anthony has hidden him). He removes her cap and recognises her, then berates her for her masquerade. He says that he has seen her before, in London, though they haven’t met. That’s untrue; they have met but he doesn’t want her to realise who he is, because she might inadvertently betray him. He forces her to tell him why she’s in disguise. Will knows where Ned is, since Ned has been ‘jailed’ by Anthony to protect Will. Will doesn’t tell Amy but swears to her that Ned is safe and that she needn’t worry. She looks so concerned that he kisses her. Short love scene. Will horrified at what he’s done. Last thing he needs when he’s on the run. He resolves to have nothing more to do with her unless he’s been exonerated. He feels so guilty that he doesn’t tell Anthony about who Amy is.

Scene 3

Amy is trapped by villain C (who gropes, and worse, anything in a skirt). Will hears what’s going on and rescues Amy, even though he’s blowing his cover by doing so. Fight between Will and C. C, though almost reduced to pulp, swears he’ll call the constable and have Will thrown into jail where he belongs. Amy is horrified; it’s all her fault. Anthony arrives, alerted by valet. Amy won’t let Will tell Anthony what C tried to do to her because she feels guilty. Anthony, as a compromise, agrees that Will should be locked up in the house, pro tem, and forces C to agree not to call the constable until Anthony has reached a view on whether Will is guilty. C has to agree because, otherwise, he’d risk the inheritance or that Anthony might begin to suspect C’s guilt.

Scene 4

Amy manages to sneak in to see Will, and offers help. Anthony has insisted that Will resume the guise of a gentleman, so Will is now clean-shaven and properly dressed. Amy recognises him, and is shocked that she didn’t do so before. They had not only met, they had danced together and she had been much attracted to him. Then he had disappeared. Will explains that there must be evidence somewhere to prove his innocence, possibly in the house, but he has been unable to find it. He suspects C but has no proof. It’s been too dangerous for Will to do much searching and now he’s a prisoner. Amy says she’s seen various documents in some of the bedchambers, including C’s. She’ll go back and search again, bringing anything useful to Will. Will forbids her to do it, but it’s clear she’ll ignore him.

Scene 5

Amy comes back with some documents from C’s room. (Amy enlisted Countess’s help as look-out while Amy searched. Possible close shaves.) Documents suggest real evidence is hidden in the cupola. Will won’t let Amy go alone to search for it. It’s too dangerous. She might encounter C again. He’ll get out somehow and go himself to search. Amy resolves to go too, without telling him.

Scene 6

They search cupola (having dodged C) and find enough evidence to exonerate Will, though not enough to indict C. They also find each other. Will admits it’s not an appropriate place for a man to propose, but will she have him? Amy says she doesn’t care about the place or the state of him, but she won’t be proposed to in an abigail’s cap and gown. They put their heads together to concoct a plan (not disclosed in this scene).

Scene 7

The Countess’s abigail has left on some pretext. Earl (now in on the secret) says he fired her after finding his papers disturbed. Ned has been freed. (Actually, he’s having such fun drinking and gambling that he doesn’t want to leave his ‘jail’ so he’s not living in the main house.) The Countess announces that her dear friend Amy has been worried sick about brother Ned and is on her way to Ashdown to search for him. She will be in transports when she sees with her own eyes that he’s all right. Amy arrives. She sees, not Ned, but Will. She and Will do a pantomime of love at first sight/reunited long-lost lovers with Countess struggling to keep a straight face in the background. (Possibly Anthony also?) C is incandescent with rage and frustration but can do/say nothing without giving self away.

Scene 8

Will asks Ned’s permission to marry Amy. Ned says it’s not a matter for him but if Amy wants Will, he won’t object. Anthony announces that he’s tired of having Will squatting in his dressing room. Will can have a room of his own. In fact, he can have Lord Peter’s room. Lord Peter will have to move. The only vacant room is the one next to Cassie. (Surprise, surprise.) With two betrothals, he (Anthony) proposes to organise a huge firework party to celebrate. Ned, disgusted by all the lovey-dovey stuff, says he will take himself off. Threatened by Amy, he promises never to reveal what has happened at Ashdown. Satisfied, Will and Amy go for a lovers’ stroll in a convenient shrubbery.
****************************

Joanna Maitland
16 December 2003

OK, it's 9.00 am, my eyelids are propped open with the regulation-issue matchsticks and the ****** carpet layers have not arrived. However, I have had further thoughts on my hero and his backstory.

Names
My hero doesn't want to be Will. Somehow too young for him. I now *think* he's Marcus Sinclair. Hope that's OK.

Villain C: how about Waldo or William Lyndhurst-Flint? Flint reminds me of skinflint. I modelled the name on Wellington's elder brother William Wellesley-Pole, Earl of Mornington. He didn't assume the -Pole on marriage as I'd thought. According to Burke's, he assumed the additional name of -Pole when he was 15! Doesn't say why. (His son, also William, married Catherine Tylney-Long, so the family surname then became Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley! Such are the joys of double-barrelling! No wonder that branch of the family died out.)

I'm planning to create a family tree later today so that we can see how they all fit together, possibly even great-aunt harridan. (Harriet is a great name. Will always make me think of harridan.)

Hero 2's backstory

How about this? Marcus was involved in a seriously drunken gambling session in his London club. Villain C was also present, being an inveterate gambler. (Ned may also have been there. Not sure yet.) One of the players, Frobisher, while very deep in his cups, made disparaging remarks about Anthony and his inability to keep his wife in his own bed, or at all. Marcus, also very much the worse for wear but not totally drunk, lost his temper. Said that only Frobisher's drunkenness was saving him from being called out and if Frobisher ever crossed Marcus's path again, Marcus would kill him. Villain C, and others present, heard this. Within 2 days, Frobisher had been attacked by an unknown assailant and left for dead. Frobisher didn't see his assailant, but reports that the assailant repeated the threats and it sounded like Marcus. A magistrate has therefore issued a warrant for Marcus's arrest.

Marcus, realising he's been framed, legs it to Ashdown to hide. He gives Anthony his word that he didn't attack Frobisher, but naturally refuses to tell Anthony what the quarrel was about (because Anthony would be devastated to learn that his good name was being bandied about in the London clubs). Anthony accepts Marcus's word but feels there's something fishy about it all. Feels he can't consider Marcus as a potential heir until all the truth comes out and Marcus is cleared. Marcus (worried that Anthony might hear about the insult) makes Anthony promise not to get involved in clearing Marcus. Marcus has friends who are already working on it.

Villain C knows Marcus will not have told Anthony the whole truth. So C, without actually telling a lie, allows Anthony to infer that the quarrel with Frobisher resulted from Marcus having said something disparaging about Anthony's wife. Anthony doesn't want to believe it but the suspicion has been planted; Anthony realises it would account for Marcus's strange reticence about the quarrel. This would account for Anthony being slightly more distant from Marcus than would ordinarily be the case. It would also show manipulative C.

It's important for the reader to know the reason for the quarrel, even though Anthony doesn't. It would be helpful if you could hint at it in story 1, Nicola, perhaps in a passing comment between Earl John and villain C. (Earl John wouldn't dream of saying anything to Anthony, of course.) Then, in story 2, the Countess (after Amy tells her about Marcus hiding in Anthony's dressing room) will pester the story out of her husband. Anthony will never learn the full truth but, at some stage, Marcus will admit that Frobisher insulted Anthony's honour in the worst possible way and Marcus felt he had to defend it. That might have to come in story 3, Elizabeth, after villain C has finally been unmasked.

Re the evidence and villain C. Amy will find out below stairs that a suspicious character (=the hired assailant) is lurking near Ashdown and has had a note delivered to villain C. For some reason, it was delivered to C in the cupola and he had to hide it there. He hasn't had a chance to return to retrieve it or destroy it. When Amy searched C's room, she found a half-finished letter to C's banker, asking for a large amount of money immediately against his expectations of becoming Anthony's heir. It's not proof of C's guilt but it's suspicious. When Amy tells Marcus, he works out what it must be for. Amy remembers the delivery of the note and also that she saw C push a paper into a hiding-place in the cupola. Maybe it was the note? (This aspect of the plot needs more work.) So she volunteers to go and search. Back to scene 5 in my synopsis#2. Finding the assailant's note will clear Marcus but, since C is not named and Amy can't prove the note was the one he received, C can't be openly accused.

Help! Does that hold together? It sure is complicated, even if it does. And doing it all in 30,000 words will be...er...a challenge.

(now going to make coffee since it's 10.30 and carpet layers are working)

Elizabeth Rolls
16 December 2003

Joanna! It sounds fabulous! Ties in beautifully with the way Lyndhurst-Flint ruins Anthony's marriage in the first place.

If it helps - Anthony refuses to discuss Georgiana at all, which would fit in with Marcus's reluctance to tell him what the fight was about. He has a miniature of her that her father gave him as a wedding present, but no one else has ever seen it. I suppose if Marcus is hiding out in Anthony's dressing room(!) he might see it, while looking for a handkerchief or something. Anthony would be furious if he found Marcus looking at it. And shaken at having let his feelings show. If you can't work it in to an existing scene, don't bother. It would be a good way of flagging that Anthony is deeply affected by Georgiana's disappearance.

I assume Marcus is not merely worried about sparing Anthony's feelings but also doesn't want him issuing challenges on the matter. Because he would. Definitely.

By the way - Anthony has an ulterior motive for kicking Marcus out of his dressing room at the end of story two. He fully intends to have Georgiana back where she belongs - in his bed.

If possible in the scene where Marcus is cleared, Georgiana should leave precipitately. Possibly Great Aunt Harriet could send her supposed companion off to bed. Gruffly of course. Anthony should seize the first opportunity to remove himself as well. He has every intention of running Georgiana to earth and finding out what the hell she is up to. (Where do you envisage this scene taking place?)

That should weave the two stories in together if you then remove Marcus and Amy to a convenient shrubbery - where they can say Nee!!? My story opens with Anthony storming off to find his wife and after finally giving up, finding her in his own bedchamber. I've started that scene. Will send it through as soon as it is sort of complete.

PS I want to go to Ashdown House as well! Why isn't Richmond stumping up with an airfare?? Just let me know what sort of wildflowers and birds etc are to be seen at whichever point in the summer we are setting it. I like birds and flowers.

Elizabeth Rolls
16 December 2003

Some info for your perusal. If the colourings double with your characters,let me know.Anthony David Lyndhurst - tall, dark auburn hair, grey eyes. He would beabout 31 or 32. He has a very slight limp in left leg, courtesy ofWaterloo. More a slight hesitation. He is still very active and fit. Is now fairly introspective. Used to be a wild type with a swift temper. No one has seen him lose his temper since he lost Georgiana.He actually believes she must be dead, since he was unable to trace her,and blames himself. He has bricked up everything he feels. When he sees her initially in Story 2 he should be stunned. His demeanour would need to alter, from very calm and reserved, to rather snappish and possibly even cynical. Seeing her is one hell of a shock and shakes his facade loose. Georgiana is of medium height, tawny brown hair, slightly wavy, but scraped back in a bun. She has very blue eyes. She is very fair skinned and slender. Her clothes are fairly dowdy, respectable companion's clothes. As a companion she is very quiet, except on the issue of loyalty, if that happens to come up, which - given Anthony's shielding of Marcus and refusal to believe him guilty despite evidence to the contrary - I imagine it might. She might also react to Anthony's limp in some way, since he didn't have itfour years ago.Great Aunt Harriet has always known who her 'companion' is, but Georgiana doesn't know that. GAH has come to the house-party to make quite sure Anthony knows what he's doing and doesn't make 'another damn-fool mess by not acquainting yourself with all the facts!' I see her as very outspoken, rather like Mr Beaumaris' grandmother in Arabella. An absolute old terror with a heart of gold. I thought she might use an ear trumpet which she doesn't really need, but it's awfully useful to prod people with. She lives very much retired down in Cornwall, which is why Anthony has never realised where Georgiana is. (He hasn't seen GAH in many years and is completely gobsmacked when she shows up.) She distrusts C without reservation.
I imagine her as rather thin, with beady eyes and a loud voice. She is definitely not mealy-mouthed. She took Georgiana on reluctantly at the pleading of her friend, G's godmother, but has come to like her very much.She knows that G's quietness is a mask for unhappiness and can't for the life of her see why, if G is as black as rumour paints her, she doesn't just go and find herself a wealthy protector, rather than hiding herself inthe depths of Cornwall as a companion. Hope all this helps. Right, back to the story - at 1:30 am. I have a potential buyer coming with the agent at 11am (please offer up prayers!) so may not be able to use my writing day tomorrow, since I also have the kids' Christmas presents to buy. Hope you're not too tired, Joanna. Did your carpet layers come?

Joanna Maitland
16 December 2003

It's taken me longer than it should have, but here's a family tree for the Lyndhursts as we have them so far (I think). I've done it as an Excel worksheet and it should be readable by any version of Excel. It will print in colour or black and white. If either of you has problems, I can scan it in and send it as a picture but then you won't be able to alter it.

Assumptions made, subject to your agreement.

Cassie is a later generation than Anthony and Marcus. Her family name is Ward, as you suggested, Nicola. She is an only child. Her grandmother, though richly dowered, married Mr Ward who was very rich too and Cassie is their only descendent, so an heiress. If you want Cassie's mother to be dead, Nicola, I'll change the names. But if her mother is dead, she'd need a guardian and/or trustee who would, logically, be Earl John. If you don't want him too closely involved with her, you may want to keep Cassie's mother alive.

Marcus's grandmother married rich Mr Sinclair and Marcus is the sole heir. Not as rich as Cassie, but rich enough.

Earl John's mother, Frederica, brought a large dowry into her marriage. The Earl's grandfather insisted the names be hyphenated into Lyndhurst-Flint.

William Lyndhurst-Flint is a lot younger than his brother, Earl John, because there was a daughter (died young) in between.

Anthony's father was the only male child so, although the daughters were very well dowered, Anthony's father got the land and most of the loot.

Anthony and William are first cousins.

Marcus is second cousin to Anthony and William.

Great-aunt Harriet is the only one of her generation still alive. She was by far the youngest. The generation after her are all dead, except, possibly, Harriet's own children if she had any. If she did marry, we need a married name for her. Perhaps she should be the only one who didn't marry well? I fancy her sponging a bit off her rich relations.

We need to put dates to most of the characters on this family tree to ensure we know that it hangs together. If we're in 1818 or thereabouts, we can work backwards. (Was 1818 the year George III's wife died? We need to avoid periods of public mourning, either for her or for Princess Charlotte.)

I won't do any more on all this until you've had a chance to digest it. I hope it helps you both. It's certainly helping me.

[Note to blog readers: We can’t import the Lyndhurst family tree for you. Sorry.]

Nicola Cornick
16 December 2003

Honestly, you two! I go out for one afternoon and when I come back there's another outpouring of creativity to deal with! I will have a look at all your emails and get back to you both. Sterling work!

Elizabeth Rolls
17 December 2003

On the ever vexed subject of titles, I was thinking about The Prodigal Bride/Companion, or something along those lines. But perhaps that suggests she has been seriously sinful?

I don't want an 'Unexpected' for myself. My first book was The Unexpected Bride, so it might create a little confusion. By the way, Joanna, you were asking about it a while back. It is being reissued next month in the Regency Rakes series with one of Annemarie Hasnain's. The Marriage Truce, I think.

The name of the house . . . oh, hell! That's a hard one. Coming up with a house name is harder than characters. I usually resort to the hero's title or some variant thereon, but since Anthony isn't titled . . . It was a hunting and shooting box, wasn't it, Nicola? How about Pevensey Chase? I know Pevensey is a long way off. Otherwise I'd suggest Ashby Chase. Something Chase, anyway. I'm open to suggestions. We could of course just run with Lyndhurst Chase. Or Lynden Chase, which picks up the family name

Joanna - I have a tech problem with the family tree. We don't have Excel installed. DH removed it because the disk is full. Naturally he left all the stuff I never use.

Joanna Maitland
17 December 2003

Sorry to drop you in it, Elizabeth! I do like the xxx Chase idea. My favourite would be Lyndhurst Chase or Lynden Chase. Then maybe we could call the volume The Lyndhurst Intrigues?

I also like The Prodigal Companion though I see what you mean about sinful. Re your techie problem, I've actually worked out how to do the family tree on Word so I've attached it for you. It will be easier to send this version to Richmond, if we need to. I thought we might send it as background to the overview story, since it would save us reams of explaining how the characters relate to each other.

Great about your book. I haven't bought any of the rakes' series, because I've read them before, but I *shall* buy yours! Oh, and I suddenly realised why you didn't understand my comment about enjoying writing old harridans. The harridan in question, the Dowager Lady Luce, is a main character in Rake's Reward, and you won't have read that.

Shall do background notes on the Earl, the Countess, William L-F, Marcus and Amy/Amelia today, I hope, and send them round. You will need them all, Elizabeth, and Nicola will probably need at least the first three. I'll also send round some sample scenes, when I've done a bit more work on them, so that you can get the feel for them.

I've also been thinking about point of view. Unless absolutely essential, I don't plan to use the POV of your heroes and heroines, because I'd be bound to get the feel wrong. If I do have to use them, I'll send any text to you for vetting. Whether in their POV or not, I am happy to have either of you rewrite anything I've done that concerns your characters in order to make them consistent.

And it's still terrific fun. Christmas? What Christmas?

Nicola Cornick
17 December 2003

Your Regency Rakes book should be a good seller, Elizabeth. Two excellent books in one! I love that one of Annemarie's and although I was lucky enough to get your first book when it came out, I know loads of people missed it and have been looking for it ever since.

The Prodigal Bride sounds an excellent title to me. I'd like mine to be called Lady of Fortune, but I'm not holding my breath.

Ashby Chase would be fine, I think, though I like Lynden Chase as well. I like "Chase" names and it's very appropriate for our House Party (in more ways than one!)

Am just coming to the end of Cassie's back story and the outline of story 1. I will send it round in a little while.

Nicola Cornick
17 December 2003

Thank you both very much for all the story details and the family tree. I think they are great – so much potential – and you have really helped me put together my thoughts on story 1 and the set up. I have now enclosed Cassie's story and the way I see it linking to the two later stories. All comments/ideas welcome!

A few extra random bits and pieces:

Queen Charlotte did die in 1818 as you said, Joanna, (and Princess Charlotte in 1817, of course). Do we want to push the story back to 1819 to avoid the public mourning? 1816 will presumably be a bit too soon after Waterloo.

Once you had mentioned William Wellesley-Pole I had to find out where the Pole came from, Joanna! Apparently he inherited an estate from a distant cousin, William Pole, and so took on the name.

Elizabeth - a selection of Ashdown animals, birds and flowers - fallow deer, badgers, buzzards, skylarks, woodpeckers both spotted and green, jays. Trees - beech, hazel, oak and elm, rare orchids in the fields, primrose, bluebells and gentians in early summer, ox eye daisies in summer in the fields, Candytuft, Solomon's Seal, Deadly Nightshade. Loads of butterflies in the woods as well.

Joanna - I like "The Lyndhurst Intrigue" very much for an overall title.

***************************
Cassie’s back story

Cassie Ward is 21 years old. She was born in 1798.
She possesses dark blonde hair but with some of the auburn colouring of the Lyndhursts in it. Unlike Anthony, though, she has brown eyes. She is a strikingly pretty girl, quite small and with a complexion like a russet apple. Cassie is an orphan. Her mother died 3 years previously after a long degenerative illness, and John, Earl of Mardon, and Anthony Lyndhurst are Cassie’s distant cousins and her trustees along with Edmund Burnside, her uncle. She lives with her mother’s sister and brother-in-law (The Burnsides) who do not feature in the story.

Cassie is heiress to a huge fortune but she can’t touch it until either she marries or she is 25. John and Anthony are generous to her and she loves them both and is especially fond of John’s wife Kitty, whom she sees as a surrogate sister. Because she has no close family of her own, Cassie has often stayed with the Mardons but as she grows older she feels uncomfortable about hanging on their coat-tails. In some ways she wants a home and family of her own, but her feelings on this are mixed up because she has seen that John was unhappily married the first time round and she senses that Anthony is also deeply unhappy over the loss of Georgiana, even though he never speaks of it. She envies John and Kitty the closeness that they have now, but she is not sure that marriage is worth the risk. Given a choice, Cassie would hold out until 25 and possessor of her own fortune, but she knows Anthony and John want her to wed because they want to see her settled and happy. Unfortunately finding a suitable husband for Cassie is not that easy.

Cassie will also make brief observations on the other characters in the stories. She dislikes William intensely as he has made a play for her in the past and she knows he is a fortune hunter with an unsavoury reputation. She mentions Ned Devereaux as a indiscreet and rather impolite young man who has disappeared somewhere. Cassie also knows and likes Marcus, who is also a distant cousin of hers, but of course she knows nothing about his being in hiding. She is a little bit in awe of Great Aunt Harridan, but admires her immensely and (assuming she doesn’t marry) sees herself as an eccentric old spinster in Harriet’s style when she is old. Harriet once expressed the view that it was positively indecent for a young gel to be as rich as Cassie. Perhaps Cassie could flag up towards the end of story 1 that Harriet and her companion will be arriving soon (in book 2) and Anthony could make some disparaging remark about it being bad enough having a sharp-tongued aunt descending uninvited, never mind her bringing some unpresentably dowdy companion with her… That could start the set up for his comeuppance when Georgiana appears!

When Cassie was 17 and her mother was an invalid and unable to keep a close eye on her she became embroiled in radical politics through the influence of an unsuitable governess. This led to an infamous incident where she attended a political meeting and was caught in a low tavern smoking a clay pipe. This was blown out of all proportion in the Ton and for a while threatened to ruin Cassie’s reputation. Despite her fortune, which is larger even than Society imagines, she is thought of as an unmarriageable hoyden.

At the house party Cassie is officially being chaperoned by Kitty but since she is somewhat preoccupied with Amy, this gives Cassie ample opportunity to run around being a hoyden and to be seduced by Peter! It is in fact Cassie’s no nonsense maid, Lizzie, who keeps her in line and in whom she confides.

Story 1

In addition to the purpose of choosing an heir, Anthony Lyndhurst wishes his House Party to be a means of finally finding a suitable husband for Cassie. In addition to family members, Anthony has therefore invited along a few comrades and friends to join the party. The man he and John have identified as Cassie’s favoured suitor is
Quinn, Marquis of Quinlan, heir to the Duke of Bellars. The arrangement has been mooted to Quinn, who has no money and would therefore like a rich wife. He is perfectly pleasant but rather staid, and has a dislike of headstrong women. He likes his females demure and malleable. Anthony and John are hoping that he will be a steadying influence on Cassie. Cassie, naturally, is not happy at the thought of them trying to marry her off and has already hatched a plan to put Quinn off her by showing just how bold she is.

Accompanying Quinn separately to the House Party is his younger brother, Peter, who was a very junior officer with Anthony at Waterloo (and therefore was not party to the details of Anthony’s marriage to Georgiana, or her disappearance.) He does however know William and has heard about the incident in which Marcus was framed. (I thought that he could mention this to the Earl, Joanna, therefore explaining the reason for the quarrel). Because Peter has always been somewhat in awe of Anthony, he would not think of mentioning it to his host.

Peter is on his way to the House Party when he meets Cassie unceremoniously when she falls out of a tree beneath his horse’s hooves as she is trying to affix a radical poster to the branches, to embarrass Quinn and show she is not a suitable wife for him. Peter has no idea who Cassie is and assumes that she is a village maiden and a rather attractive one at that. Cassie is knocked unconscious in the fall and Peter carries her off to a local hostelry where she comes round. It soon becomes apparent, however, that the knock on the head has had a profound effect on Cassie’s loquacity and with the additional effect of the brandy that Peter has plied her with she is soon spilling her darkest secrets to this stranger.

Amongst the things that she tells him are her feelings about Anthony and his brief marriage and her dislike of William Lyndhurst-Flint. She then moves on to her own history, the fact that her cousin is trying to marry her off, and her feelings on marriage and men in general.

Peter is utterly riveted and unchivalrously plies her with more brandy to keep her talking. He knows that he should take her home but keeps putting off the moment as he finds the unmarriageable heiress completely adorable and is shocked to realise that not only is he strongly attracted to her but that she is fascinating company as well. He finds himself telling her things about himself that he has never told anyone before. When their conversation moves on to examples of how they have committed the seven deadly sins, matters start to become quite scandalous. Peter has just given in to the impulse to kiss Cassie when the door flies open and Anthony Lyndhurst and John Mardon rush in, having been alerted by the villagers to Cassie’s danger at the hands of this evident rake.

Peter is in deep trouble. Cassie has fallen asleep, the whole situation looks deeply compromising and Lyndhurst and Mardon are furious at his ungentlemanly conduct. In desperation, Peter protests that his intentions are honourable, realising as he says so that he is telling the absolute truth and he genuinely wishes to marry Cassie. The news is a shock to both himself and to Cassie’s relatives, who had not envisaged someone actually offering to marry her because they liked her rather than because it was a suitable match. Anthony and John agree to think about it but express the view that it is rather sudden.

It is also a shock to Cassie when she wakes up the next morning back at the Chase and remembers what has happened. She is excruciatingly embarrassed to remember all the secrets that she has vouchsafed to Peter and is also furious with him for not telling her who he was and for encouraging her indiscretions. Since one of the secrets she has told him is that she is far richer than society suspects, she now thinks he may be a fortune hunter and she refuses his proposal, even to save her reputation. Quinn is not very pleased either to have his younger brother apparently steal an heiress from under his nose. When Peter insists that his intentions are honourable Quinn is frankly sceptical since his brother has the reputation of a rake.

With Quinn, Anthony, John and Cassie all believing him insincere, Peter sets out to woo Cassie and prove his love for her. (I envisage these scenes establishing some of the house party activities such as impromptu dances, riding expeditions, the cricket match where William cheats etc. It is also a good opportunity for Cassie and/or Peter to observe the mysterious goings on, with Amy creeping about. Since Cassie has spent some time with Kitty she has actually met Amy before – she just doesn’t recognise her). Cassie has withdrawn from Peter and is distant and chilly as a result of both her anger and her embarrassment. However, she is obliged to admit that Peter is a dangerously attractive man and when he pays court to her it is difficult to resist him.

Peter’s plans are sabotaged by William Lyndhurst-Flint who still hasn’t given up hope of Cassie marrying him and keeping all that lovely money in the family. He manages to hit Peter on the head with the cricket ball during the match and Peter is carried off the pitch with concussion. Cassie insists on tending to him and later creeps back to his chamber to make sure that he is all right. Now the tables are turned – Peter, in his delirium – tells her all sorts of secrets such as his life will never be complete if he cannot persuade him to marry her. Cassie, knowing he must be telling the truth, admits to herself that she is in love with him and overcomes her scruples about marrying him. When Peter wakes up in sound mind and finds her still by (or in?) his bed in the morning he is furious, especially since he’s been trying to avoid the temptation of taking her to bed ever since he met her. No matter that Cassie tells him that she loves him, it seems he will refuse her proposal of marriage – until she persuades him otherwise…

On seeing that both Cassie and Peter are incandescently happy (and suspecting some of the things that have been going on) both John and Anthony give their blessing to the marriage, which is planned to take place shortly after the end of the House Party.

(I thought that when Marcus is kicked out of Anthony’s dressing room (story 2 or 3?) and Peter has to move next door to Cassie as a result, they could both look a bit shifty, as they have been trying to preserve the proprieties ever since the night Peter found Cassie in his bed. Perhaps Great Aunt Harriet could comment that it’s a mercy there will be a couple of weddings happening quickly, with all that has been going on in the house! I’m sure she can come up with a suitably pithy comment on the subject!

**********************

Creating the setting and the outline plot

2005-11-11T07:07:00.000-08:00

Nicola Cornick
12 December 2003

Here is some more detail for the setting. Ashdown is a very compact house, but we could add a west wing if you like (which is what they may originally have intended). You can see a picture of the house and garden at

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-ashdownhouse/
and at
http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/notable%20houses/ashdown%20house.htm

The garden is based on a seventeenth century plan. There is a mile long wooded avenue to the north. The cupola on the roof definitely has potential to feature in one or all of the stories. They used to hang a lantern in it that could be seen from the hills all around and have firework parties on the roof! If it would help, I can send you both a description of the house and gardens externally so that you know the kind of detail I'll be putting in the set up.

It would be great if you could furnish the rooms, Elizabeth!

[Note to blog readers: the links work if you would like to see a picture of Ashdown House and there are several images of the house in the image library at the second link.]

Nicola Cornick
12 December 2003

PS: Forgot to ask - do you want to leave Ashdown in Berkshire with hunting and shooting (and quite near Newbury) or would you prefer to relocate it elsewhere in the UK? If we're leaving it in Berks I could a bit of local colour to my external description.

What do we want to call "our" house???

Joanna Maitland
12 December 2003

Nicola, it's absolutely gorgeous. Hadn't looked till now and I adore it. I now understand exactly why you love it so much. And I think it's perfect for us. Clearly, it is not the host's main residence, just a hunting box/pleasure house, and perfect for the kind of quasi-family gathering we want to write about. What's more, I think I *must* visit it soon so that I can soak up the atmosphere. Then I can take pics to put on my website when the book comes out. At the moment, I've printed off the National Trust aerial pic for my work folder, and also a postcard sized version which is now stuck on my monitor, as inspiration.

Would it be a good idea to visit on one of your on-days? or on an off day? Can I buy you lunch somewhere nice in return for being taken round Ashdown with the most knowledgeable possible guide? (Sorry Elizabeth, but I promise to take lots of pics of the outside. And I'm happy to share them.)

I think we should probably leave the house where it is, as long as there's hunting and shooting. Also fishing?? (If not, we can add a trout stream, no doubt.) We don't need to shoot grouse, after all, since they need moors and are very specific. If you've got grouse, you can't have anything much else. We can shoot pheasants if we need to. And having Newbury nearby helps with horse-racing and the like. It will also be within reasonable travelling distance of Bath, Bristol and, at a pinch, London, in case we need to send our characters there.

House names? I think that's for Elizabeth, really, since she *owns* the house-owner/host. Perhaps we could do a variant on Ashdown ie xxxdown? Or a variant on xxxbourne, since it's near Lambourne?

Re the lodge houses. I don't mind whether my heroine's brother is incarcerated in a lodge or a dower house or a tied cottage, but it must be well off the beaten track and quite a long way from the main house or any other habitation. The host can't take any risk of passing nobs out for an evening stroll/blowing a cloud noticing a light and realising there's someone in a supposedly empty property. Is there an obvious place in the grounds where we might situate such a property, Nicola?

And yes, your suggested hints re my story sound great. I can give you chapter and verse quite soon, since I've already started writing. The vague familiarity of my heroine to yours seems good too and I'm sure they would soon become friends after my heroine resumes her proper station. I've named her Amy Devereaux, by the way, though as abigail, she's called Amelia Dent. Her feckless brother is Edward (Ned) Devereaux. Amy is going to be a very outgoing, friendly lass (with striking silver-blonde hair which she hides beneath a huge ugly cap while she's an abigail, because she daren't risk anyone seeing it and thinking she's a very unusual abigail.)

Amy is already best mates with Countess F who will be quite a lot younger than her husband, the Earl, who needs to be somewhere in his 40s I guess, especially if he's to be the older brother of Elizabeth's hero. (That's up to Elizabeth, of course. My Earl can be a cousin or something if that fits better.) On reflection, I might make F the Earl's second wife, a love match after his first marriage which was arranged, childless, and very unhappy. I could even, one day, write their love story as a full length book! Gosh, this is all so exciting I'm getting miles ahead of myself!

Can you tell us where the West Wing would have fitted? I think we probably do need to add it, so that there's just a bit more room for all our characters. Love the cupola. While my hero and heroine are both in hiding, so to speak, I think I might have a wee assignation up there, perhaps when my heroine volunteers to go up to light the lantern? And maybe I could have a firework party on the roof at the end of my story to celebrate proving my hero's innocence and his betrothal to my heroine?

Yes please to the description of the house and gardens externally. And yes please to Elizabeth furnishing the rooms Can we use colours to distinguish them perhaps? I mean the blue bedchamber, the pink bedchamber, the crimson saloon etc. Helps the readers without actually telling them exactly where the rooms are.

Must stop emailing now and get on with the thinking. Unlike you, Elizabeth, I don't have ankle-snappers to worry about. Or moving house. I don't know how you manage to fit it all in.

PS Have just looked again at NT site and realised that house is only open from April-October. Double damn. Still, the grounds are open all the year round, I see, and I think it would be worth a visit to get the feel of them and to see the house from the outside. And the offer of lunch is still on, Nicola

Elizabeth Rolls
12 December 2003

I'm right in the middle of my synopsis, but it is also the middle of the night - about 2am and I have to get up at 6am . . . okay, okay, I know! Anyway, I like Joanna's overview and I am madly working out mine so it will fit. Will have it to you tomorrow night. Perfectly happy to have an abigail and a companion.

I think the first heroine would fit very well as a younger sister of my hero. She can then drop some information about his marriage.

Nicola, my hero is Anthony Lyndhurst. Don't think he's titled because the title would have to go to the next male heir and it would be most unlikely that Anthony would consider leaving the money and estate away from the title, unless he knew the heir presumptive to be a complete scumbag. In which case, why did he invite him to the house party?

The public reason for his wife's disappearance is that she vanished in the flight from Brussels during the Waterloo campaign. He refuses to talk about her at all. Except for Villain C, no one in his family ever met her since they married in Belgium during the lead up to Waterloo.

More details tomorrow. Your ideas are all so helpful.

Thanks for the pictures, Nicola. Love it. And yes, Joanna - I do want to see the photos! Colour coded rooms are very useful. I'll try to get my synopsis finished and then tackle the furnishings tomorrow night.

Joanna Maitland
12 December 2003

Nicola, if you could possibly manage it, it would be very helpful if your heroine could also drop a hint about my heroine's missing brother, Ned Devereaux. I imagine her making a very sharp remark to the effect that Ned is a very rude (and very gossipy) young man who left the house very abruptly (before the story started) without even taking the trouble to say goodbye to her. She might also say something to indicate that (apart from gossiping) he seems to think of nothing but shooting, gambling and drinking. Thoroughly selfish and immature. Not at all the sort of fellow that any sensible girl would wish to have anything to do with.

That would plant a little seed that there's something not quite right about Ned's departure. I can pick up on it in story 2. And it would also make it obvious that Ned is not going to be the hero of any of the stories. In fact, he's a bit of a pain in the ass, as I intend to make clear, if I can get it into the wordcount.

Nicola Cornick
12 December 2003

I'm so glad you both like Ashdown! I will put together a crib sheet on the house and gardens and email it to both of you. We will need to add details like the trout stream and Joanna's lodge house (which we could place in the woods at the end of the mile long avenue). I think it's a great idea to have colour-themed rooms as well.

Thank you for the info on what you'd like me to put in story 1. I am writing my synopsis and will incorporate hints for both your stories.

Joanna, you are very welcome indeed to come and have a guided tour of the outside of Ashdown, take photos, see the grounds and get a feel for the place. It is a shame that the house is closed until April but there's a nice pub down the road! We can raise a glass to you, Elizabeth!

I'll be back in touch with the Ashdown descriptions and my synopsis soon.

Elizabeth Rolls
12 December 2003

I'll be looking forward to the info and photos. Nice to at least hear aboutthe pub down the road. Have a half of Guinness for me!
Nicola - I'll have my synopsis through - I hope! - late this evening my time.I'll include lots of info about Anthony since you will both need him welland truly on stage.

Joanna Maitland
12 December 2003

Me too. (Looking forward, I mean.) Mind you, I don't drink Guinness. When I was pregnant (long, long ago!) my midwife advised me to drink it for the iron since I couldn't get along with iron tablets. I almost had to put a clothes peg on my nose to get the Guinness down. Absolutely hated it! So I'll raise a glass to you, Elizabeth, but *not* Guinness.

I've been thinking about my hero. I think I won't make him the host's brother because there's a risk of getting too many characters named Lyndhurst. So I'll make him a cousin, the son of the host's deceased elder sister, if that's all right. Then he'll have a different surname. Actually, at the moment, he doesn't even have a first name but no doubt it will come. OTOH, I have written the naked hero meets heroine scene (or most of it). Remember that scene with Colin Firth getting out of his bath in P&P? Well, think of that -- but with much more time before anyone wraps anything in any kind of towel/dressing gown etc. My heroine, bless her, is rooted to the spot and can neither move nor speak. Especially when he orders her to pass the towel! (I'm giggling even as I write this. I do love writing scenes like that.)

I have named the Earl and Countess, though. He is John, Earl of Mardon and she is Charlotte. Hope that doesn't get in the way of any of your names. If the Earl is Anthony Lyndhurst's elder brother, his surname will be Lyndhurst too, obviously. If he's a more distant relation, I'll think of something else.

Oh, I really love doing this. It's great fun. Can't wait to read your synopses, both.

Elizabeth Rolls
13 December 2003

Good thinking about the surname, Joanna. I'll look forward to your naked hero scene. How nice to think that I am going to get to read it FIRST. Along with Nicola, of course.

Sorry to hear you don't like Guinness. Gin and tonic will do!

Can you let me know when you decide about the relationship between Anthony and the Earl of Mardon? If Anthony is a younger son, then I have to come up with some reason why he has the sort of fortune that one worries about. Like a stinking wealthy godfather in trade. It's not wildly important but it would require clarification. Unless Anthony was a half brother and somehow inherited his mother's fortune.

Joanna Maitland
13 December 2003

Thanks, Elizabeth. Actually it doesn't matter much to me whether the Earl is Anthony's brother or not. If you can see any plot reasons for having him as a brother, I'll do that. (I can't see any, but there might be some later, I suppose, when we're into the writing.) If it makes it easier to explain Anthony's fortune, I'll make the Earl a more distant relation. Up to you. Unless Nicola needs it to be one way or the other? After all, your heroine is Anthony's sister. Does she need an older uncle who is an Earl? Or would that complicate things even more?

I *think* my hero may be called Will Sinclair. He's mulling it over even as I type. No doubt he'll let me know whether he likes it a bit later on. (In the naked man scene, he does not tell my heroine who he is or why he is there. Typical man!)

Joanna Maitland
13 December 2003

Have now furiously scribbled outline of key scenes of my story and I think I'm getting somewhere. Or starting to. Only difficulty will be word count. Argh.

Have had a few disjointed thoughts that I wanted to share before I forget them.

Arrival of great-aunt harridan and companion. It occurred to me that said harridan really wouldn't have a place at a house party to select an heir. She's not a potential heir and she would probably be viewed as getting in the way. What if she decided to invite herself when she heard about heroine 1's possible betrothal? On the grounds that any potential husband needs great-aunt's vetting. (Having good sources, she would learn of it almost instantly, of course.) If it suits your plot, Elizabeth, great-aunt could be talked of towards end of story 1 and arrive then or near start of story 2. I imagine companion would have been very reluctant to accompany said harridan since she fears being recognised by husband. Do you want me to show companion trying desperately to avoid Anthony eg by sudden headaches so she can't come down to dinner?

Is my villain C going to be your villain, too, Elizabeth? One of your emails seemed to suggest that. Can we make that work since I was planning to write villain C out at the end of story 2? Do you want me to keep him going for story 3? If so, have you already decided on a name for him? For me, he's just another potential heir but for you, I imagine, he's a closer heir. Is he another Lyndhurst?

What year are we in? Does it matter?

I'm not sure that I'll have room for the fireworks party on the roof in story 2. But I could have Anthony decide to do it, or think about it in story 2. Then maybe it could actually take place at the end of story 3. Ending with a bang, so to speak. What do you both think?

Not for decisions now. If we are going to get a commissioned cover, should we suggest that a washed-out photo of Ashdown might be part of the background? Obviously it would need to be done from such an angle that it wasn't possible to tell whether there was a west wing or not. I'm planning to use the cupola in story 2, so it would help readers to see what I'm on about.

Also not for decision now, but do we want to think about a joint Dear Reader letter about how we came to write the stories? And the settings we chose?

Nicola Cornick
15 December 2003

I am writing my story synopsis and have a couple of things I wanted to run past you.

1. I thought it might be nice to kick the stories off with a formal style invitation to the house party at the beginning. I guess we may be asked to write a "Dear reader" letter as well but I thought we could set the scene with a "Mr Anthony Lyndhurst requests the pleasure of your company at a House Party..." What do you think?

2. I've decided it might be better if my heroine, Cassie Ward, is a cousin to Anthony Lyndhurst rather than a younger sister. I found that I was bringing him into her story a bit too much and I don't really want to write a lot about "your" character, Elizabeth, because when you write him it is bound to be different! So I have made him a cousin with an interest in Cassie's welfare as head of the family, but then given her a mother/chaperone called Mrs Cecilia Ward who can't control her headstrong daughter. Hope this is okay.

More later...

Nicola Cornick
15 December 2003

Here are some brief notes on Ashdown House. If there are any other details you would like, just let me know. I'll include a short physical description in story 1 but basically we can use this as the background and make up our own bits to add on!

Happy writing, both!

*******************
Ashdown House

Ashdown lies in the Manor of Ashbury, which was formed in Saxon times. The estate passed to Glastonbury Abbey in the 10th century and by 1342 had been partially enclosed to create a deer park to supply venison. There is an Iron Age hill fort on the edge of the park and the remains of the park pale, the embankment that kept the deer in, is still visible like a small ha-ha in the fields around the estate.

The present house at Ashdown was built in the 1660s by William, first Earl of Craven. It is built from dressed chalk and is therefore a very pale, cream colour. The window surrounds and dressed stonework are Bath stone. It is very narrow and tall and seems to float above the surrounding down land, anchored visually by its two lodge houses. It is a rare example of late 17th century architecture in the Dutch style with a hipped roof, dormer windows, massive chimneystacks and a crowning cupola with a golden ball. This style became fashionable in England after the Restoration.

Lord Craven probably used Ashdown as a hunting lodge. The cupola and balustraded roof provide excellent views of the land around and were used for spotting animals and watching the chase. There are no servants quarters in the house – staff lived in the Lodge Houses and in Ashdown village. [However we may wish them to live on the top floor in our story so that they are closer to the action?]

The internal arrangement of the house is very simple. A central passage goes from the front door to the garden door. The oak staircase takes up a quarter of the floor space of the entire building. It is the most impressive feature in the entire house with newel posts whose recessed panels may once have contained carvings of fruit and flowers.

The rooms are airy, well lit by casement windows and well proportioned. Some are decorated with plasterwork cornices showing simple, bold, acanthus patterns.*

The park was laid out in the formal style of the 17th century with four rides or avenues radiating from the house through dense woodland. The Western avenue comprised lime trees. The North Avenue creates a vista of the house that is a mile long. Shady rides meander through the woods and open onto dappled glades where wild flowers thrive. There are deer, badgers, foxes and many other birds and animals in the woodland.*

The garden is very simple. It comprises a parterre of box hedges and gravel laid out in S-shaped scrolls. The parterre also contains two benches and some stone statuary – 2 obelisks on square plinths 4’ 6’’ tall, stone balls on pillars and 4 stone pineapples also mounted on pillars approximately 5 foot tall. The garden is sheltered from the park by high hedges. [Good for assignations? We can also add in a summer house, water feature, etc wherever we like!]

*Information from Ashdown House National Trust guidebook

***********************

Elizabeth Rolls
15 December 2003

My old-fashioned scribbling has paid off and I now have a much clearer idea of what I am doing. (Hears sighs of relief blasting from the northern hemisphere.)
I actually have some sort of synopsis.

Joanna, I did intend to use villain C in my plot -- mainly because I wondered how likely it was to have two villains and I thought if we got rid of C too early, then my plot might be a little short on tension. I mean there's bound to be plenty of emotional tension between Anthony and Georgiana, but if there has been an intrigue thread running through the first two stories and we snip it completely, it might be a little awkward. Similarly starting another intrigue could be awkward.

Could whatever crime B is supposed to have done, be cleared up without exposing C? Make it look as though it was entirely accidental that B looked guilty? Or at least not as if C was involved.

I think having the great aunt arrive in story 2 is a good idea. Otherwise, why haven't things come to a head with Anthony and Georgiana earlier? She can only avoid him for so long by trading on her lower status as a companion and convenient headaches.

I think there does have to be some sort of connection between Great Aunt H and Georgiana. Otherwise it's just too pat. I thought that probably Georgiana went to her Godmother and the godmother got her the position with Great Aunt H on purpose. Great Aunt knows perfectly well who her 'companion' is. Georgiana has no idea initially of the connection between her employer and Anthony. She is absolutely horrified to find herself at Anthony's house party.

GAH has invited herself because she sees it as the perfect way to bring matters to a head between Anthony and Georgiana. She has never told Anthony where his wife is because, as far as she knows, he has made no attempt to find his wife.

Does the great aunt have a name yet? I wondered about Harriet. After all, the readers don't have to know that she started out as Great Aunt Harridan!

I'm not terribly fussed about villain C's name. As long as it isn't Anthony. He probably should be another Lyndhurst. Unless we hyphenate him and make him Blankington-Lyndhurst. Obviously this heir situation has problems! Perhaps his mother's family, having large amounts of money and influence, insisted on the hyphenation.

As for the year, my backstory is that Anthony served in the Peninsula and Waterloo. He married Georgiana in the run up to Waterloo as a matter of honour when she was jilted by another officer. He catches her, with C's connivance, at the Duchess of Richmond's ball, saying farewell to her ex-fiancé. All she intended was to wish the young idiot well and assure him that she is happy in her marriage. Anthony walks in at exactly the wrong moment and completely misunderstands what he sees. He says a great number of things in his fury that would have been much better left unsaid and finds, when he returns from Waterloo that his wife is gone. Along with a very valuable pearl necklace that belonged to his mother. He assumes that she has fled with her lover. He discovers later that her supposed lover is dead and realises that she has run away alone. He does attempt to trace her but fails to find her.

Georgiana has gone to her godmother who finds her a position, on purpose, with Anthony's Great Aunt H. When Great Aunt H gets wind of the house party, she decides to make an appearance with her 'companion' in tow.

It turns out in the end that C has deliberately garbled a message Georgiana has asked him to give Anthony at the Duchess of Richmond's ball. Instead of telling Anthony that G has been looking for him and that she asked him to tell A that she is in the garden speaking to her ex, he simply told A that G was in the garden with her ex. It also turns out that C took the pearls to settle his gaming debts and destroyed the note G left telling A that she had gone to her godmother.

That is C's style in my outline. He comes across to me as a manipulative type. Very quick to capitalise on someone's mistake and twist people's thinking. I think he needs to come across as plausible, not out and out obvious scum. Otherwise Anthony would never consider him as a possible heir let alone permit him to stay on. Could we make C a younger brother of the Earl of Mardon? Then Anthony might consider him as a potential heir because of his younger son status. Fellow feeling since Anthony was a younger son himself and only inherited because his brother died.

I thought perhaps the earl might warn Anthony that C is not a good prospect as an heir, that he shouldn't allow his fellow feeling to cloud his judgment. That C is still quite irresponsible and has scorned to settle to anything. That his gaming debts have been settled several times. He might even comment that the only time C managed to settle his own debts was just after Waterloo. 'Naturally one hesitates to accuse one's own brother of plunder,' said John with a faint grin.

In the synopsis as it stands now C does try to get rid of Georgiana near the end when he realises that his lies are about to be exposed. I'll also need to ferret out his involvement in hero B's problems. Or at least Anthony will. As I imagine it, he works that out, and realises that maybe C misled him on purpose at the ball. Goes to confront him and finds him trying to dispose of Georgiana. Then discovers that C stole and pawned the pearls etc.

Did Joanna request a fireworks display from the cupola? I'm sure that can be worked in at the end. I'll probably cut to Anthony and Georgiana indulging in their own personal fireworks display by the stream! Or would there be too many mosquitoes and other biting things about?

The action for my story would start with Anthony absenting himself very conspicuously from some vital bit of action in Joanna's story. Possibly straight after the resolution of B's innocence. He's had quite enough of Great Aunt H's 'companion' avoiding him and has decided to have it out with her for once and for all.

I'll type up the whole outline of the action, along with notes about Anthony and Georgiana, properly tomorrow and send it through. Hopefully this gives you an idea though. At the moment it deals very much with the resolution of Anthony and Georgiana's marriage. It feels a little short, but there are all your characters to write in and threads to tie in at the end, so probably short is better. In terms of writing, I thought perhaps I might tackle the scenes that only involve, or mostly involve A and G and minor players first. Once your characters are fleshed out and I can read them on the page and you tell me about them, I'll tackle those scenes.

About timing - for my backstory to work I need the houseparty to happen at least one year after Waterloo. Possibly more. I don't want C to recognise Georgiana. She was only 17 at the time of Waterloo and if say, four years had passed and he had only met her once or twice, then it is conceivable that he would not recognise her. Especially since she now wears very dowdy clothes and does her hair differently. What do you think?

About OUR timing. I'll get as much actually written as I can before I go away in the New Year. Since it appears to be most unlikely that we will move now much before Easter, there should be plenty of time to weave it all together when I get back. Do we want to send scenes/chapters through as we go? Might be a help with dialogue etc. I don't want to make your characters say or do something totally out of character.

I'll have a detailed look at the public rooms, dining, drawing, billiard etc and try to get them furnished over the weekend. Let me know which ones you need. I think we can leave the bedchambers to our individual stories. I can't imagine that I need to invade anyone's bedchamber apart from Anthony's and Georgiana's, except possibly GAH. I'm assuming country house style, not too grand and not right up the minute in terms of fashion furnishings. Didn't we agree that this is not Anthony's principal country residence? More of a shooting box? Possibly Anthony breeds horses.

I like the idea of a photo of Ashdown House. A Dear Reader letter also sounds like a good idea. Readers love to know what was ticking over in the author's mind. At least this reader does. And some background on how we came to write them and weave the stories together would be fun too.

Sorry this is so long. It's dealing with any number of your emails. I've been flailing about trying to get a handle on how all this works!

Nicola Cornick
15 December 2003

Love your synopsis, Elizabeth!

As there is quite a lot of intrigue in your two stories, Elizabeth and Joanna, and because I will have to spend some of my words on set up, I've decided not to introduce any more elements of house party intrigue into story 1. IMO there are only so many secret goings on that can take place in one House Party!

What I will do is hint at the stories to come, by giving Cassie's opinions of:

a) Anthony's brief marriage
b) Villain C as a manipulative and possibly two-faced character
c) Suspicions about Amy creeping around in her guise as lady's maid
d) Ned Devereaux as a rather ill-mannered and indiscreet young man and the fact that he disappeared abruptly from the house party.

Hope this is okay with both of you.

In story 1 I need enough characters for a cricket team! Obviously I don't need to name all of them and at least half could be servants, but I'd also like to use Anthony, the Earl of Mardon, and Villain C as well as my hero, Lord Peter Quinlan. This could be the point where villain C (Blankington-Lyndhurst) could perhaps show his true colours in a brief giveaway by cheating at cricket? How unsporting! I might also introduce one or two House Party hangers-on to swell the numbers, since Georgiana and great Aunt Harriet won't be arriving until story 2 and the cast list is still quite small. We only need a core of main characters and I think we have those already, but we do need to give the impression of a few more guests out bagging the pheasants etc.

One question - have I missed how long after Waterloo we are setting the stories?

I have almost finished my draft synopsis and will send it along soon.

PS Elizabeth there were a lot of biting insects at Ashdown this summer but I think we could exercise poetic licence and get rid of them for the purposes of the story!

Joanna Maitland
15 December 2003

Have had a quick run through Elizabeth's synopsis but need to do it again in slow time. Two things strike me at once. Yes, we can really only have one villain, so C it will have to be. However, I'll have to rework my synopsis a bit to leave him standing at the end of story 2. Would it be OK if my hero and heroine suspected C, even if they couldn't yet prove he was the villain?

Second quick point. I'm going to change the Countess's name from Charlotte to something else because I think, with such a large cast, that we should avoid having more than one name beginning with any particular letter. Cassie is much more important, so my Countess has to change. Will your chaperon always be called Mrs Ward, Nicola? That would get round her being a C-name too.

It's obviously going to be tough on you, Elizabeth, since you'll be away in January. What I would find really helpful, if you have time, would be for you to write some of the Anthony/Georgiana scenes so that I (and Nicola, too, for Anthony) can get a better feel for the kind of characters they are and the way they talk.

Love the idea of an invite, Nicola. Much better than a Dear Reader job.

Will respond again once I've digested the emails.

Nicola Cornick
15 December 2003

I hadn't spotted all the "C" names, Joanna, but I can easily change Mrs Ward to Edwina, or something. I haven't even finally decided whether she features in the story. Cassie needs a friend/confidante/female relative but that's about as far as I've got.

I agree it would be tremendously helpful to have some idea of how Anthony speaks. If you have the time, Elizabeth, that would be brilliant.

Went to Ashdown today and was walking around the estate looking for suitable sites for romantic trysts etc. It's a good job I know the estate manager or I'd probably have been arrested for lurking in a suspicious manner!

The first few days...

2005-11-03T23:09:00.000-08:00

Elizabeth Rolls
7 December 2003

It sounds as though Linda just wants to give us the general idea and then let us rip. Suits me.The main issues that I can see are as Joanna said, the design of the house, garden and estate and the timing. House, garden and estate can be worked out easily enough. Timing is harderbecause there are several ways we could do it. How long would a house party go for? A week, two weeks?Do we have all the stories running concurrently and each novella has scenes that are common to all three, or even to two, but told from the appropriate characters' viewpoints? This would be harder, but I think more satisfying in this format than straight follow on stories like the Steepwood series. The time frame of a house party suggests a tighter structure. Sylvia Andrews did something like this with her book Christmas Belles. The book was a pair of novels dealing with an identical twin identity swap. It worked brilliantly because she meshed both stories together, especially the endings. You've probably read it, but if you haven't, it would be worth finding copies, even if I post mine to you. Or you could ask Linda to find a couple!As for the backstory - I suppose it needs to be something that can have a partial resolution in each novella. My gut feeling was that it perhaps needs to be something that involves the actual houseparty, or the reason for the houseparty. And if you are going to have a houseparty with a lot of conflict, then why the heck did the host and/or hostess let themselves in for this?

Actually I did just have an idea. Something along these lines. How about if the host is estranged from his wife - she's left him and heeven thinks she may be dead, but can't find out. If the estate ISN't entailed, then he has to decide on an heir from within the family since he can't marry. So he summons a large portion of the family to try and make a decision.We could probably even squeeze a murder out of that in the first novella which could be solved in the third. With perhaps various heroes and heroines being suspected.Anyway if the host's wife isn't dead, but actually in attendance as a companion or something, but we keep that very quiet as to who this femaleis that the host is lusting after, then that would make a nice explosive ending.Just ideas to play with. We have to start somewhere…

Joanna Maitland
9 December 2003

Some great thinking here, Elizabeth. My two penn'orth below:

re design of house/garden etc

If we have to design from scratch, it will take ages. We could base it on an existing house. What about the house you do your National Trust stuff in, Nicola? Is it the right period and size?
Second alternative, can we get info on the house that was used as Pemberley in the BBC's P&P? That was certainly big. And there was that lake, too....

concurrent?

Not sure. Sort of think it would be best to run all concurrently except that story 1 does the scene set and story 3 resolves any plot threads that run through them all. I wouldn't want to do too many of the same scenes from different viewpoints, partly because of wordcount and partly because it's difficult to do. But a few short ones would be good (see below).

timing

Length of houseparty would depend, I think, on time of year. In winter it could be several weeks eg for Christmas, because people wouldn't travel for less. In summer, in the shooting season for example, it might be a couple of weeks or even longer. When I did my racing house party in Marrying the Major, it was a week, since it was just for the race meeting (Epsom Derby and The Oaks, essentially). So I think we need to decide approximate time of year, then whether it's a particular event such as grouse shooting, and the timing will sort itself. Three successful romances in 7 days might be pushing credibility though!

backstory

I like your backstory, Elizabeth, and I think we could make it work. I had thought of one on vaguely similar lines. I'm sure we can work out something between us and any leftover plots can be used by the originator in another book!

In my backstory, the host/hostess run regular and slightly risqué large house parties. At the end of the previous one, heroine A's brother (her only relative) wrote to her to say that he'd discovered something very odd and he'd tell her all about it when he got home. Then he never arrived. She has become increasingly concerned and also has no money without brother. She decides she has to investigate but can't go as herself since the host would twig, so she goes as lady's maid to her married friend (because lady's maid goes both above and below stairs). Plan is that heroine A will do bedroom searches and such like while nobs are at dinner etc. [Thought that heroine A could walk in on one of the heroes/villains naked in one novella (from his POV, seeing her as servant, possibly taking advantage?) and get extended view of scene in another novella from her POV.] The intrigue, I had thought, would be that an escaped felon is being hidden in the house. He was wrongly convicted of course and, by the end, will be proved innocent by one of the heroines (possibly the lady's maid) and they will live HEA. Haven't worked out where heroine A's brother would have been all this time. Perhaps he's being kept as a "guest" alongside the felon so that he won't spill the beans. Or perhaps something else has happened to him, as long as the word count isn't too long. He could be one of the three heroes, perhaps?

In terms of conflict, we could have a fair few family members at the house party, whatever backstory we use. Always good for conflict. Think of The Unknown Ajax. I worry slightly about doing all of either backstory in 3*33,000 words. It's the same length as a single book but we have to do three romances plus an underlying plot. So it's going to be hard work and require some slick writing (which, natch, we can all do in our sleep )

Nicola Cornick
9 December 2003

So on with the Regency House Party and thank you both for your comments/suggestions. Plenty to work on there. Here are my thoughts:

Structure

I imagine a house party would go on for several weeks and I agree the stories will have to be concurrent or at least closely overlapping. I've read Sylvia Andrew's Christmas Belles books and think she meshed them very well. I like the idea of scenes in common to all three stories, but this is getting quite complex for a short format. If we could make it work, then great! I think it would be easier with just the three of us (and all of us being on email).

Perhaps story three could end with the House Party ending as well? That would be a neat way to tie up the mini-series. We don't necessarily need to start right at the beginning of the house party. Everyone could already have been assembled for a few days when story 1 gets underway. We also need to keep our cast of characters to a core group, I think, or there will be too many for readers to get their heads round in 3 separate stories.

Design of house/garden

I don't think we want somewhere too big. It can get confusing if the house and garden sprawl too much. I'm slightly geographically challenged with settings!

We could use Ashdown (my NT place) which is compact, unusual and very attractive, but that has the same problem - it's comparatively small. I have a garden plan and loads of info (you know what an Ashdown bore I can be!) so if you'd like to go for it that's no problem. If we decided on a summer house party, Ashdown would be good as it's designed as an over-sized hunting lodge and there's lots of potential for shooting accidents!

Back story

I like the idea of the host needing to decide on an heir. That could definitely introduce the tension/conflict element if we need a murder! I think it will be very difficult to introduce a well developed intrigue strand in three stories of only 30 thousand words, especially when the focus is on the romance. So if we do this it'll need to be simple but clever! (And I'm sure we can do that!!!) I love the idea of the estranged host lusting after his wife-in-disguise (assuming that they have been separated long enough for him not to recognise her. I always find the Shakespearean plots of brother/father/sister/husband/ wife not recognising each other stretch credibility a little!)

I also like your backstory, Joanna and think that the two ideas could be meshed very neatly. Even better, your heroine A introduces the "upstairs downstairs" element that Linda was talking about, so that covers the servant angle as well.

The point about 3 successful romances in 7 days or even 14 days is a good one. In almost all the short stories I've read there's a history between h/h to make this possible. That, plus the intensity of being together for 24 hours a day can make things happen. Under those circumstances the idea of the host and his estranged wife is a very potent (pardon the pun) one.

In the joint backstory it looks as though heroine A would need to be the heroine of the first story since she sets up the mystery at the beginning of the houseparty. Similarly heroine C (chaperon/wife) could bring it all to a dramatic conclusion. Which leaves the middle story. I do actually have a plot idea that could fit into the middle slot, involving an impoverished young nobleman who has been sent to the house party under duress to catch a rich wife. It's a kind of Sophie Kinsella "Can you keep a secret" meets Georgette Heyer's "Full Moon" story from Pistols for Two. Except in this case I thought there could be a role reversal with the hero trying to find a way out of an unwelcome match, bumping into the heroine and confiding his difficulties only to discover later that she's the intended bride... That's the romance element, but the intrigue element could pick up from story 1 and lead into story 2.

We seem to have sketched a lot of this out already. I guess we need to see what Linda's suggestions are and then put together a firmer plan. This is fun. Good to be working with you both!

Joanna Maitland
9 December 2003

Terrific stuff, Nicola! I do like the sound of Ashdown, largely because you know it so well. We could always extend it, in an imaginary way, so that it has more bedrooms upstairs, without necessarily extending the public rooms. The readers won't see anything wrong because they won't know the size of the downstairs rooms or even if we've mentioned them all. And it would be very useful to know all about the grounds. Also love the idea of hunting accidents. I feel a murder coming on.

Like your ideas on timing, too, with story 3 ending the house party and it having started before story 1 begins. After all, some of the guests could arrive after the party is well under way, making it a sort of running open house rather than a formally arranged do. I think, if it was running for several weeks, that's what would have happened.

I think I'd plump for a summer house party, possibly running from August (grouse shooting etc) though we might have to move Ashdown to the grouse moors.

Re backstories, I agree that Elizabeth's heir story would be a great thread. Obviously the missing wife/reconciliation has to be story 3. I'm not sure how much of my backstory we can bring in without overloading the trilogy with too much intrigue, at least if I were to write story 1. I wonder whether we could use bits of my backstory in story 2 instead? Story 1 could introduce my upstairs/downstairs heroine in passing -- and apparently as a lady's maid -- and then story 2 could show that she's not what she seemed in story 1. And of course story 1 would have clues for the clued-up reader to pick up! Alternatively, I could do mine as story 1, skating very superficially over Elizabeth's heir story and leaving it to be picked up in stories 2 and 3. What I'm trying to say is that story 1 should focus on setting the scene for either the heir story or the lady's maid imposter story but probably not both unless it's all very sketchy. OTOH, maybe it should be sketchy so that story 1 can concentrate on a real romance and not have to do too much scene setting. Gosh, this is difficult. (And I've managed to confuse myself here)

I think maybe we need to flesh out the backstories a bit more. The appropriate order for the stories might then become obvious.

Must go and cook dinner now. Agree this has the potential to be terrific fun, Nicola. And it's great that Richmond are letting us have so much rope (even though we might hang ourselves with it. Ho hum.)

Elizabeth Rolls
10 December 2003

I did wonder if perhaps one heroine, Nicola's unusual heiress? might be the host's younger sister, or something like that if we were tying it in as a family houseparty.

I was thinking that the scenes used in more than one novella would need to be somehow pivotal to each story. How do we go about plotting this? What is our overarching subplot? Is it the host's dilemma over who should be his heir? Or do we use Joanna's idea about the wrongly convicted felon. Although possibly wrongly accused might be easier to deal with. Given the way the courts operated, an actual conviction would be very hard to overturn. Can we use both? Is there some way of tying the two things together?

At this stage I am wondering if the best thing is for each of us to rough out a synopsis of the story we have in mind and compare them. Then we can work out where they can mesh, how the characters and threads can be linked between each story etc. This is much harder than just one person doing it because we are each working in the dark a bit. Nicola - how did you handle this with the Steepwood books? Although I suppose you had a Bible for that. What we really need is a nice, friendly chat room where we can talk and interrupt each other and get all this roughed out.

Elizabeth Rolls
10 December 2003

I was thinking along much the same lines as Joanna about the house and garden design. Use an existing house!

I was forgetting about Nicola's National Trust activities. Obviously any house older than about 1800 will do us nicely as long as some Victorian didn't do a makeover. Decor isn't necessarily a problem. I have several books on decor. We could pinch the furnishings we need from the appropriate rooms.

More public rooms were usually far more up to date than rooms just used by the family. If we work out which rooms we need, I'll be more than happy to furnish them I'd be able to get the pages scanned to send to you. Then we can all see the rooms and know what's there.

A smaller house might work nicely in the context of an essentially family house party. I'm reminded of the house in GH's A CIVIL CONTRACT where Adam and Jenny spend their honeymoon. It belongs to his aunt and uncle and is not their principal seat. I think it is described as 'a pretty little place in Hampshire. Maybe we could use something like that. Not the host's main residence for some reason. Easier travelling for an elderly aunt or whatever.

The garden - Yvonne on the Yahoo Regency list gave a list of garden refs a while back. I wrote them down. If I can't find them, I'll email her off list and ask for it again. Between us we may be able to chase a couple down through the library systems, if not buy anything.

As for the countryside - once we know where, that's not so hard. For you two! I CAN find out, but not as easily.

I like the idea of a summer party. Shooting accidents are good, Nicola! And it's less claustrophobic than a winter party might be.

As for intrigue - I considered bumping off the host's heir in my scenario and having it turn out that the host's estranged wife did it in self-defence since the heir once tried to bump her off to secure his inheritance and has tried again at the house party. I envisaged it having been a drumhead wedding in the Peninsula and that the host's family, apart from the heir, had never laid eyes on her.

Naturally suspicion would fall on the next heir, and only the host would know that the supposed companion to dear, old Auntie Sue might have a motive. I intended him to recognise her, but keep his mouth shut because there is an outsider in the party. A real gossip. And naturally having your wife show up as a ladysmaid/companion would be scandalous. I had an idea that their estrangement would have arisen out of him having accused her of infidelity, a mistake brought on by the heir's attempt to kill her. Host/hero sees her being succoured by his best friend and assumes the worst. Best friend is killed in battle the following day and heir takes chance to scuttle the marriage completely. This could come out possibly in the form of a letter the friend wrote that never reached the husband. I envisaged their story as being the last of the set and ending the house party.

But I like Joanna's backstory as well. The ladysmaid scenario would work well going above and below stairs. It also leaves her open to all sorts of dubious propositions. Love the idea of her walking in on a stark naked man!

You could always make the wrongly convicted felon the host's younger brother. And of course the ladysmaid's brother finds out and is being held as well. If she suspects that the host has kidnapped her brother that would create lots of lovely conflict.
We seem to be having lots of ideas!

Elizabeth Rolls
10 December 2003

Joanna - could your upstairs/downstairs heroine actually be the missing wife? I envisaged her as a companion, but if we want to use the upstairs/downstairs thing, then disguise her as a lady's maid. I envisaged her as a companion and intended the host to know who she is. That would be a thread running through the first two stories. People could keep noticing the host's interest in the supposed companion/lady's maid.

I went and had a look at Ashdown House on the internet. It looks great. And if the gardens are laid out to a 17th century design that's okay too. Nicola if you can supply us with an idea of the house and gardens, I'm happy to go with that. I agree with Joanna that bumping up the number of upstairs rooms is perfectly fine.

How do we all feel about the order of the stories? Obviously I'm okay with it, because I'm the idiot going to NZ in three weeks and trying to move interstate at the same time! I feel much happier with a later delivery date.

Nicola Cornick
10 December 2003

Now I've had chance to go through all your messages and think about things in a bit more depth, here are my thoughts/ideas/suggestions on the RHP.

Location and season:

Thanks for your positive feedback about using Ashdown House. If you are both definitely happy we will use it as the basis of the house in the story.

Any preferences about the time of year – I think you preferred summer, Joanna? I don’t mind which season we go for. We can also re-locate Ashdown anywhere we like. Berkshire is fine for hunting/racing (Ashdown actually had its own racecourse!) but if we wanted a shooting party we’d need to go elsewhere. Scotland? Does anyone know where Gosford Park was located?

Timing:

I like the idea of the first story starting before or at the beginning of the House Party and the third rounding it off. There could be some overlap this way, but it would still give us enough flexibility to do our own thing. And how long do we want the House Party to last? A weekend (again, like Gosford Park), one week, or two?

Structure:

What should the links be between the stories?
Are we definitely going for an underlying mystery/murder or a darker servant sub-plot as Linda suggested? (I’m not sure what one of these would be?!)

Joanna, I agree that the word count is key here. We need to concentrate on the three individual love stories and with only 30 thousand words that’s a tall order in itself. In my admittedly limited experience, I think that if we are going to introduce a continuity element then this needs to be kept as simple (but clever) as possible. We don’t want to come up with a sub-plot so simple the reader guesses it within 10 seconds but equally we haven’t got the words to get bogged down in intrigue or play with too many characters. My preference would be to have the host assemble his house party to choose his heir and maybe build in a murder into this as the rival candidates get hot under the collar. With one or two suspicious servants and some love rivalry as well, this could work well but it could easily get too complicated. What do you both think?

Re the idea of using some scenes in each of the 3 stories – I think this would be great if we could make it work but I have concerns that it might be too complicated. As you’ve probably noticed, I’m all for keeping things simple! However, if we draft out our stories in more detail we may come up with natural points of contact, as I think you already suggested, Elizabeth.

Order of the stories

Elizabeth, are you happy to do story 3? I’ve kind of assumed you are as you came up with such a cracking plot and it does make sense for the explosive revelation of the estranged wife to come with the tying up of all the loose ends of the party.

Joanna, do we want to ask Linda if we can reverse the order of stories 1 and 2, or do you want to use your idea of the undercover lady in book 2?

If I do write story 1 I thought I would simply make reference to your two stories just to set them up a little.

Eg: If my heroine is the host’s sister she could comment on the purpose of the house party and also on the estrangement of her brother and sister-in-law. Since she’s spilling her intimate secrets to a stranger in my story – or so she thinks – she could be quite blunt about what she thinks of her brother assembling the family to choose his heir and also what she thinks about her sister-in-law’s disappearance. I would need you to give me the background details on why they were estranged etc, Elizabeth, but I could just make mention and then step back to let your story unfold.

Similarly, with Joanna’s story, my heroine could notice the antics of the rather suspicious lady’s maid, or notice a resemblance to someone she had met before (the brother?) and set up one or two little clues to lead into story 2. I’d need you to provide these, Joanna. I think that would be quite enough if I’ve also got to build in a sub-plot and a scandalous, sexy, witty, intense and fast-paced love story! (They don’t ask much, do they!)

Phew! I'm preparing myself for another onslaught of great ideas from the two of you!

Joanna Maitland
11 December 2003

I've had a quick look at your intrigue, Elizabeth, and it will add a whole new dimension to the overview I've done, since I didn't find a place to include a murder. (Failure on my part, I admit.) We may need to dump my overview to make room, or it may be possible to modify it. I think that lots of Elizabeth's intrigue could be incorporated -- for example, heroine 2's feckless brother could be put under house arrest during story 1 (rather than before it as I had assumed) because he could be the real gossip Elizabeth mentions. Love the idea of the host knowing who the companion is all the time. Does she think he hasn't recognised her? Lots of scope for conflict etc there. Only real difficulty I see is that the attempted murder of the companion and the self-defence death of the heir would have to happen in story 1 and might overshadow Nicola's main plot. What do you think, Nicola? Maybe it could have happened (just) before the story opens?

I envisaged the lady's maid and the companion as different people, Elizabeth. Please agree! If the companion becomes the lady's maid, I don't have a plot for story 2!! Seriously, I think it's OK to have them both. The abigail is in disguise specifically to rescue her idiot loose-mouthed brother. She is a below stairs character. The companion, I assume, is not in disguise but earning her living in the only way she can, since her husband has dumped her and left her destitute. She's an above stairs character.

I'll send my overview as it currently stands as a Word (.rtf so virus-free) attachment in a separate email. I'll then try to work on it a bit more, subject to your comments so far, plus any more you want to send. If I can make it hang together, I'll send a revised version.

You'll see that I'm working on the basis of Nicola writing story 1, me for story 2 and Elizabeth for story 3. I agree that Linda probably has good marketing reasons for wanting Nicola's story first.

Right. Better get on with mulling over both your comments and emailing my existing overview.

Joanna Maitland
11 December 2003

Haven't read your thoughts in depth yet, Nicola.
Here is my overview Mark I in .rtf format. Please feel free to shoot down in flames. I know it doesn't fit what Elizabeth wants to do. May not fit Nicola's thoughts either. Don't yet know whether it can be modified to incorporate all our ideas but will try.

The cyber connections are certainly burning up with ideas, aren't they?

Synopsis #1: The Abigail’s Tale (The/An Unexpected Abigail)

General Backstory

Host X is gathering various potential heirs. These include:

host’s elder brother or cousin, Earl A, a good character who doesn’t need/want the money and whose wife provides cover for the fake abigail
the accused man B found naked by abigail Z
a villain C responsible for the false accusation of B.
Nicola’s heroine D, though host would perhaps want to be sure any future husband would not squander inheritance before settling it on her. Need to decide what D’s family relationship to X is, if any.

Probably need another important female character because Elizabeth’s heroine G can’t be companion to Earl A’s wife, who has one servant in disguise already. What about an old harridan great-aunt of host? (I love writing those. She could keep making waspish comments about all and sundry in a very loud voice. Never had such goings-on in my day, etc.) Perhaps harridan could be the companion’s godmother in real life? Or maybe harridan genuinely doesn’t know companion’s true identity.

Host X is hiding B until X can find out whether B is guilty and decide whether X wants to make B his heir. Only a few trusted servants (butler, housekeeper, host’s valet) know B is there. Host X has also, in a very gentlemanly way, put abigail’s younger brother E under a sort of house arrest in the apparently unoccupied dower house. Scope for backstairs scurryings.

Relationship of the 3 stories to backstory

So Nicola’s story (Story 1) would sort out D’s position, giving her an eligible potential husband J and possibly improving her position in host’s eyes. I think you said she’s rich already, Nicola? so your hero J wouldn’t be too troubled when she doesn’t inherit in the end.

For the purposes of story 2, story 1 could also drop clues about odd backstairs goings-on and the fact that one of the potential heirs is not at the house party because he’s being sought for a crime (to be specified). Cue knowing looks between senior servants to hint that all is not what it seems there. If possible, story 1 should also drop a clue that there’s something odd on the edges of the estate: my heroine Z’s brother E is being kept under very comfortable house arrest in the apparently unoccupied dower house and spending his time drinking and gambling with his jailer. He is a bit of a loose fish, very immature, and the despair of his practical elder sister, I fear. (Shades of Venetia, perhaps.) I think that villain C shouldn’t appear until story 2 though he could be mentioned in story 1 as another one of the potential heirs, if Nicola can fit it in.

Elizabeth needs to say what info and clues she needs in stories 1 and/or 2. Companion G and her apparent mistress H (old harridan?) don’t perhaps need to arrive till late in story 1 or even story 2? Could add extra complications if mistress H does not know companion G’s real identity.

Story 2 will introduce villain C and resolve hero B’s false accusation. The guilty party is villain C, of course, and he will be removed from the house party at the end of story 2. Heroine Z is masquerading as abigail to her friend Countess F (wife of Earl A). It’s important that Countess F be the highest-ranking female in the house so that fake abigail can pull rank to get herself out of awkward situations below stairs. Heroine Z, while searching house for clues to missing brother, finds hero B’s hiding place. (Have decided that opening scene of book will be where Z walks in to find B stark naked! Not as good as Nicola’s naked widow on a plate with fruit and cream, but has possibilities.) Hero and heroine have met once before so there’s a vague memory but neither can place the other. She suspects him re her brother. He suspects her double-dealing since he’s almost sure she’s not a servant. Later, he saves her from villain C (a serial groper and worse). Cue possible sex scene. In return, she gets proof that villain C dunnit.

By end of story 2, hero B will be restored above stairs as potential heir, and villain C will have been removed. So potential heirs reduced to Earl A, hero B and heroine D. Abigail Z’s brother has been let out of house arrest but told to make himself scarce so that he doesn’t screw up my hero’s and heroine’s plans. (Brother has no discretion at all. In his cups, while gambling etc, he’s quite likely to tell everyone that his sister was pretending to be the abigail. Gets him off stage so you can ignore him for story 3, Elizabeth!) My hero and heroine concoct scheme for saving abigail’s reputation and making their love affair/betrothal seem above board. Abigail Z will have mysterious illness and disappear from scene, to return in her own character on some pretext (to be devised) as an unmarried lady friend of Countess. Then Z and B do scene of love at first sight, slightly hammed up and trying not to give it away by giggling.

Story 3 can then explore companion G’s tale and her relationship with host X. By the end, G will be restored as host X’s wife, I assume, and ready to do her duty by producing a proper heir! And the couples from stories 1 and 2 (D+J, Z+B) will be more than happy with each other and probably didn’t need the money anyway. I include the Earl and his wife in that too.

On the above basis, there would be some overlap between stories but not too much.

Character Crib for above!

A Earl, close relative of X and potential heir, married to F
B hero of story 2, falsely accused and in hiding, potential heir
C villain of story 2, potential heir
D heroine of story 1, potential heir, possibly close relative of host X
E feckless brother of Z, held under (comfortable) house arrest in order to stop him gossiping about B
F Countess, wife of A, allowing her close friend Z to masquerade as her abigail (without husband A’s knowledge)
G heroine of story 3, lost wife of host X, masquerading as companion to female character H in order to be at house party
H (elderly?) female relative of host X, employer of companion G but knows/doesn’t know who G really is
J hero of story 1, possibly with some family ties to host but not a potential heir to host, in need of rich wife
X host of house party, hero of story 3
Z heroine of story 2, masquerading as abigail to F in order to rescue (she thinks) her brother E

Real Servants included in synopsis above:
Butler
Housekeeper
Host X’s valet
Jailer of abigail’s feckless brother

+ other servants as needed for stories, eg Earl’s valet, housemaids, footmen.

Nicola Cornick
12 December 2003

Many thanks for putting so much work in on the backstory synopsis, Joanna. I like it a lot and think it could work very well. (Loved the harridan great-aunt/godmother, a real Maggie Smith character!) I think both you and Elizabeth have come up with brilliant stories to tell. I'm so excited about it I couldn't sleep last night and when I finally did I was dreaming about a Regency House Party!

I am now working on my own synop.

Elizabeth, I would like my heroine to be the younger sister of the host, your hero, if that's okay. That way she can give some inside info on the need for him to find an heir, the estrangement from his wife and the set up of the house party. When you have a moment, please could you tell me what his name and title is going to be and also the (publicly-accepted) reasons for his wife disappearing. The sister could maybe speculate on this and on how he feels about it, which could set the scene. Also, if there's anything else you would like me to include in the set up, just let me know!

Joanna, I thought I could drop a few hints for your story like you suggest - the strange backstairs goings on, the comings and goings at the dower house (or lodge? Ashdown has two lodge houses - we could move them a bit further away from the main house) and possibly that my heroine thinks one of the maids looks a bit familiar - perhaps they could have met once in London during the season or something like that? It would be nice if they could be friends once your lady-in-disguise is unmasked.

If either of you think of anything else you'd like included in the set up, just let me know!

Happy plotting!

Getting Started!

2005-10-31T11:11:00.000-08:00

In the beginning, Joanna Maitland had a Big Idea…

Inspired by the reality TV programme where ordinary men and women were taken back to Regency times to live the life of a Regency buck, young debutante or spinster chaperon for three months, Joanna came up with the idea of a book centred around the idea of a Regency House Party. But rather than keep this to herself, Joanna had the generosity to share the concept with her author colleagues and friends (us!) and so the idea of an anthology with three short stories by three different authors was born.

When Joanna suggested this to our editors at Harlequin Mills and Boon, Linda Fildew was most enthusiastic:

“December 9th 2003

Dear Nicola, Joanna and Elizabeth

Welcome to the Regency House Party!

We’re so pleased that the three of you have agreed to come on board with this special project. Our enthusiasm has been mounting as we've been discussing the potential contained in this special anthology and we hope we can enthuse you similarly.

We’d ask that you think about the concept, attached, and then work up the details between yourselves. Please supply an overarching outline which shows the links between the three stories and then we'd like to see individual story synopses to understand how each will fit with the others. Essentially, though, apart from giving you a jump start and a helpful steer or two along the way, we do believe that the best project will come out of the three of you collaborating closely and developing the plot twists and turns together.

Thank you again for saying you will be a party to the Party. We hope you have fun exploring the ways this project might develop. Do, please, be in touch with any of us if you need help along the way.”

The concept that was put forward was that the stories should be centred round, but not necessarily entirely based on, a country estate, possibly within striking distance of a major town/city. The time of year was left up to us – would we go for assignations in the balmy summer air or a festive Christmas party? We discussed amongst ourselves ideas of setting and structure and characterisation. The latter was going to be particularly challenging because each short story was going to feature a complete romance within itself but we would also be using a lot of each other’s characters.

And so the first of over 250 emails about the Regency House Party started to fly between the UK and Australia. The following series of emails shows how the project developed.

Welcome from Elizabeth

2005-10-15T17:54:00.000-07:00

Finally! Thanks, Joanna for telling me how to do this properly.
Welcome everyone. We hope you enjoy our blog. When we started writing A Regency Invitation, I don't think any of us realised quite how much fun it would be or how many emails it would involve. By the time we'd finished writing and had the book on our editors' desks, we had learnt an amazing amount about where ideas come from and, even more importantly, how to work with them and develop them. Writing it all down so that others can understand what you are thinking, is surprisingly effective.
Often people think writing a romance is easy, sort of just join the dots and add names. If this blog shares some of the reality with readers and other writers, we will be delighted. Above all, enjoy yourselves here. A fair few emails were buzzing around in the lead up to Christmas so you'll soon know who has goose for Christmas dinner, who makes shortbread and whose husband doesn't make enough mince pies. You'll also know about guide dog puppies and why Anthony's butler is called Ufton.
As Joanna said, Nicola has set all this up and is doing the bulk of the work; so, thanks, Nicola. You're amazing.

Regards,

Elizabeth

Welcome from Joanna

2005-10-14T03:47:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone and welcome!

I'm slightly apprehensive about doing this since I've never blogged before. Nicola (bless her!) has done all the work in setting up this blog. Elizabeth and I are acting as hangers-on, I suppose, though we did write hundreds of emails each during the writing.

This blog is something of an adventure for all three of us. We had such fun creating our joint book, A Regency Invitation, that we thought other writers and readers might be interested to see how it was done and the hoops and loops we went through to do it at a distance of 12,000 miles.

In some ways, it was a bit of a roller-coaster ride. There were huge highs, especially when we jointly solved some plot puzzle or finished a really difficult scene. There were lows when we couldn't see our way out of the complicated situations we'd written ourselves into. But we always managed to work our way out and crank back up the slope again. You'll see the process for yourself as the blog progresses. To be honest, with the three of us involved, even the problems were fun.

We're looking forward to hearing comments from visitors on the blog. Please do share your views. In the meantime, you're welcome to visit my website at www.joannamaitland.com. I'm about to update it so I hope that, by the time you visit, everything new will be there.

Best wishes

Joanna

Welcome to the Regency House Party of the Season!

2005-10-10T01:08:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome to the blog for A Regency Invitation! Over the next few weeks Joanna Maitland, Elizabeth Rolls and Nicola Cornick will be inviting you to read their blog on how the characters, setting and storyline for their joint book A Regency Invitation was developed. The whole process was great fun for us and we want to share it with you - and also to inspire other authors! Visit us at www.nicolacornick.com and www.joannamaitland.com and come and chat with us here at the Regency House Party of the Season!

Best wishes and welcome!

Nicola, Joanna and Elizabeth