Beaux, Ballrooms, and Battles: Téa Cooper and The Caper Merchant

Truth is Often Stranger Than Fiction

I have to admit to being in two minds about the Beaux, Battles & Ballrooms project when Susana asked me if I would like become involved. Not because I have anything against Regency romances or the Duke of Wellington for that matter. Generally I write Australian historical romances – oz-itoricals as they are sometimes called. This would be very different.

Apart from anything else I didn’t even know if there had been any Australians at the Battle of Waterloo and I wanted a link to Australia. I knew that many Waterloo veterans had settled in Australia after the battle but had any Australians fought at Waterloo?

Battle of Waterloo

I started digging around and imagine my delight when I discovered that there was one, and only one Australian at the Battle of Waterloo.

His name was Andrew Douglas White. He didn’t become the hero of my story, The Caper Merchant, but I felt it gave me license to involve an Australian.

And so the fictitious Samuel Blue, the hero of The Caper Merchant, was born. He inherited some of the irreverent, larrikin aspects of the Australians I have come to know and love.

But let’s leave fiction for a moment and let me tell you about Andrew because, as always, truth is stranger than fiction!

Andrew Douglas White was born in Sydney Cove in 1793 when the Australian colony was only five years old, the bastard son of a convict mother. His father, John White was chief surgeon on the expedition to establish the convict settlement at Botany Bay. His mother a convict, Rachel Turner, sentenced to seven years transportation for the theft of some clothing. She arrived in Sydney Cove in 1790 and served her sentence as Surgeon White’s housekeeper.

Sydney 1796

In 1794 the married John White returned to England but continued to support Rachel and his Australian son. In 1800 Andrew, then aged six and a half, was sent to England to join his father, step-mother and half-siblings.

Andrew was educated in England and joined the Royal Engineers as a second lieutenant in 1812. He went to Flanders in late 1813 as part of the British force and remained there serving as a junior officer on the Royal Engineer Staff at Waterloo. He survived the battle unscathed and returned to England to receive his Waterloo medal in 1816.

But the story doesn’t end there.

In 1823 Andrew returned Sydney and to the mother he could barely remember. The reunion was obviously a successful one, as he gave her his most prized possession, his Waterloo medal. She treasured it until her death.

Needless to say Andrew’s story set my mind racing and I’m currently working on a story called The Great Platypus Hoax—nothing to do with the Battle of Waterloo but it seemed such a shame to waste all the wonderful stories I had unearthed.

And Susana, thank you for your invitation to join in this great project. It’s been a fascinating ride!

Photos: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

June 18, 1815 was the day Napoleon Bonaparte’s Grande Armée was definitively routed by the ragtag band of soldiers from the Duke of Wellington’s Allied Army in a little Belgian town called Waterloo. The cost in men’s lives was high—22,000 dead or wounded for the Allied Army and 24,000 for the French. But the war with Napoleon that had dragged on for a dozen years was over for good, and the British people once more felt secure on their island shores.

The bicentenary of the famous battle seemed like an excellent opportunity to use that setting for a story, and before we knew it, we had nine authors eager to join in, and on April 1, 2015 our Waterloo-themed anthology was released to the world.

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About The Caper Merchant

The moon in Gemini is a fertile field of dreams, ideas and adventure but when the Dark Lady wanes into solitude and looks to the shadows life can take an unexpected turn.

For Pandora Wellingham the astrological predictions couldn’t be more fortuitous, especially if they enable her to spread her wings and escape the domineering control of her godparents. When Monsieur Cagneaux, caper merchant to the rich and famous, introduces her to the handsome dragoon, she believes her stars have aligned.

Career soldier Samuel Blue has lived much of his life in the shadows embroiled in the cloak and dagger world of ciphers and intelligence. It is during such a mission on behalf of his country that he meets the beautiful Pandora and inadvertently compromises her. But no matter how much he yearns to remain longer to secure the affections of the stargazing girl who has captivated his heart, Samuel has no time to dream of love and happy endings. He has information to deliver that may prove vital in the upcoming confrontation in Belgium.

Samuel’s journey takes him from the ballrooms of Grosvenor Square to the battlefield of Waterloo, with the sinister caper merchant dancing hot on his heels to prevent him from completing his mission. The stakes are high, and now that Pandora is in the picture, they’ve mounted even higher.

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Excerpt

The evening of Thursday, 8^th June 1815

Grosvenor Square, London

“Dora, are you touched or simply playing the fool?”

Pan-dora. My name is Pandora.

“I believe you are doing this on purpose. Since your father’s death you have done everything in your power to make my life a misery.” Aunt Audra’s reddened nose disappeared behind a pathetic scrap of lace. “What are we to do?” The peacock feathers attached to her over structured hair wilted in sympathy. “Everyone saw you. It is scandalous, simply scandalous.”

“Just a dance,” Pandora muttered under her breath. A waltz—nothing more than a waltz. It wasn’t as though they were the only couple on the dance floor.

A muted squawk of horror burst from Aunt Audra. “You hadn’t been introduced.”

In actual fact they had, although not in the manner Aunt Audra would have preferred. From all the fuss and commotion it appeared no one knew very much about Captain Samuel Blue other than the obvious. Tall, exceptionally good looking with his loose black curls and startling blue eyes, and from his dress uniform and the easy length of the body inhabiting it, a cavalry officer.

“When I suggested you enter the marriage mart I did not, in my remotest dreams, imagine you would disgrace yourself with the nearest available young man.”

Stifling a yawn, Pandora moved to the window and gazed out onto the terrace and the gardens where couples strolled along arm in arm. The sky, an inky velvet cape, arched above the vista. Soon the moon would rise. The new moon in Gemini. Her moon. A time of promise and rebirth.

Not if Aunt Audra had any say in the matter. “I have no idea what we are going to do.” She wrung her hands performing an admirable impersonation of Lady Macbeth.

Pandora clenched hers and restrained the desire to cover her ears. She knew what she would like to do. Somehow now didn’t seem the best moment to suggest repeating the entire waltz all over again. The dizzying sensation when he’d put his arm around her waist and drawn her to him before sweeping her across the room still made her pulse pound. Distinctly more scintillating than any of the dance lessons she’d received from the odious Monsieur Cagneaux.

With a crack like gunshot the door flew open. “What is all this nonsense?” Her uncle rested his vast bulk against the timber panels, preventing interruption.

Pandora sucked in a steadying breath. No one would be coming to her rescue. An entire battalion would find it difficult to dislodge him.

“I hope, young lady, you are feeling suitably ashamed.”

She swallowed back an honest response and bowed her head. Aunt Audra’s tears were an almost daily occurrence and easily ignored. However her godfather, the esteemed Lord Harold Smotherington, in full flight, commanded her full attention.

“Well?”

She lifted her shoulders and offered a conciliatory smile.

“Don’t you shrug at me, you silly little chit. Whatever possessed you?”

Aunt Audra emitted another strangled sob and dabbed ineffectually with her sodden handkerchief.

“For goodness sake, Audra, pull yourself together. I have made arrangements. Someone must institute recompense.”

Made arrangements? Recompense? What in heaven’s name had happened?

Our Stories

Jillian Chantal: Jeremiah’s Charge

Emmaline Rothesay has her eye on Jeremiah Denby as a potential suitor. When Captain Denby experiences a life-altering incident during the course of events surrounding the Battle of Waterloo, it throws a damper on Emmaline’s plans.

Téa Cooper: The Caper Merchant

The moon in Gemini is a fertile field of dreams, ideas and adventure and Pandora Wellingham is more than ready to spread her wings. When Monsieur Cagneaux, caper merchant to the rich and famous, introduces her to the handsome dragoon she believes her stars have aligned.

Susana Ellis: Lost and Found Lady

Catalina and Rupert fell in love in Spain in the aftermath of a battle, only to be separated by circumstances. Years later, they find each other again, just as another battle is brewing, but is it too late?

Aileen Fish: Captain Lumley’s Angel

Charged with the duty of keeping his friend’s widow safe, Captain Sam Lumley watches over Ellen Staverton as she recovers from her loss, growing fonder of her as each month passes. When Ellen takes a position as a companion, Sam must confront his feelings before she’s completely gone from his life.

Victoria Hinshaw: Folie Bleue

On the night of the 30th Anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, Aimée, Lady Prescott, reminisces about meeting her husband in Bruxelles on the eve of the fighting. She had avoided the dashing scarlet-clad British officers, but she could not resist the tempting smile and spellbinding charm of Captain Robert Prescott of the 16th Light Dragoons who— dangerously to Aimée— wore blue.

Heather King: Copenhagen’s Last Charge

When Meg Lacy finds herself riding through the streets of Brussels only hours after the Battle of Waterloo, romance is the last thing on her mind, especially with surly Lieutenant James Cooper. However, their bickering uncovers a strange empathy – until, that is, the lieutenant makes a grave error of judgment that jeopardizes their budding friendship…

Christa Paige: One Last Kiss

The moment Colin held Beatrice in his arms he wanted one last kiss to take with him into battle and an uncertain future. Despite the threat of a soldier’s death, he must survive, for he promises to return to her because one kiss from Beatrice would never be enough.

Sophia Strathmore: A Soldier Lay Dying

Amelia and Anne Evans find themselves orphaned when their father, General Evans, dies. With no other options available, Amelia accepts the deathbed proposal of Oliver Brighton, Earl of Montford, a long time family friend. When Lord Montford recovers from his battle wounds, can the two find lasting love?

David W. Wilkin: Not a Close Run Thing at All

Years, a decade. And now, Robert had come back into her life. Shortly before battle was to bring together more than three hundred thousand soldiers. They had but moments after all those years, and now, would they have anymore after?

About the Author

Best-selling Australian author Téa Cooper lives in a stone cottage on one hundred acres of bushland, just outside the time-warp village of Wollombi, New South Wales. Although Téa was born and raised in England the majority of her books, both contemporary and historical, are set in Australia, the country she now calls home. When she isn’t writing Téa can usually be found haunting the local museum or chatting to the locals, who provide her with a never-ending source of inspiration. She is a member of Romance Writers Australia and Hunter Romance Writers and is a 2014 finalist in the Australian Romance Readers Awards for her historical romance, Jazz Baby.

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Beaux, Ballrooms, and Battles: Victoria Hinshaw and Folie Bleue

Apr8

Last summer I stood in the Duke of Wellington’s home, Apsley House, in London, and gazed at the painting of his annual Waterloo Banquet. Held each year on the anniversary, June 18^th, it was attended by his officers and other luminaries including, from time to time, the Regent or King and the Prime Minister.

I thought about the all-male event and of all the wives who would remain at home, but who were every bit as much concerned with the battle. What would they do as they recalled the time of the battle in 1815?

Waterloo Banquet by William Salter, 1836, Apsley House

About Folie Bleue

On the night of the 30th Anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, , Lady Prescott, reminisces about meeting her husband in Bruxelles on the eve of the fighting. She had avoided the dashing scarlet-clad British officers, but she could not resist the tempting smile and spellbinding charm of Captain Robert Prescott of the 16th Light Dragoons who— dangerously to Aimée— wore blue.

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Excerpt

Aimée is conversing with a British officer, Captain Robert Prescott. They have just been introduced by her cousin, a cavalry officer in the Service of the Prince of Orange.

…I don’t know how long we sat there, but other strolling couples seemed to be heading back to the parade ground when I became aware of my surroundings again.

He noticed too. “I should return you to your family, for I am sure they wonder if I have carried you off.”

“Oh, yes. Tante will worry. “

“Your aunt would never have allowed you to accompany me if she knew I was English, I assume.”

I agreed.

“May I call upon you tomorrow?”

“I would be honored,” I replied. “But I think it would be preferable if we met in the park, as if by chance. My aunt might not approve of your call, but I would very much like to see you again.”
“She does not like the British?”

“She is like so many in Bruxelles, not taken with the new nation they are part of, and not really eager for Napoleon’s return either. Most are as placid as can be with any future that comes along. But I also fear she they would not approve of my associating with the Englishmen.”

“Even if I were to become an aide-de-camp to the Duke, I suppose?”

“Especially then, they would disapprove. Or perhaps not, for I know they are curious about him and might ply you with questions.”

“Well, no chance of that. My cavalry regiment has an Englishman with a Dutch-sounding name as our commander. General Vandeleur. They might like that fellow’s name.”

“Or perhaps not. Many here are not warm to the Dutch. They are very opinionated you know. They like no one but themselves. They have been ruled by this one and that one – the French, the Austrians, and none have cared for the benefit of the local people. Napoleon viewed them as sources of money and men for his wars. And still will, when and if he gets here. In the interim, they don’t like being ruled by the House of Orange either.”

“What a mess your Empereur has made of Europe. Or am I stamping on your toes there? Perhaps you agree with your aunt?”

About the Author

Victoria Hinshaw lives in the Regency. Really. Most of the year, her residence is high above the shore of Lake Michigan in the Regency House in Wisconsin though she spends the winters in Naples, Florida. Her novels, formerly published with Kensington Zebra, are now available also as e-books. She is an eager traveler, especially to England, though she loved her last trip to France where she visited Josphine Bonaparte’s estate, Malmaison, outside Paris. The house is now a museum and has wonderful gardens full of roses, though whether any of them are descendants of her originals we cannot tell.

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Beaux, Ballrooms, and Battles:

A Celebration of Waterloo

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Our Stories

Jillian Chantal: Jeremiah’s Charge

Téa Cooper: The Caper Merchant

Susana Ellis: Lost and Found Lady

Aileen Fish: Captain Lumley’s Angel

Victoria Hinshaw: Folie Bleue

Heather King: Copenhagen’s Last Charge

Christa Paige: One Last Kiss

Sophia Strathmore: A Soldier Lay Dying

David W. Wilkin: Not a Close Run Thing at All

Beaux, Ballrooms, and Battles: Sophia Strathmore and A Soldier Lay Dying

Apr7

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About A Soldier Lay Dying

Amelia Evans finds herself with nowhere else to turn after the death of her father except to Lt. Colonel Oliver Brighton, the Earl of Montford. Lord Montford had been a good friend and protégé of her father and he pledges her his assistance when they return to England from Belgium.

Mortally injured during the battle of Waterloo, Lord Montford marries Amelia to give her his name and to protect Amelia and her sister Anne from their evil uncle and would be guardian the Earl of Wembley. When Lord Montford doesn’t die and returns to Montford Manor, can he and Amelia find true and lasting love?

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Our Stories

Jillian Chantal: Jeremiah’s Charge

Téa Cooper: The Caper Merchant

Susana Ellis: Lost and Found Lady

Aileen Fish: Captain Lumley’s Angel

Victoria Hinshaw: Folie Bleue

Heather King: Copenhagen’s Last Charge

Christa Paige: One Last Kiss

Sophia Strathmore: A Soldier Lay Dying

David W. Wilkin: Not a Close Run Thing at All

About the Author

Sophia Strathmore lives in Northwest Ohio with her husband Valentino and her daughter Elle. When Sophia is not writing, she enjoys attending Elle’s diving meets and her cheerleading competitions. Sophia and Valentino are both graduates of the University of Toledo, College of Engineering. Having met at Technorama, the engineering school’s showcase for high school students, they are what Elle calls “nerds”. In her free time, Sophia mentors on a local First Robotics team and enjoys bicycling and traveling.

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Beaux, Ballrooms, and Battles: Christa Paige and One Last Kiss

Apr6

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About One Last Kiss

War is coming and Colin is ready for it, except when he thinks about the possibility that he could well and truly die without ever kissing Miss Beatrice Ainsley. When a horrible tragedy happens on the battlefield, Wellington entrusts him with a great obligation. Colin must turn to his duties, putting aside all thought of the woman who has plagued his dreams and driven him to distraction.

Beatrice has lived the simple life as the ward of her uncle, a powerful titled lord. She’s watched from afar as her cousins lived the high life. Napoleon’s unexpected advance interrupts her idle pursuits and the devilish Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Colin Scoville’s departure brings great upheaval.

Amidst the horrors of battle and the ensuing turmoil, Colin and Beatrice long to be reunited. Yet, Colin must journey to Charleroi and an uncertain future upon the battlefield. He promises to come back to her.

She holds onto his promise to return.

He must… because he took her heart with him to Waterloo.

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Our Stories

Jillian Chantal: Jeremiah’s Charge

Téa Cooper: The Caper Merchant

Susana Ellis: Lost and Found Lady

Aileen Fish: Captain Lumley’s Angel

Victoria Hinshaw: Folie Bleue

Heather King: Copenhagen’s Last Charge

Christa Paige: One Last Kiss

Sophia Strathmore: A Soldier Lay Dying

David W. Wilkin: Not a Close Run Thing at All

About the Author

Strict professor by day. Romance author by night. Lover of all things alpha-male twenty-four hours a day. Christa Paige is a multi-published author in several genres. Her passion for love stories spans many tropes. She writes sensual, romantic tales and sweet love stories. In her free time, Christa, along with her family, often go RVing. They spend the brisk Southern California winters dirt biking at the desert. When summer comes, she can usually be found floating on a lounger at the lake. She has a love/hate relationship with running but can’t turn down a themed 5k race. Her beagle babies are her running partners. She never tires of watching a Star Wars marathon or rereading Lord of the Rings. There’s a special place in her heart for the Regency Romance.

Beaux, Ballrooms, and Battles: David W. Wilkin

Apr3

Thanks for having me at the Parlour and putting togeher this anthology centered around the anniversary of the victory at Waterloo. Should the allied forces have lost there, Napoleon defeating them in detail, then perhaps we would be celebrating the 200^th anniverary of the end of the Napoleonic wars in 2018 or later. Had Napoleon succeeded on the day it would have bought him time, but the revolution had too many other issues working against it to succeed.

I found it interesting as the project evolved that I was the only man in the group. There are several other men who write not only in the period, but with some dabbling in the romantic aspect of a Regency era novel. And when able to write about such a battle as Waterloo, that the result would cause a historical change (though the revolution had to fail and Bonaparte doomed to lose, when and how cause streams in the way history resolves itself). Waterloo has been a battle that one might think of many heroic moments that come and go. But the day was a shoving match by the French with their numerous charges and the British standing stolidly defiant that the French would not break them. The Prince of Orange and his troops leaving the field early in the battle. My first thought was to take the example of the heroism of the defenders in La Haye Sainte, but I changed my mind (Baring, who commanded the defense there was a Hanoverian and I wanted to have my hero be completely British) and decided to tell the story of the men under Sir Frederick Adam, with some embellishments. It was one of the regiments in his brigade, that put the nail in the coffin of Napoleon’s efforts and finished the battle.

Establishing what part of the battle I was going to focus on, gave me my base to then meld in my romance. The officers of the army had at this time been fighting for a number of years, many of the leaders under Wellington had been in Egypt defeating Napoleon then when the served under Ralph Abercrombie. That is a long time at war and I saw in that a parallel to Jane Austen’s Persuasion. These men who now were generals, colonels, had not been so 15 years before that. Then they had not the promotions, titles, or wealth that they had at Waterloo. And so my story developed with love denied to love united, but with a giant, horrible, deadly, battle between.

In other works, I have explored some other issues with the Battle of Waterloo. In my Two Peas in a Pod, identical brothers serve at the battle in the opening chapter, to then return to London in the months after and consider their futures, and being identical, their love lives which revolve around their exchanging their identities. In The Shattered Mirror I explore a different hero of the Napoleonic Wars, a sea captain who has returned home to England, his last ship when engaged against the enemy took damage and his leg, shattered so that he walks with a limp, but hidden by his trousers is the disfigured limb. One that he is sure would prevent the love of a woman from ever accepting.

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Beaux, Ballrooms, and Battles:

A Celebration of Waterloo

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Our Stories

Jillian Chantal: Jeremiah’s Charge

Téa Cooper: The Caper Merchant

Susana Ellis: Lost and Found Lady

Aileen Fish: Captain Lumley’s Angel

Victoria Hinshaw: Folie Bleue

Heather King: Copenhagen’s Last Charge

Christa Paige: One Last Kiss

Sophia Strathmore: A Soldier Lay Dying

David W. Wilkin: Not a Close Run Thing at All

About Not a Close Run Thing at All

Samantha, Lady Worcester had thought love was over for her, much like the war should have been. The Bastille had fallen shortly after she had been born. Her entire life the French and their Revolution had affected her and all whom she knew. Even to having determined who she married, though her husband now had been dead and buried these eight years.

Yet now Robert Barnes, a major-general in command of one of Wellington’s brigades, had appeared before her, years since he had been forgotten and dismissed. The man she had once loved, but because he had only been a captain with no fortune, her father had shown him the door.

With a battle at hand, she could not let down the defenses that surrounded her heart. Could she? As her father’s hostess, she had travelled with him to Brussels where he served with the British delegation. Duty had taken her that night to the Duchess of Richmond’s ball. The last man she ever expected to see was Robert, who as a young captain of few prospects, had offered for her, only to be turned out by her father so that she could make an alliance with a much older, and better positioned (wealthy), aristocrat.Now, their forces were sure to engage Napoleon and the resurgent Grande Armée. Meeting Robert again just before he was to be pulled into such a horrific maelstrom surely was Fate’s cruelest trick ever. A fate her heart could not possibly withstand.

About the Author

An award winning author, Mr. Wilkin is a graduate in history. He has been writing in various genres for thirty years. Extensive study of premodern civilizations, including years as a re-enactor of medieval, renaissance and regency times has given Mr. Wilkin an insight into such antiquated cultures.

Trained in fighting forms as well as his background in history lends his fantasy work to encompass mores beyond simple hero quests to add the depth of the world and political forms to his tales.

Throughout his involvement with various periods of long ago days, he has also learned the dances of those times. Not only becoming proficient at them but also teaching thousands how to do them as well.

Mr. Wilkin regularly posts about Regency history at his blog (see below), and as a member of English Historical Fiction Authors. You can read that blog at http://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.com/ His very first article was published while in college, and though that magazine is defunct, he still waits patiently for the few dollars the publisher owes him for the piece.

Mr. Wilkin is also the author of several Regency romances, and including a sequel to the epic Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. His recent work, Beggars Can’t Be Choosier, has won the prestigious Outstanding Historical Romance award from Romance Reviews Magazine.

Beaux, Ballrooms, and Battles: Aileen Fish and Captain Lumley’s Angel

Apr2

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About Captain Lumley’s Angel

Captain Samuel Lumley is proud to follow in his cousin’s footsteps and serve king and country in the cavalry. Wounded in the Battle of Waterloo, he is cared for by an angel in the form of his lieutenant’s wife. A promise to his dying comrade leaves Sam with the responsibility of seeing to the safety of the lieutenant’s widow, Mrs. Ellen Staverton.

Upon their return to England, Ellen finds herself homeless and in need of employment. When Sam’s mother offers her a temporary home with the family, Ellen quickly grows too fond of them and Sam in particular. She must find a position before she falls for him, which would dishonor the memory of her dead husband.

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Our Stories

Jillian Chantal: Jeremiah’s Charge

Téa Cooper: The Caper Merchant

Susana Ellis: Lost and Found Lady

Aileen Fish: Captain Lumley’s Angel

Victoria Hinshaw: Folie Bleue

Heather King: Copenhagen’s Last Charge

Christa Paige: One Last Kiss

Sophia Strathmore: A Soldier Lay Dying

David W. Wilkin: Not a Close Run Thing at All

About the Author

USA Today Bestselling Author Aileen Fish is an avid quilter and auto racing fan who finds there aren’t enough hours in a day/week/lifetime to stay up with her “to do” list. There is always another quilt or story begging to steal away attention from the others. When she has a spare moment she enjoys spending time with her two daughters and their families, and her fairy princess granddaughter. Her books include The Bridgethorpe Brides series and the Small Town Sweethearts series.

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Beaux, Ballrooms, and Battles: Release Day!

Apr1

Beaux, Ballrooms, and Battles:

A Celebration of Waterloo

The bicentenary of the famous battle seemed like an excellent opportunity to use that setting for a story, and before I knew it, I had eight other authors eager to join me,and to make a long story short, today our Waterloo-themed anthology has been released to the world.

You are all invited to:

our Book Release Facebook Party on April 1st
our Website and Facebook Page
our Rafflecopter

Our Stories

Jillian Chantal: Jeremiah’s Last Charge

Téa Cooper: The Caper Merchant

Susana Ellis: Lost and Found Lady

Aileen Fish: Captain Lumley’s Angel

Victoria Hinshaw: Folie Bleue

Heather King: Copenhagen’s Last Charge

When Meg Lacy finds herself riding through the streets of Brussels only hours after the Battle of Waterloo, romance is the last thing on her mind, especially with surly Lieutenant James Cooper. However, their bickering uncovers a strange empathy—until, that is, the lieutenant makes a grave error of judgment that jeopardizes their budding friendship…

Christa Paige: One Last Kiss

Sophia Strathmore: A Soldier Lay Dying

David W. Wilkin: Not a Close Run Thing At All

About Lost and Found Lady

On April 24, 1794, a girl child was born to an unknown Frenchwoman in a convent in Salamanca, Spain. Alas, her mother died in childbirth, and the little girl—Catalina—was given to a childless couple to raise.

Eighteen years later…the Peninsular War between the British and the French wages on, now perilously near Catalina’s home. After an afternoon yearning for adventure in her life, Catalina comes across a wounded British soldier in need of rescue. Voilà! An adventure! The sparks between them ignite, and before he returns to his post, Rupert promises to return for her.

But will he? Catalina’s grandmother warns her that some men make promises easily, but fail to carry them out. Catalina doesn’t believe Rupert is that sort, but what does she know? All she can do is wait…and pray.

But Fate has a few surprises in store for both Catalina and Rupert. When they meet again, it will be in another place where another battle is brewing, and their circumstances have been considerably altered. Will their love stand the test of time? And how will their lives be affected by the outcome of the conflict between the Iron Duke and the Emperor of the French?

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Excerpt

September 14, 1793

A beach near Dieppe, France

“I don’t like the look of those clouds, monsieur,” Tobias McIntosh said in fluent French to the gray-bearded old man in a sailor hat waiting impatiently near the rowboat that was beginning to bob more sharply with each swell of the waves. “Are you sure your vessel can make it safely all the way to Newhaven in these choppy seas?”

The old man waved a hand over the horizon. “La tempête, it is not a threat, if we leave immédiatement. Plus tard…” He shrugged. “Je ne sais pas.”

“Please, mon amour,” pleaded the small woman wrapped in a hooded gray cloak standing at his side. “Allow me to stay with you. I don’t want to go to England. I promise I will be prudent.”

A strong gust of wind caught her hood and forced it down, revealing her mop of shiny dark locks. Tobias felt like seizing her hand and pulling her away from the ominous waves to a place of safety where she and their unborn child could stay until the senseless Terreur was over.

“Justine, ma chère, we have discussed this endlessly. There is no place in France safe enough for you if your identity as the daughter of the Comte d’Audet is discovered.” He shivered. “I could not bear it if you were to suffer the same fate at the hands of the revolutionaries as your parents did when I failed to save them.”

She threw her arms around him, the top of her head barely reaching his chin. “Non, mon amour, it was not your fault. You could not have saved them. It was miraculeux that you saved me. I should have died with them.”

She looked up to catch his gaze, her face ashen. “Instead, we met and have had three merveilleux months together. If it is my time to die, I wish to die at your side.”

Tobias felt like his heart was going to break. His very soul demanded that the two of them remain together and yet… there was a price on both their heads, and the family of the Vicomte Lefebre was waiting for him in Amiens, the revolutionaries expected to reach them before midday. It was a dangerous work he was involved in—rescuing imperiled French nobility from bloodthirsty, vengeful mobs—but he had pledged himself to the cause and honor demanded that he carry on. And besides, there was now someone else to consider.

“The child,” he said with more firmness than he felt. “We have our child to consider, now, Justine ma chère. The next Earl of Dumfries. He must live to grow up and make his way in the world.”

Not to mention the fact that Tobias was human enough to wish to leave a child to mark his legacy in the world—his and Justine’s. He felt a heaviness in his heart that he might not live long enough to know this child he and Justine had created together. He could not allow his personal wishes to undermine his conviction. Justine and the child must survive.

Justine’s blue eyes filled with tears. “But I cannot! I will die without you, mon cher mari. You cannot ask it of me!”

“Justine,” he said, pushing away from her to clasp her shoulders and look her directly in the eye. “You are a brave woman, the strongest I have ever known. You have survived many hardships and you can survive this. Take this letter to my brother in London, and he will see to your safety until the time comes that I can join you. My comrades in Newhaven will see that you are properly escorted.”

He handed over a letter and a bag of coins. “This should be enough to get you to London.”

After she had reluctantly accepted and pocketed the items beneath her cloak, he squeezed her hands.

“Be sure to eat well, ma chère. You are so thin and my son must be born healthy.”

She gave him a feigned smile. “Our daughter is the one responsible for my sickness in the mornings… I do not believe she wishes me to even look at food.”

She looked apprehensively at the increasingly angry waves as they tossed the small boat moored rather loosely to a rock on the shore and her hands impulsively went to her stomach.

“Make haste, monsieur,” the old sailor called as he peered anxiously at the darkening clouds. “We must depart now if we are to escape the storm. Bid your chère-amie adieu maintenant or wait for another day. I must return to the bateau.”

“Tobias,” she said, her voice shaking.

He wondered if he would ever again hear her say his name with that adorable French inflection that had drawn him from their first meeting.

“Go, Justine. Go to my family and keep our child safe. I promise I will join you soon.”

He scooped her up in his arms and carried her toward the dinghy, trying to ignore her tears. The old sailor held the boat as still as he could while Tobias placed her on the seat and kissed her hard before striding back to the shore, each footstep heavier than the last.

He studied the darkening sky as the sailor climbed in the boat. “You are sure it is safe?”

“La Chasseresse, she is très robuste. A few waves will not topple her, monsieur.”

“Je t’aime, mon amour,” she said to him plaintively, her chin trembling.

“Au revoir, ma chère,” he said, trying to smile, although his vision was blurring from tears.

Will I ever see her again?

He stood watching as the dinghy made its way slowly through the choppy sea to the larger ship anchored in the distance, grief-stricken and unable to concentrate on anything but his pain. When the ship finally sailed off into the horizon, he fell to his knees and prayed as he had never done before for the safety of his beloved. He remained in that position until drops of rain on his face reminded him of the Lefebre family waiting for him in Amiens.

With a deep breath, he rose and made his way to the nearby forest, where his horse waited, tied to a tree.

“Come, my friend. We have a long, wet journey ahead of us.”

Setting foot in the stirrup, he swung his leg over the saddle and urged the horse to a gallop, feeling his heart rip into pieces with every step away from his beloved.

Jude Knight: Farewell to Kindness

Mar31

A Hearty Welcome to Fellow Bluestocking Belle

Jude Knight

A short history of invalid chairs

One of the many things I love about writing historical romance is the odd bits of knowledge I need to research.

In Farewell to Kindness, I needed a way for my hero’s cousin, an injured soldier, to get around the house under his own steam, which led me to invalid chairs, and ultimately to my little novella, Candle’s Christmas Chair.

Wheels on chairs for invalids go back a very long way. We have documentary evidence of them in a Chinese print reliably dated to AD 525, but human ingenuity quite possibly put chairs and wheels together long before that.

It’s likely, though, that only the rich had such chairs. Certainly, once wheeled chairs for invalids begin to regularly pop up in the documentary record, the posteriors seated in them belonged to the rich and the noble.

King Phillip’s chair

In 1595, King Philip II of Spain was sketched sitting in a reclining chair with wheels on each leg. It was clunky and heavy, and he needed to be pushed around by a servant, but – hey – king, right?

Self-propelling chairs arrived remarkably quickly after that, unsurprisingly developed by someone who was himself in need of a chair. In 1655, Stephen Farfler, a paraplegic watchmaker, moved himself around in a chair with three wheels. He moved around by turning handles that worked on the geared front wheel.

Most of the sites I looked at when researching wheelchairs jump from Farfler to John Dawson of Bath. But wheelchairs – both ordinary chairs with wheels and more advanced chairs designed specifically to have wheels – continued right through.

And, in any case, the Bath chair was invented around 1750 by James Heath. Bath was becoming popular as a spa town, but it was not designed to easily get around in a carriage, and ordinary wheelchairs really only worked well on a flat surface such as inside the house.

The Bath chair was designed to take invalids out and about; primarily down to the Roman Baths for the treatment, and then back home again. Until then, invalids used the sedan chair, which required two attendants to carry. The Bath chair just needed one person at the back pushing. Furthermore, the occupant of the chair had the steering stick and could therefore directly control the direction of travel. I can see that would be appealing to the average wealthy dowager!

You can see from the advertisement that Heath also sold wheelchairs. The example shown appears to have wheels at the front and stabilising legs at the rear, so no doubt the attendant lifted slightly when he pushed.

The Merlin chair

But the self-propelling chair had not gone away. John Joseph Merlin, a Belgian inventor and watchmaker (and, perhaps not incidentally the inventor of the in-line skate) created a successful chair that became the model for others. Keith Armstrong, in A very short history of the bicycle and wheelchair, says:

In the mid 1770’s he invented roller-skates and presented his new creation by arriving at a London party playing his violin whilst gliding around the room. Merlin received rapacious applause and an encore, the party-goers demanded that he repeated his act, during the second attempt, he quickly discovered that he didn’t known how to stop and he had a major accident. The next we read about him is of the invention of a new type of self-propelled wheelchair… His design was so successful that 120 years later, a London catalogue of medical equipment was able to boast nine different ‘Merlin’ wheelchairs available on their books. Merlin died in 1803.

As far as I can tell, the Merlin chair had small handles on its arms. But the name “Merlin chair” was retained for later chairs where the occupant was able to turn the large rear wheels to get around, and – by the late 19th century – the smaller propelling wheel had arrived, to help people keep their hands clean.

Meanwhile, back at the end of the 18th century, let’s not forget John Dawson. The most prominent Bath chair maker of his time, his chairs outsold everyone else’s. Since, by all accounts, they were not very comfortable, we must assume that the others were worse!

About Farewell to Kindness

For three years, Rede has been searching for those who ordered the murders of his wife and children. Now close to end of his quest, he travels to his country estate to be close to the investigation.

He is fascinated by the lovely widow who lives in one of the cottages he owns. A widow who pays no rent. A widow, moreover, with a small daughter whose distinctive eyes mark her as as the child of his predecessor as Earl.

Six years ago, Anne blackmailed Rede’s predecessor at arrow-point for an income and a place to livein hiding from her guardian’s sinister plans for her and her sisters. He no longer has legal rights over her, but the youngest sister is still only 18. He cannot be allowed to find her.

Rede is everything she has learned not to trust: a man, a peer, a Redepenning. If he discovers who she is, she may lose everything.

To build a future together, Rede and Anne must be prepared to face their pasts.

Regency noir

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Excerpt

George was drunk. But not nearly drunk enough. He still saw his young friend’s dying eyes everywhere. In half-caught glimpses of strangers reflected in windows along Bond Street, under the hats of coachmen that passed him along the silent streets to Bedford Square, in the flickering lamps that shone pallidly against the cold London dawn as he stumbled up the steps to his front door.

They followed his every waking hour: hot, angry, hate-filled eyes that had once been warm with admiration.

He drank to forget, but all he could do was remember.

One more flight of stairs, then through the half open door to his private sitting room, already reaching for the waiting decanter of brandy as he crossed the floor.

He had a glass of oblivion halfway to his lips before he noticed the painting.

It stood on an easel, lit by a carefully arranged tree of candles. George’s own face was illuminated—the golden shades of his hair, his intensely blue eyes. The artist had captured his high cheekbones and sculpted jaw. “One of London’s most beautiful men,” he’d been called.

He stalked to the easel, moving with great care to avoid spilling his drink.

Yes. The artist had talent. Who could have given him such a thing?

As he bent forward to look at it more closely, something whipped past his face. With a solid thunk, an arrow struck the painting, to stand quivering between the painted eyes.

Read the first three chapters here.

About the Author

Jude Knight writes strong determined heroines, heroes who can appreciate a clever capable woman, villains you’ll love to loathe, and all with a leavening of humour.

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Caroline Warfield: Dangerous Secrets

Mar30

A Hearty Welcome to Fellow Bluestocking Belle

Caroline Warfield

Giveaway!

Win the right to name characters in an as yet unwritten novella plus an Amazon gift card. Dangerous Secrets Blog Tour 2015

About Dangerous Secrets

Rome 1820

Major Lord James Heyworth fled to Rome. Behind him lie disgrace, shame, and secrets he is desperate to keep even from powerful friends in London. He accepts employment as an interpreter just to have money to eat. Nora Haley, his employer, is a widow. She came to Rome to help her dying brother and protect his daughter. She can’t trust any man who drinks. She had enough of that in her marriage. She fears deception will destroy everything she desires. Either one, however, will dare anything for the tiny girl in their care. They will even enter a sham marriage to protect her. Will love—and the truth—bind them both together?

Jamie Quizzes His Employer

Early in DANGEROUS SECRETS Jamie Heyworth finds himself curious about the energetic little woman who has hired him to be her interpreter. He is happy to let her buy lunch, (he hasn’t eaten regularly in recent weeks) but he’s puzzled. He can’t figure out why the fool woman is alone in a foreign country to begin with. A little food loosens his tongue and he startles her by speaking into an uncomfortably long silence.

Saint Bartholomew Bridge, 1825, by Jean-Baptiste Corot (Wikipedia Commons)

Excerpt

“You are alone here.” His sudden words proved her wrong. He hadn’t forgotten.

“Aside from Robert.”

“Robert?” he asked.

“My brother.”

“I’m confused. If your brother is here, why can’t he interpret for you?”

“Robert is ill, in the hospital. I have to act for him,” she explained.

“But you came here on your own. Your father permitted such a thing?” he probed.

He reached for another roll. When did this impertinent man eat last?

“My father couldn’t—no, wouldn’t—come when Robert wrote asking for help,” she explained. “He sent me as his surrogate.”

“So he ordered you to come a thousand miles alone to lecture his son on the error of his ways?” the major asked in between bites.

“Not ordered! Permitted. He has his parish to shepherd. Who could have come with me?” Her father actually tried to stop her, but she left for Rome on her own. The memory made her temper snap. “I’m no schoolroom miss. I can take care of myself,” she insisted.

“You’ve managed without difficulty?” The major looked skeptical.

“Yes!” Nora knew she answered too quickly.

The major raised an eyebrow, and she felt her face warm. My troubles with the ship and the sailors are none of his business. I managed them.

“Language is a barrier,” she admitted, but he knew that much already. “That’s why I hired you. Difficulties have been trivial. Robert’s man of business found me rooms and managed to convey me there with signs and gestures. The landlady . . .” She hesitated.

“Landlady?” he prompted.

“Speaks broken English. She tried to make me uneasy. She claimed there were men lurking at the door, but I think she just wanted me to hire a relative as a guide. I refused.”

His deep brown eyes widened when she mentioned lurking strangers, but he said only, “Wise. You wouldn’t want a guide you don’t understand. Didn’t your father think you would need protection?”

“He assumes my virtue to be its own shield! His widowed daughter—plain and practical Eleanora—wouldn’t need protection.” The words tasted as bitter in her mouth as the Italian coffee.

The major, to his credit, ignored that outburst. Instead he asked, “Wasn’t he concerned about his granddaughter?”

Nora felt her heart stutter. She took a deep breath before answering. “He doesn’t know about her.”

The major looked puzzled, waiting for more. Desire to protect Robert’s privacy warred with urge to confide in someone. As her interpreter, he would find out soon enough.

“My niece is Italian,” she began, “and Catholic. Robert kept his marriage secret.”

The shabby major appeared to think that over. “What will your father do with an Italian granddaughter?” he asked at last.

“Deny her. Force conversion. God knows, but it wouldn’t be pleasant. Robert must protect her from that.”

“Does your brother wish her to live in England?”

“Not in Dorset, not near Father. Perhaps in Italy, but he wishes more for her than the convent school.” Nora knew that much with certainty.

“And her Italian relatives?” he asked.

Nora shrugged. “I don’t know. My late, heretofore unknown sister-in-law was an orphan but from a large extended family.” Robert had once implied there was more, but Nora didn’t know any names or places. “What they wish is unknown to me,” she said.

“Would they take the child in? That would solve your problems,” he suggested.

“Robert seems reluctant about that. He hasn’t said why. I think he wants to make sure someone he trusts will see that she is loved, as well as cared for.” When Robert first told her about the girl, Nora had warmed at the thought of having a child to care for. Now she vacillated between hope and fear, neither of which accomplished anything useful. This shabby major doesn’t need to know my pathetic hopes.

The major’s thick brown lashes veiled his eyes as well as he veiled his thoughts. “Are your brother’s wishes in writing?” he asked.

“I don’t know. He pressed a scrap of foolscap into my hand the first day.” She rummaged in her reticule. “It has an Italian name on it. He said that if he died I should contact this man.” She held out the foolscap for him to see.

“Putting you at the mercy of another Italian,” he mumbled, taking the foolscap. The major looked at the name and cursed softly. “And a high class one at that.”

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About the Author

Caroline Warfield has at various times been an army brat, a librarian, a poet, a raiser of children, a nun, a bird watcher, an Internet and Web services manager, a conference speaker, an indexer, a tech writer, a genealogist, and, of course, a romantic. She has sailed through the English channel while it was still mined from WWII, stood on the walls of Troy, searched Scotland for the location of an entirely fictional castle (and found it), climbed the steps to the Parthenon, floated down the Thames from the Tower to Greenwich, shopped in the Ginza, lost herself in the Louvre, gone on a night safari at the Singapore zoo, walked in the Black Forest, and explored the underground cistern of Istanbul. By far the biggest adventure has been life-long marriage to a prince among men.

She sits in front of a keyboard at a desk surrounded by windows, looks out at the trees and imagines. Her greatest joy is when one of those imaginings comes to life on the page and in the imagination of her readers.

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Bluestocking Belles

A Celebration of Waterloo: The Battle of Salamanca

Mar26

July 22, 1812

Both armies were just outside Salamanca. It was hot and humid, particularly after a heavy thunderstorm the night before. Wellington, aware that French reinforcements were expected, was planning to retreat back to Ciudad Rodrigo. Marmont, the French commander, was eager to do battle before the arrival of the reinforcements so that he could claim all the credit for defeating Wellington.

Auguste Marmont

However, Wellington received reports (no doubt from his Exploring Officers) that French troops were taking up positions on the slopes of two steep hills, the Arapiles (south of Salamanca). Wellington saw the danger immediately and ordered the French repulsed, sending two infantry divisions to take position below the ridge of the closer hill. Having seen the dust in the distance from the supply wagons on their way to Ciudad Rodrigo and believing that the British were in retreat, Marmont didn’t realize that most of Wellington’s troops were still hidden behind the ridge. Wellington ordered up two more divisions from Salamanca.

At midday, Wellington descended the near hill and joined his senior staff for a very late breakfast at a nearby farm where they had a good view of the area. Because of bullets flying from nearby skirmishes, the meal had to be moved to a safer place. Wellington paced the wall of the farmyard, scanning the area with his spyglass. When finally persuaded to eat some bread and part of a roast chicken, he grabbed one of the chicken legs and ate it with one hand while continuing to study the area between the two ridges with his spyglass.

At 2:00, he rose from the table with a whoop of delight, throwing the chicken leg over his shoulder and shouting, “By God! That will do!” and ran to his horse, ordering his men to follow him.

French troops were marching through the gap of the two ridges—exactly what he had been hoping to see. Turning to his Spanish aide-de-camp, Miguel Ricardo de Alava y Esquivel, he remarked, “Mon cher Alava, Marmont est perdu!” (My dear Alava, Marmont is lost!)

Marmont had made a fatal error in judgment and Wellington knew he was in a perfect position to crush the French.

Wellington struck hard and fast, taking the French by surprise. Marmont was badly wounded by an exploding shell and carried to the rear. Other French senior officers were killed or severely wounded, and the French had no chance to re-group.

The main battle took less than an hour. It was later said that Wellington had “defeated 40,000 men in 40 minutes.” Wellington himself took a ball in the thigh, but his holster took most of the hit, leaving him with a minor wound.

Unfortunately, most of the remaining French army managed to escape across the Tormes River, due to a failure of the Spanish commander abandoning his post against orders.

The night after the battle, the residents of Salamanca, having seen most of the conflict, came out onto the battlefield with provisions for the men, who had gone without eating and drinking for nearly a day while fighting a battle under the grueling Spanish sun.

Two imperial eagles snatched from the French during the Battle of Salamanca

Lost and Found Lady

Catalina lives near the battlefield outside a town called Las Torres. After the battle, she finds a wounded British soldier on the road and takes him to a place of safety where she can tend to his head wound. The British soldier is Rupert Ellsworth, one of Wellington’s Exploring Officers. The pair are immediately drawn to each other, but Rupert knows there’s no future for them, having promised his father he would marry a suitable English girl. A devout Catholic, Catalina is not a whore to be loved and abandoned. Still, Rupert cannot help but wish he could sweep her away from her disagreeable family. After he returns to his company, they both wonder if they will ever see each other again.

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Beaux, Ballrooms, and Battles

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Jillian Chantal: Jeremiah’s Charge

Téa Cooper: The Caper Merchant

Susana Ellis: Lost and Found Lady

Aileen Fish: Captain Lumley’s Angel

Victoria Hinshaw: Folie Bleue

Heather King: Copenhagen’s Last Charge

When Meg Lacy finds herself riding through the streets of Brussels only hours after the Battle of Waterloo, romance is the last thing on her mind, especially with surly Lieutenant James Cooper. However, their bickering uncovers a strange empathy—until, that is, the lieutenant makes a grave error of judgment that jeopardizes their budding friendship…