I have a confession to make regarding my last story, “Not Quite a Lady”. My heroine, Ruby Gillingham went to London to stay with her aunt, Lady Paxton, who offered to sponsor her debut in London’s Little Season. This was a round of dinners, military reviews, musicale evenings, theatre parties, masquerades, picnics, al fresco breakfasts and balls designed to introduce ladies of gentle birth to eligible young men – object matrimony. But before you could embark on the Season you had to first be presented at court.
I carefully researched the criteria necessary to be eligible for court presentation. First of all the lady had to be of good moral and social character. Secondly her sponsor had to be someone who had herself been presented, in Ruby’s case it was her Aunt Ada. And finally her status in society. Being the daughter of a country gentleman made her eligible but I knew that Ruby wasn’t going to stay in London for the full two months of the Little Season. It began in September and ended the beginning of November, when fox hunting began. She left halfway through.
Court presentation required a lengthy process starting with submitting the candidate’s name to the Lord Chancellor, waiting to hear if she was chosen and once she received the summons she had three weeks to order her required gown and practice the complicated court curtsey. Given the time Ruby actually spent in London I didn’t think it would work so I omitted her presentation. I apologize to my readers since I do strive for historical accuracy. I promise not to take a shortcut again.
Hushed
Don’t say a word!
In one day, young TAMARA goes from being the king’s favorite, his first born and much-loved thirteen-year-old daughter, to having her father brutally murdered. Then she’s trapped by a time spell where no one hears her screams. Once she’d finally freed, she’s determined to stay that way. So, when she turns eighteen and her mother attempts to marry her off for “her own good,” Tamara is having none of it.
However, is going on a quest across realms to find her lost nephew the best plan? She’ll meets marauding giants and wily talking lizards. She’ll have to face spirits who should know better than to leave their graves and resurrect memories best left buried. Most important of all, she’ll have to come to terms with her greatest weakness, or strength, depending on her point of view. All the while, in the stillness a danger lurks that could destroy the rest of her family, and perhaps even her entire world.
For once, will Tamara be up to the task of being the one to save the day?
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