“It is for…” Malik looked from her to Masao and back again before continuing. “I wish to learn more about the life of Jesus. Not Jesus the prophet, but Jesus the man you see as God,” he said, his usually soft voice even calmer and smoother than usual. His wide brown eyes, flecked with green and grey, were searching as he looked at her.
Paloma cleared her throat and startled when Confetti jumped up next to her in that moment of solemn confession. Once she composed herself again, she nodded and smiled back at her friend, trying to be reassuring.
“And is there anything that Aisha might need me to bring over? Something to contribute to dinner, or anything for the baby?” She allowed Confetti to nuzzle her hands as she spoke, thankful that the cat was being gentle.
“I think,” Malik said, “she will just be thankful for female company. She has few friends, and I know that she enjoys the time she spends with you,” he told her.
Paloma could count on her two hands the number of times Malik had allowed Aisha to come over and spend time with either she and Me’chelle or she and Tawny. And she could count only her wedding to Edward and Jason’s wedding to Me’chelle as times that Malik and Aisha had stepped foot inside of a church building.
But he had allowed Aisha and Abdul to come to the kids’ birthday parties twice in the last five years. They had come as a family three times since Sanaa had been born to spend time with the Stuarts and their extended family.
Instead of mentioning any of this, she nodded and smiled once more.
Who was she to argue the point? Malik Fakhoury was a kind man, but very traditional in many ways. Of course he would wish to protect his family from anything or anyone he deemed to be a threat to their lifestyle and beliefs.
“Then I will be sure to show up,” she told him. “Will this be formal, informal, or-?”
“That part does not matter. Wear what you wish as long as it is conservative, please,” the man told her. “There is much I wish to learn, and I think it would be good for Aisha and Abdul to hear it, too. And while Sanaa will not understand, maybe some of it will… how do you say it? Rub off?”
Paloma watched as the other men nodded and followed their lead. “Yes,” Masao confirmed. “Perhaps some of the learning will rub off on the child,” he said cheerily.
“So, does seven work for you,” Edward asked her. “Work for us? That was what Aisha and Malik suggested,” he said, even as Paloma saw him touching a hand to his ribcage and rubbing it.
Did he know he’d done it, or was he not even mindful of the action? She’d been worrying about him for several weeks now, since the first time she noticed it.
He needs to go see his cardiologist, or at least, someone about the itching, she thought as she agreed to seven o’clock.
And time would tell how it would go, but she was hopeful.
Even though the mirror had dissolved; even though Masao was grieving the loss of his father, and Quentin had had a health scare, and Lovan was already planning to marry his longtime girlfriend, though he was so young. Though Chosen and Duncan were getting ready to head for college soon, and Cherish was going to be done with high school before she knew it, there was hope.
A lot of hope.
And Paloma, for one, was thankful for it.
Separating Fact and Fiction
1690s-1700s timeline
Mary Beatrice Anna Margherita Isabella d’Este of Modena, the wife of James the Pretender, grew up without her father, who died when she was four years old. Her only sibling, a brother, Francesco, inherited their father’s title of Duke at that time, but their mother, Laura Martinozzi, known as a strict but intelligent woman, acted as duchy regent until Francesco came of age.
According to history, it was actually Laura who accepted the match between Mary and James after Laura’s hopes of a match with then-eleven year old Charles II of Spain did not pull together. She was greeted affectionately in France, and dispassionately in England, where, until James, Duke of York became King, she was known as “the Pope’s daughter,” a slander in the eyes of Protestant England. When James did ascend to the throne in early February, 1685, Mary’s health was so poor after the death of their infant daughter, Isabella, that there was already a successor in mind to replace her should she die.
James and Mary’s first marriage ceremony was by-proxy and James, being twenty-five years Mary’s senior, was frightening to her at first. It is said that for a long while, she erupted into tears at the mere sight of him, with his pock-marked face (affected by smallpox) and stutter. James died several days after suffering a stroke during Mass, having a fatal seizure while King Louis was away as an emissary for the Treaty, also called the Peace of Ryswick, in the Dutch Republic. The results of this treaty was the termination of The Nine Years’ War.
Mary did, indeed, take James Francis – born in front of two hundred witnesses, both Protestant and Catholic to avoid disputes as to his life or death - from England to France when he was less than six months old as a way of protecting the young Duke, who had inherited the titles of Duke of Rothesay and Cornwall upon his birth. Protestants considered him a changeling despite the witnesses to his birth, since all of his older siblings had died several years prior to his birth. King James did not join them until after his deposition. They lived in the château at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Paris, France at the invitation and insistence of James’ cousin, King Louis.
After James’ death, Mary remained a devout Catholic, spending much of her time at the Convent of the Visitations in Chaillot, France, where her daughter, Louisa, spent her summers. She stayed at the convent for most of her time until her death in April of 1718, which took place at her beloved Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. She died of breast cancer and was buried at the convent she loved so much.
James Francis Stuart was forced to forfeit his titles, and therefore his claim to the English, Irish, and Scottish thrones, in March of 1702. In 1708, after a bout of the measles, he made an attempt to regain his title in Scotland. Diverted by the fleet of the French Naval Admiral Sir George Byng, who had no mercy in allowing him passage, James Francis retreated to avoid a battle with the Navy.
His half-sister, Queen Anne, became ill during the Christmas season of 1713, and after a short recovery, died in 1714, leaving a vacuum for leadership over the people of the newly formed Kingdom of Great Britain. Though some hoped for James Francis to take the throne, his refusal to convert to Protestantism sealed his destiny, and that of German-born George I, who reigned over Great Britain and Ireland from August of that year until his death mid-June of 1727.
The Christmas after George I ascended to the throne, James Francis Edward Stuart, along with John Erskine, the 6th Earl of Mar, and John Campbell, the 2nd Duke of Argyll, finally made it to Scotland where the Jacobites were rising up. In the end, the Jacobites took most of central Scotland and when they attempted to move into England, won the first day of the Battle of Preston, but were stopped on the second day. Many of the Jacobite soldiers were captured, and tried for treason. In July of 1717, with the passing of the Indemnity Act of 1717, all but those within Clan Gregor, including but especially not outlaw Rob Roy MacGregor – sometimes referred to as the Scottish Robin Hood – were pardoned.
James Francis, ever the introvert and never the warrior, sailed out of Scotland from Montrose on the 5th of February, 1716, after writing a letter saying goodbye to his beloved Scotland. After a long betrothal in which his bride-to-be was arrested by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI to placate George I’s fears that James Francis would have children that would rise up against him, James married Polish noblewoman Maria Klementyna Sobieska, granddaughter of Polish king John III Sobieski, the third day of September, 1719, in the Cathedral of Santa Margherita in Montefiascone, Italy. James spent the rest of his days living in the Palazzo Muti e Santuario della Madonna dell' Archetto in the Santa Apostoli piazza in Rome with his new family. Pope Clement XI offered the palace to him as a place of refuge, believing him to be the true King of England, Ireland,
and Scotland.
James Francis and Maria Klementyna had two sons: Charles Edward and Henry Benedict Stuart. Charles Edward, whose full name was Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart, became known as the Young Pretender, or Bonnie Prince Charlie. Henry Benedict Thomas Edward Maria Clement Francis Xavier Stuart became the Cardinal Duke of York and, after James Francis and Charles Edward died in January of 1766 and January of 1788, respectively, became the fourth and final Pretender King.
Henry Benedict did not attempt to revolt and fight for the throne as his grandfather, father, and brother before him.
Mary and James’s daughter, Louisa Maria Teresa Stuart, known to the Jacobites as The Princess Royal and occasionally known as the Princess Over the Water, and by her own father as La Consolatrice due to being born after so many of his children had died, only lived to the age of nineteen. When Louisa died, it left Mary alone in France, but for occasional contact with Louis and Françoise.
The home of Antoine Nompar de Caumont and his wife, Lady Middleton, (also Louisa Maria’s one and only governess) was not in Paris, as my books suggest, but in Passy. It was placed in Paris for character convenience. In historical reality, both James Francis and Louisa Maria moved to the de Caumont’s home after their father’s death. Louisa caught the chickenpox at the same time as James Francis, in 1712. James recovered but Louisa perished. She died in le Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye.
King Louis reigned over France for over seventy-two years and is the longest-reigning monarch in European history. He was highly interested in culture, politics, and militaristic operations, encouraging men in those fields toward their goals. He was succeeded by his five-year-old grandson, who chose the title Louis XV.
Françoise d’Aubigné, le Madame de Maintenon, was never considered Queen by the people of France because she and Louis, nor their advisers, confirmed or denied the marriage despite having witnesses to the event. Theirs was not a marriage that could be declared openly, due to the disproportionate social statuses she and Louis held, and would have had what was called a morganistic, or left-handed marriage, as the means of binding them together, with only two men as witnesses. Instead of holding the bride with his right hand, in these marriages, he used the left hand to hold her right hand to show the disparity of status.
Françoise’s Catholic mother was, indeed, the daughter of her Protestant father’s jailer, and she lived in Martinique from 1639-1647, when her family moved back to France to join her father, who died less than six months later. She then moved in with a Protestant aunt of hers in Martinique until her mother learned that her daughter was being taught Protestant ways, and had her sent to a convent for education.
In her later years, after her first husband died and she became part of Louis’s household, first as the Dauphine, Maria Anna’s lady-in-waiting, and then as Louis’s wife, Françoise learned Quietism from Madame Guyon and Archbishop François Fénelon, who was, indeed, the royal tutor.
Having no children of her own, when she died the 15th of April, 1719, Françoise’s estate went to her niece, Françoise Charlotte Amable d’Aubigné, the Duchess of Noailles. Françoise Charlotte and her husband, Adrien Maurice de Noailles, 3rd Duke of Noailles, had four daughters and two sons. Both sons became marshals of France, and son Philippe’s wife was the famous Countess Anne d’Arpajon, also known as Madame Étiquette, a nickname given her by Marie Antoinette, one of two queen consorts she was lady-in-waiting to (the other being Marie Leszczyńska). Philippe and Anne were guillotined during the French Revolution, leaving behind the two youngest of their six children, along with the widow, daughter, and granddaughter of Philippe’s brother, Louis de Noailles, 4th Duke of Naoilles. Louis had died less than a year prior.
None of the house staff mentioned by name in this series, aside from Lady Middleton, were real people. They do, however, leave a place in one’s heart to better understand the complexities of humanity.
Oleguer de Montserrat i Rufet was a Bishop of Urgell, and a co-Prince of Andorra from 1689-1694. Andorra is in the region connecting Spain and France and lies in the midst of the Pyrenees mountains. The co-Princes of Andorra, the only elected royals in the world, work hand in hand with the King and whomever is elected Bishop of Urgell automatically becomes co-Prince.
It is not known whether Montserrat i Rufet had a child or not, and therefore the creation of Jurriana Rufet, and her engagement to Edward Stuart, was where the story began.
While there were, indeed, royals living in Perpignan, the characters Gaspar and Galya, along with their families, are created. Their timeline continues to the present and beyond in the character Ferdi.
Whereas Perpignan was a set city at the time, it is now a full region expanding through much of the mountainous area between Spain and France at the southern end near the sea.
1930s-1940s timeline
The Wishart-Laurent family, as well as their history and most of their friends, were the product of this author’s imagination. The house that the Wishart-Laurents lived in, however, is very real. As I have not met the owners of it, I have avoided giving a specific address and I have taken liberties to how the inside of it would be configured.
As for the Red Sox players, I did the best I could to stay in tune with their characteristics and histories. I do not know if any had a severe gambling problem, and make no claims that, in real life, they did. As for the drinking, I did my best to stick with those I knew truly drank, and if it was only rumor, kept it as such in the text.
2002 and current-future timelines
The author knows of no such crime as the one Arthur Reynolds perpetrated in the 2002 timeline, though various pieces of crimes have been utilized to help with characterization as he grows from a man of violence and pain to a man of purpose.
Andrea Juarez and Rosemary Jenkins’ experiences are taken, in part, from the hundreds of thousands of stories of women who become part of the cycle of domestic violence each year. Some, like Rosemary, find a way out. Others, like Andrea, sadly, perish.
The technologies mentioned in this series, along with the HUVA program and Justice’s computer hacker identity-creation skills, are an amalgam of the author’s imagination and a nod to the creators of Leverage, and their character, Alec Hardison. HUVA is not, however, meant to share any similarities aside from having a do-good hacker as part of their team.
The locales in the Portland-Vancouver, Seal Beach, Anaheim, St. Louis, Boston, and Meridian pieces of the timeline are a mixture of real and imagined features. The childcare center in Walla Walla is fictional.
Several of the places in the Portland area – such as the Grotto, Portland Open Bible, and Mt. Scott, are real – while the Shoe Shoppe that we first met Paloma in is not. The rest of the neighborhood where the Shoe Shoppe is located is factual.
I have done my best to retain accurate weather in each timeline and place to the best of my ability.
And the Angels Rejoiced is the final book in The Angels’ Mirror Series. Thank you for joining Edward, Paloma, and the rest of the people affected by the Angels’ Mirror for the journey. I hope you have enjoyed the read.
As this is an interactive series, you can find character, time, and place-specific boards on my Pinterest, and some of the songs and musicians mentioned in the series can be found by looking up my playlists on Youtube.
You can learn more about the characters in this series at pinterest.com/honeylis or by joining me on Facebook. I welcome your positive communications and comments.
Please stay tuned for announcements about my upcoming series, Brass Mermaid Mysteries, on my Facebook author page. Thanks, again, for your support.
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Brand New Series…
Stay tuned for Brass Mermaid Mysteries, coming to readers beginning in the Spring of 2015.
Get to know Lani Kealoha, owner of The Brass Mermaid Bakery, her friend Trumpet Jones, over at Kewp
ie’s Karaoke Bar, and find some old friends again when Lani comes face to face with characters from The Angels’ Mirror series.
Come join Lani and her friends as they gumshoe their way around beautiful Amity, Oregon, where mischief is high and puzzles abound.
About the Author…
Living in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, Harmony L. Courtney has earned her Bachelor of English and Master of Religion degrees at Warner Pacific College, and has a background in both design and creative communication. In her free time, she enjoys poetry and singing, as well as doing research for future books.
Howard Lee Helm; Legacy Portrait Studio. 2009.
The Angels' Mirror Pack 2: Books Four through Seven Page 114
