Forever Waiting

by DeVa Gantt

  The women began writing thirty years ago. Deb was in college, Val a new teacher. Avid readers of historical fiction, the idea of authoring their own story blossomed from a conversation driving home one night. “We could write our own book. I can envision the main character.” Within a day, an early plot had been hatched and the first scenes committed to paper. Three years later, the would-be authors had half of an elaborate novel written, numerous hand-drafted scenes, five hundred typed pages, and no idea how to tie up the complicated story threads. The book languished, life intervened, and the work was put on the back burner for two decades.

  Both women assert the rejuvenating spark was peculiarly coincidental. Though Val and Deb live thirty miles apart, on Thanksgiving weekend 2002, unbeknownst to each other, they spontaneously picked up the unfinished manuscript and began to read. The following week, Deb e-mailed Val to tell her she’d been reading “the book.” It was a wonderful work begging to be finished, and Deb had some fresh ideas. By January, the women’s creative energies were flowing again.

  Unlike twenty years earlier, Deb and Val had computer technology on their side, but there were different challenges. Their literary pursuit had to be worked into real life responsibilities: children, marriages, households, and jobs. The women stole every spare moment, working late at night, in the wee hours of morning, and on weekends. The dictionary, thesaurus, and grammar books became their close companions. Snow days were a gift. No school, no work. Deb could pack up overnight bags, and head to Val’s house with her two children. The cousins played while the writers collaborated.

  Wherever the women went, they brought the Duvoisins along. From sports and dance practices to doctors’ offices, from business trips to vacations, an opportunity to work on their “masterpiece” was rarely wasted. One Fourth of July, Val and Deb edited away on their laptops on blankets in the middle of a New Hampshire baseball field while their families waited for night to fall and the fireworks to begin.

  Both women agree the experience has been rewarding and unexpectedly broad in scope. Writing a story was only the beginning of a long endeavor that included extensive research, arduous editing, and painstaking proofreading. Next came the query letters sent to agents and publishers, each meeting a dead end. Self-publishing was the only option—a stepping-stone that would enable them to compile a portfolio of reviews and positive feedback. Thus they became adept at marketing their work, all in the pursuit of reaching a traditional publisher. Within two years an agent had stepped in and HarperCollins agreed to publish the work as a trilogy.

  Today, the women look back at their accomplishment. The benefits have been immeasurable. Perhaps the dearest is the bond of sisterhood that deepened: they have shared a unique journey unknown to most sisters. Their greatest satisfaction, however, has been seeing their unfinished work come to fruition: the Duvoisin story has finally been told.

  Visit Deb and Val at:

  http://web.mac.com/devagantt

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  DIRECTORY OF CHARACTERS

  ON CHARMANTES:

  The Duvoisin Family:

  Frederic Duvoisin—Patriarch and master of Charmantes; son of Jean Duvoisin II, founder of Les Charmantes (deceased); brother of Jean III (deceased)

  Elizabeth Blackford Duvoisin—Frederic’s first wife (deceased 1808)

  John Duvoisin—Only son of Frederic and Elizabeth; heir to the Duvoisin fortune (born 1808)

  Paul Duvoisin—Frederic’s illegitimate son (born 1808)

  Colette Duvoisin—Frederic’s second wife (born 1810; deceased 1837)

  Yvette and Jeannette Duvoisin—Twin daughters of Frederic and Colette (born 1828)

  Pierre Duvoisin—Youngest son of Frederic and Colette (born 1834; deceased 1837)

  Agatha Blackford Ward Duvoisin—Older sister of Frederic’s late wife, Elizabeth; John’s aunt; Frederic’s third wife

  People living in the Duvoisin Mansion:

  Charmaine Ryan—Heroine of the story (born 1818 in Richmond, Virginia), governess to the Duvoisin children; only child of Marie and John Ryan

  Rose Richards—Elderly nursemaid to Yvette, Jeannette & Pierre; formerly nanny to John & Paul; originally hired by Jean II to care for Frederic as a young boy

  Professor Richards—Rose Richards’s husband; formerly tutor to John & Paul; initially hired by Jean II as a tutor for Frederic (deceased)

  George Richards—Rose and Professor Richards’s grandson; close friend of John & Paul; production manager and overall supervisor of island operations (born 1809)

  Duvoisin Servants:

  Jane Faraday— Head housekeeper

  Travis Thornfield—Butler and Frederic’s personal valet

  Gladys Thornfield—Travis’s wife; Agatha’s personal maid

  Millie and Joseph Thornfield—Travis and Gladys’s children

  Felicia Flemmings—Housemaid

  Anna Smith—Housemaid

  Fatima Henderson—Cook

  Grace Smith—Head-housekeeper on Espoir

  Rachel—Scullery maid

  Gerald—Head groom

  Bud—Stablehand

  Islanders:

  Dr. Robert Blackford—Island physician; Agatha’s twin brother; older brother to Frederic’s first wife, Elizabeth; John’s uncle

  Dr. Adam Hastings—Island’s new physician

  Harold Browning—Charmantes’ overseer

  Caroline Browning—Harold’s wife; sister of Loretta Harrington

  Gwendolyn Browning—Harold and Caroline’s only daughter

  Stephen Westphal—Charmantes’ financier; manager of the town bank

  Anne Westphal London—Stephen’s widowed daughter; resides in Richmond

  Mercedes Wells—Anne London’s personal lady’s maid and attendant

  Father Benito St. Giovanni—Island priest

  Jake Watson—Harbor foreman

  Buck Mathers—Dockworker

  Madeline Thompson (Maddy)—Mercantile proprietress

  Wade Remmen—Lumbermill operator

  Rebecca Remmen—Wade’s younger sister; friend of Gwendolyn Browning

  Martin—Livery hostler and town farrier

  Dulcie—Proprietress of the town tavern

  IN RICHMOND, VIRGINIA:

  Marie Ryan—Charmaine’s mother, abandoned as a young child at the St. Jude Refuge; (deceased 1835)

  John Ryan—Charmaine’s fugitive father

  Father Michael Andrews—Pastor of St. Jude’s Church and Refuge

  Sister Elizabeth—Nun and teacher at the St. Jude Refuge

  Stuart Simons—John Duvoisin’s production manager

  Brian Duvoisin—freed slave; John Duvoisin’s overseer

  Nettie Duvoisin—Brian’s wife; freed slave

  Joshua Harrington—Charmaine’s first employer

  Loretta Harrington—Joshua’s wife; sister of Caroline Browning

  Edward Richecourt— Duvoisin lawyer

  Helen Richecourt—Edward’s wife

  Geoffrey Elliot III—Duvoisin lawyer

  Mary & Raymond Stanton—friends of Loretta and Joshua Harrington

  IN NEW YORK:

  Lily Clayton—freed slave; John Duvoisin’s former housekeeper at Freedom.

  Rose Forrester—Lily’s sister; freed slave; former housekeeper at Wisteria Hill.

  Dr. Hastings—John’s friend; uncle to Dr. Adam Hastings

  SHIPS’ CAPTAINS:

  Jonah Wilkinson—Captain of the Raven

  Philip Conklin—Captain of the Tempest

  Will Jones—Captain of the Heir

  Matt Williams—Captain of the Destiny

  IN MEMORY:

  Adele Delacroix—Colette’s mother (deceased)

  Pierre Delacroix—Colette’s brother (deceased)

  Pascale—Colette’s childhood girlfriend

  Thomas Ward—Agatha’s first husband

  By DeVa Gantt

  FOREVER WAITING

  DE
CISION AND DESTINY

  A SILENT OCEAN AWAY

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  FOREVER WAITING. Copyright © 2009 by DeVa Gantt. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  FIRST AVON PAPERBACK EDITION PUBLISHED 2009.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gantt, DeVa.

  Forever waiting : Colette’s appeal / DeVa Gantt.—1st ed.

  p. cm.

  ISBN 978-0-06-157826-7

  1. Aristocracy (Social class)—Fiction. 2. Virginia—History—19th century—Fiction. 3. Domestic fiction. I. Title.

  PS3607 A59F67 2009

  813'.6—dc22

  2009012885

  EPub Edition © 2009 ISBN:9780061959431

  09 10 11 12 13

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