by J. E. Clymer
The driver chuckled. “Most men would pay their weight in gold for a woman as agreeable as you, mum. I do know where I could find such a madam.”
“Then take me there, sir.” Belladonna smiled sweetly. He nodded and she climbed in the carriage.
When they arrived she started to step out, but the driver hurried down and held up his hand. “No, you do not, my lady. I will got get the chit and be back soon. A lady of your class is not safe in such establishments.”
Belladonna settled back down in her seat. “I will defer to your sound judgment, sir.”
The driver took all of twenty minutes to bring the girl down. A tall, thin woman with fine blond hair and blue eyes climbed up into the carriage across from her.
“It is not my fault if you can not please your husband.” The woman spat.
Belladonna laughed. “You misunderstand, my dear, you are welcome to him.”
Allana's eyes narrowed. “What do you want then?”
Belladonna smiled. “I mean to give my husband a gift. I thought you might do. I will pay you handsomely because I have some very specific requirements.”
“He left me without paying the last time.” Allana hedged.
“You will have twenty-five pounds up front.” Belladonna stated.
Allana perked up. “For twenty-five pounds I will do anything you want.”
Belladonna held out her hand. “Then we have a deal?”
“We have a deal.” Allana said firmly.
“Now, here's what you are to do...” Belladonna began.
###
George arrived promptly at five in the afternoon to his father's home in London. Already waiting was a legion of Lords and Ladies. As he got out into the crowd her glanced around nervously.
“What are you all waiting on?” George asked a particularly pudgy gentleman.
The man huffed. “Carl Livery is throwing a party to welcome his new wife. The invitation stated five o'clock on the invitation, but clearly the bloke does not understand etiquette. He should have started inviting people in well before four.”
George nodded absently. A moment later Belladonna swung the door open. Quickly she rushed out of the door and leaned into George. She whispered so loudly that the pub four blocks over could hear her. “Oh, George, it's horrible. You must come quickly. It's Carl...he...well, he's in the study with his wife and will not come out. He should have been greeting guests at least an hour ago.”
George cleared his throat. “Ah...yes...my dear. I shall just go see to him.”
Naturally every lord, lady, gentleman, and miss who had been waiting on the Livery's step followed. He glanced at his wife as he turned the door handle to the study. The color drained from his face and his jaw hung slack as he stood staring into the study.
“Oh, heavens!” A woman cried. The soft thump could be heard as another fell to the floor in a faint.
“Dear God, Livery!” A man yelled thru fits of laughter.
George's gaze simply traveled back to his wife. “Belladonna, never, ever let me anger you to this extent.”
Belladonna leaned up and whispered in his ear. “I thought it might be something to try when we were alone, husband.”
Both of their eyes traveled back to the terrified man tied to the desk of the study with not a stitch on. Allana had left well over an hour ago as was the plan. “Some one untie me!” He bellowed and fought his ties.
Without missing a beat Belladonna turned to the crowd. She spoke loudly to her audience. “Gentlemen, let this serve as a warning. This is what happens when you covet your brother's wife. I daresay one of you will need to take pity on this poor soul. For if my George even considers undoing those ties I daresay it will be months before he enjoys the secrets of my alcove again.”
George immediately grasp Belladonna's elbow and guided her out of the house. The finely dressed men herded the all but the oldest women from the hall and one must have went to work freeing Carl from his bonds.
Twenty minutes later they arrived on Martin Loomcroft's doorstep. The servants showed them to the study where Martin Loomcroft immediately pulled his daughter into a tight embrace. “I am so glad you are away from that man.”
George laughed. “I would say my brother is quite happy to be away from Belladonna as well. There is going to be a scandal like no other in the society journals tomorrow.”
“Do I even want to know?” Martin asked Belladonna.
She shrugged and smiled up at him. “Most likely not, Papa.”
Martin looked from his daughter to his son-in-law. “What will you do now?”
George shrugged. “I suspect we will spend the next seven or so months at our island home. While there I will convince my wife that motherhood is not such a bad thing.”
“George Livery...” Belladonna hissed.
George shrugged. “Mrs. Murdock put a rush on the dresses. They're already waiting for us on he ship.”
Martin had tears in his eyes. “A grandchild.”
Belladonna stepped away from her father and crossed her arms. She then glared at George. “There is no guarantee it will even be born. Many a lady have lost their children well into their indisposure.”
George and Martin ignored her. Martin looked hopefully at George. “Mayhap it will be a grandson.” He said hopefully.
George held up his hands. “Oh, no, Mr. Loomcroft. There will be no pressure on this child what so ever. Bella and I did everything we could not to have get her with child; now that we have we are going to take what we get and be happy with it.”
Martin shook his head. “Every man wants an heir, Livery.”
George shook his head. “We live on my own island. On my island my first born inherits, son or daughter. That is my final say.”
Belladonna looked on at her husband in wonder. “You are serious.”
George only gave her a smiling nod. Belladonna walked over and snuggled into his side. She turned to her father. “I am sorry, Papa, but it is high time my husband and I went home.”
After laying a tender kiss on her forehead George smiled at his father-in-law. “Home sounds heavenly. The ship is ready to leave the moment we are, so let us be on our way, my Bella.”
Dear Reader:
First off, I would like to thank everyone who downloaded my first book. Tangled Truth scared me in more ways than one. First, it was my first book that I felt confident enough to publish. You'd be amazed how nervous a person can be to click that submit button.
In the days following publishing to Kindle I could have cared less how many downloads there were, but I really wanted to know what people thought. The first reviews out of the gate were two and three stars. On the one point I was thrilled to read that people liked the concepts, but I was also expecting some bad.
Who has a great book right out of the gate when they're self-publishing? I even stopped and considered a rewrite of the book. At first I was against it. After the third review where I only got one star I unpublished the book and it is slated for a complete rewrite. It will be outlined just like this book has been; I don't think I will ever publish something that I've written without the use of an outline again. (No worries, if you've already bought it or downloaded it you should get the new version for free when it's available.) I would have done the rewrite immediately, but I felt that some time away from that story would do it good.
After reading one of the reviews on the Amazon UK; I realized that I should do more. Just because I enjoy free writing doesn't mean that it's a good idea for a good final product. I scrapped Belladonna's story in its entirety not once, but twice. I did my best to correct my 'modern American' English. (That one stung when I read it, but when I thought about you were entirely correct.) I won't lie; I'm not perfect and it has been a struggle that I fear I will be found lacking in correcting. The only promise I can give you is that none of my Midwestern slang slipped in—not one y'all in the entire book—I promise. In short, you all reviewed and I listened.
I also realized somethi
ng in the process. I want a great final product; I want to be a good author. I owe every reviewer a great debt.
I also feel the need to apologize to my UK readers. You're right; I wrote a story I enjoyed writing in Tangled Truth and didn't think about whether or not it would be a story someone would enjoy reading. I hope to come close to redeeming myself in Frigid Waters. That said, please do not expect this book to be historically accurate in any way, shape, or form. This is a love story, not a history of the Victorian era.
For any budding authors out there. Write your best, edit your best, and then take the plunge. Don't run from bad reviews. Embrace them. The worst thing that can happen is that you can learn what changes would make you better. Stop writing to write and start writing for reading.
To every single person who read Tangled Truth that took the plunge and gave me another shot—you are awesome.
Thanks!
J.E. Clymer
Table of Contents
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the...
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Dear Reader:
