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<\/a><\/div>\nNext week, I will begin a series on mental illness and the Regency. Yes, a very exciting subject. So I thought I’d post something not so gloomy today. Many of you about 15,000 were able to get a copy of Swept Away<\/a> this weekend. (It’s still free Jan. 4\u00a02016.) It’s my Regency Cinderella story. Swept Away<\/a> just released on audio. \u00a0Here’s a little snippet after Swept Away with Edwin and Charlotte:<\/p>\n Before Edwin Cinder could excuse himself from the drawing room of his wife\u2019s Grosvenor Square town home, his stepbrother\u2019s snide voice repeated another stinging\u00a0comment above his dear sister\u2019s pianoforte.<\/p>\n \u201cThe gossip papers\u00a0got you pegged, you elevated shoe peddler.\u201d Shelby laughed and snorted his claret. \u201cSomeone caught you in Cheapside. Next, we\u2019ll see a sketch of you yet in an apron, hugging a shoe lasting station. The duchess will love that, won\u2019t you, madame.\u201d<\/p>\n Charlotte winced, her creamy temple wrinkling. \u201cSurely, Lord Rundle, it will not come to that.\u201d<\/p>\n Shelby rocked his large head up and down. \u201cMaybe you married too quickly, my dear duchess?\u201d<\/p>\n Everything in the room halted, even Lillian\u2019s wondrous notes.<\/p>\n Edwin took a long breath. If not for the vow to his late stepfather to take care of the foolish Shelby, and a general principal of not smashing in the face of one of God\u2019s creatures in his wife\u2019s home, he\u2019d take great pleasure in permanently wiping the smile from the troll\u2019s face. He leaned forward but kept his hands smooth against his dark pantaloons. \u201cBe careful, Shelby. Christian peace can only go so far.\u201d<\/p>\n With the fool taking a loud swallow, Edwin believed his threat was understood. Good. Nodding to Charlotte, he turned and pounded up the carpeted mahogany steps to his bedchamber.<\/p>\n Anger roiled within his stomach. The need for fresh air squeezed at his lungs. Maybe a good wind would douse the flames of his doubts. His marriage to Charlotte had been quick and wonderful, but he should\u2019ve known that everyone would be scrutinizing his whereabouts. Had working a few minutes in Ella\u2019s shoe store shamed Charlotte?<\/p>\n The wind rattled the glass pane, but this night possessed\u00a0a black velvet sky, no hint of storm like the day he had met the duchess. Looking a little further, he could see the reflection of torch lights at Dalrymple House, the Duke and Duchess of Wellstone\u2019s residence. A Wellstone\u00a0party\u00a0was famous. How many of the ladies attending were wearing Ella\u2019s slippers?<\/p>\n He rubbed at his temples and focused on the true problem. Charlotte\u2019s neighbors were having a party, to which the Duchess of Charming was not invited. That feeling of being distant, separated from the rest, settled upon him again. So much for love making all the ills right.<\/p>\n The door to the room creaked open. The sound of dull heels slapping against the floorboards neared. A soft palm gripped his shoulder, the thin fingers working away the tension bound up within his muscles. \u201cEdwin? What were you making at Ella\u2019s?\u201d<\/p>\n Turning, he placed a smile upon his lips. This truly was no burden, for Charlotte was the loveliest woman in the world. He leant forward, kissing her nose. \u201cNothing, special.\u201d<\/p>\n She squinted at him and looped her arms about his neck, slipping against\u00a0his heavily starched shirt collar. \u201cI think I know you well, sir. You don\u2019t have to hide checking on Ella\u2019s. We\u2019ve been gone three months. You\u2019re bound to miss that store.\u201d<\/p>\n He tugged her hands free and held her palms. \u201cAre you happy, dear Charlotte?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat kind of question is that?\u201d<\/p>\n He bit his lip and tried to think of hundred different ways to respond, but there was no easy way to ask the headstrong woman to second-guess her decisions. After a moment of breathing her perfume, counting the blinks of her blonde lashes, he just said it. \u201cHave you no regrets? You were not presented at court. You\u2019ll never be, married to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Charlotte\u2019s wide blue eyes lifted. The silk taffeta of her slippers crunching as she turned\u00a0to window. \u201cTell me why you ask now? This wasn\u2019t mentioned\u00a0at Gretna Green with the blacksmith who married us. Nor any day of our wedding trip.\u201d Rotating, she stood on tiptoes and pressed her lips to his Adam\u2019s apple. \u201cNor any night in our bedchamber?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat was different. We weren\u2019t in London, but now we\u2019ve returned.\u201d He stroked her cheek, her skin flushing at his touch. \u201cWhen was the last time I created anything except gossip?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI thought you were happy?\u201d Her soft voice rose, taking a sharper tone. \u201cThat\u2019s what this is about. You have regrets.\u201d Pulling away, she whipped her head again toward the window. Her shoulders leveled, and she crossed her arms as if she held a shield to her bosom.<\/p>\n Pushing her away was not what Edwin wanted. \u201cA thousand times no. I love you, but do you ever think of what you gave up for me? Aren\u2019t I an impediment? I am sure you wouldn\u2019t want your husband to be seen in Cheapside with lasting tools, even if it was to fix you a new set of slippers?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI love shoes. I love your shoes. So that was what Rundle\u2019s comments were about?\u201d<\/p>\n Edwin tugged open the window and pointed to Dalrymple House. \u201cMore than shoes. Your cobbler husband is surely why long-time neighbors excluded you from their ball.\u201d<\/p>\n Charlotte sighed. \u201cYou, silly, dear man. We were invited. The invitation was in the pile of correspondence awaiting us upon our return.<\/p>\n What? He blinked. \u201cThen why would the Duchess of Charming not want to go to a party\u00a0that will be the talk of the town?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe last grand ball I attended, a roof fell on me. I wasn\u2019t up to fighting through rubble tonight. I had other plans.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI thought they had excluded you because of the gossip\u2019s whispers. That rubbish hold much sway.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, the Wellstones are fine people, and I hear they are used to having lively entertainment. We can still go, if you don\u2019t believe me, but I thought we\u2019d find something else to do this evening.\u201d<\/p>\n The subjective notes in her voice made his pulse race. He pushed at his hair then loosened the knot of his cravat. \u201cAm I ever going to get this right?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDepends upon how much practice you have in making amends. I\u2019m sure those new slippers you\u2019ve styled for me are great way to appease.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, my dear. Just a new pair, soft ones meant to caress your feet. Those you have on now\u2026 Well, I\u2019m sure these will be perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Listen](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SubstackAd.png?fit=1080%2C1350&ssl=1\")
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