Comet Wine
by Lesley-Anne McLeod
Available eBook formats:
title:
Comet Wine
author:
Lesley-Anne McLeod
genre:
Regency Romance
isbn-
13:
978-1-60174-036-6
length:
7450 words. Approximate reading time 21 to 29 minutes.
price:
$2.99
~A vicar's sister and a 'nabob' fresh from India find that the Great Comet of 1811 heralds new love and a welcome change.~
A comet, they say, signals change. In a picturesque village in Cambridgeshire, India Pottersby did not think the Great Comet of 1811 would change anything in her quiet life as the vicar's sister. And she was content for it to be so. A difficult life had brought her at last to security with her younger brother in his vicarage, and she had no desire for alteration. Peter Trevayne had likewise come to harbour in the shire after fifteen profitable years in India. His purchase of Fencombe Hall created a stir in the neighbourhood. Speculation was rife, and the doyenne of local society made no secret of her mistrust of the stranger.
Comet watching introduced India to Trevayne, and her preparation of 'comet wine' intrigued him. But nothing could come of their friendship unless the community--and India--could accept change.
"Comet Wine is classic regency. The characters are traditional yet colorful and spirited as evidenced through the fantastic dialogue. I particularly love the atmosphere of this novel with the holiday scenery and demure flirtation. Ms. McLeod has brilliantly mastered the elegance and energy of the era." Coffee Time Romance
He abandoned his light, bantering tone. "I am invited on sufferance so far, I think. It will take some time before I find true acceptance. But I must have passed some inspection for I also have been extended an invitation to a dinner at the home of the Baron Kippingale in a fortnight. That will be my presentation to the wider society of the area, I suppose."
To her shame, India regretted that he did not pursue his flirtation. She gathered her composure; he had made an unexceptionable observation. "A most suitable occasion to make your bow," she said. "The baron's invitations are coveted. My brother and I are honoured when we receive them."
"The baron--and Lady Kippingale--are fortunate that you accept," he corrected gently, as they arrived at the vicarage door.
India lifted her head to say goodnight, albeit silently, to the comet as was her custom. It streamed across the heavens over her escort's left shoulder. His face was illumined by the light flickering from the parlour window. It was an appealing face, and she thought she detected humour, sad experience, and more than a little wisdom gleaming in his deep-set eyes. She reached to grip the door latch.
He said suddenly, "The wine! Miss Pottersby, I must thank you for the elderberry wine. Indeed, it had a subtle elegance of flavour."
She coloured again, and again hoped he could not see the betraying flush. The wine had been a foolish, impulsive thought when her brother had made his duty call upon the newcomer. Trevayne was a man of wealth and discrimination. She should not have offered such a poor product for his delectation. Nevertheless, he was being very good about it. So she said, "If you enjoyed it the elderberry, you shall have a bottle of my comet wine; I think it will defy identification."
"I shall not ask what is in it, but after this night, shall indeed think it touched with starshine."
Lesley-Anne McLeod has loved all things British for longer than she can remember. So it was natural that when she turned to writing fiction she should write Regency romances, those uniquely English historical romances in the tradition of Jane Austen.
Lesley-Anne has been writing for twenty-five years and has written five Regency romances and several Regency short stories. She has published articles on antiques and collectibles, and has also free-lanced in business writing. Book-selling was her career for nearly ten years; she owned her own bookstore for three of those enjoyable years. She belongs to the Saskatchewan Romance Writers and treasures the support and friendship that group offers.
Lesley-Anne is married and has one daughter. She lives on the prairies of Canada which are distant from Regency England in time and thought, but which retain an echo of Great Britain in history and tradition.
Visit Lesley-Anne McLeod at http://lesleyannemcleod.homestead.com
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