A Proper Introduction

Well, hello, there!

Yes, it’s been a minute.  I’ve been doing a lot of “momming” this year, and when high-schoolers start going in different directions, we turn into taxi drivers, don’t we? Plus, we start to see just how fast we’re going to lose them… I’m going to cry now.

Okay, enough of that.

I do have another novella for you! It’s my first crack at an epistolic story, and it was fun to write. It’s an interesting format because a lot of life happens between the letters that we don’t see, so the reader has to be able to infer all the parts that are missing. Getting the characters’ voices down is tricky, too, because you may not “see” them on the page, but you can hear them. Elizabeth kept shocking me with the things that came out of her. 😂

I hope you all enjoy it! I’m including a scene from Chapter Five that highlights how our story really gets started. To kick off, here are a few things you need to know:

Darcy is stuck in London with a broken leg. It’s summer. It’s sweltering and miserable and he has the kind of break that lots of people died or lost their leg from. He’s not in a good mood.

And then, one day, this letter shows up for his deceased father (weird) from a girl in Hertfordshire (weirder) who is looking for a book shop (what???). Darcy’s not really with it enough to understand she thinks he’s a bookseller at first, but… well, you can read the chapter for yourself. And drop a comment, because I’m giving away five ebooks!

-Nicole

He’s bored to death
She’s a breath of fresh air

Fitzwilliam Darcy may never walk again. He’s sustained a life-threatening injury and he’s fighting everyone, even his own doctor, to maintain some control over his life.

Elizabeth Bennet only wanted a book. What she found was a mind like her own, and a man desperately in need of a friend. And he likes her jokes.

Can these two unlikely pen pals find their way to each other? Or is the separation of a letter just too great of a distance?

A Proper Introduction is a sweet Regency novella of approximately 30,000 words.

Mr Thomas Bennet to Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy

2 July 1812

Dear Mr Darcy,

I have rarely been so delighted as I was with the gift my daughter presented me for my birthday this year. My Elizabeth knows her old father’s heart, to be sure, and I was greatly amused to hear how she found you out at last. I confess to far too little curiosity about that collection of books I purchased several years ago. I was only pleased to find such quality for such a low price, and I still struggle to remember the particulars of the transaction. No doubt, Mrs Bennet had dragged me to Town on some mission to unburden all London of its lace, and I was biding my time waiting for her to purchase the rest of the warehouse.

It does trouble me to learn that the books were stolen. I am aware of the true worth of such books, and I enclose a draft on my bank to help defray the loss to you. I am afraid a full repayment of the value of the books must wait till after this year’s harvest, so I shall promise to send you the rest, and as the kind soul my daughter believes you to be, you will assure me that is not necessary, and we shall both be content. I do relish the notion of a correspondent with whom to discuss my favourite books. Tell me, what are your thoughts on Sir Walter Scott? Do you believe his works will stand the test of a generation, or is he merely the delight of the moment?

Elizabeth has asked to include her own note of gratitude with mine. Of all my daughters, she is the least silly, and the most likely to appreciate a good novel. I will add that her penmanship is excelled only by my Jane’s, so you should find it quite legible—although, I suppose you know that already. No doubt she will scarcely be able to contain her desire to order more books, but I beg of you, have mercy on my purse. Lord knows I would sneak a bit more into her reticule just for the pleasure of seeing which books she would choose, but Mrs Bennet is placing heavy demands on me this year with a fifth daughter now out in company and needing gowns.

I look forward to hearing from you if you so desire.

Thomas A. Bennet

Miss Elizabeth Bennet to Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy

2 July 1812

Dear Sir,

I desired to write sooner to you with my gratitude, but my next younger sister, Mary, threatened a fit of pious apoplexy when I spoke of it. For all I know, according to her, you could be a single gentleman and my reputation would now be in tatters! I have reminded her that when she sends away for her piano music, she is probably corresponding with someone of the opposite sex, but she declares that since she does not know their name, it must be all right.

I had the pleasure of reading Peregrine Pickle before I wrapped it to give to my father. Ah, yes, it was terrible of me, but I am a fast reader and I do not think I left too many crumbs between the pages. There I am in jest, because only the most despicable person could defile a book so, and I do not think I am very despicable. I imagine the real shock and scandal would be in that I read the book at all, for our hero became rather dissolute in parts of his life, did he not? My father should roundly chastise me for reading his gift before I gave it to him, shouldn’t he? I suppose I shall have to ask him to correct me through some penance.

I must say, I thought the book quite instructive in some facets. Is it intended to be so? I found the descriptions of young Peregrine’s indifferent parents rather unsettling, and I cannot quite put my finger on the reason for it. On the whole, however, I greatly enjoyed his irreverence for the holy grails of society. Nothing was quite so sacred that our dear author could not twist it to examine its follies, much to the reader’s amusement. And now you must be thinking what a shocking lady I am. I assure you; you do not know the half of it, for after I finish this letter, I mean to take a jaunt through the woods in nothing but my morning dress and house slippers. Mama despairs of me.

I hope I have written tartly enough to impress you with my sincerity, for I am deeply appreciative of your kindness in sending such a gift. As you did not ask for payment, I shall instead order a second book, and I enclose what I hope is enough to pay twice the price. Pray, surprise me with your selection, for I quite like your taste.

Yours in bookish camaraderie,

Elizabeth Bennet

Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy to Mr Thomas Bennet

4 July 1812

Dear Mr Bennet,

I fear you and your good daughter must be labouring under a false impression, and it is to my regret that I did not correct it sooner. I am not, nor have I ever been, a purveyor of fine books. I am, rather, a private gentleman who, like yourself, finds delight in a profound thought and a well-turned phrase.

Upon re-reading my initial letter from Miss Elizabeth Bennet, I understand her assumptions a little more clearly than at my first reading. I have been recovering from a rather inconvenient accident which rendered me temporarily discomposed, and I am mortified to discover how little the circumstances of the first letter impressed me at the time. I will confess myself quite charmed by the tone of the letter, and being frightfully bored and in need of some diversion, I was pleased to be of some service. Were it not that disguise is my abhorrence, I suspect I might have been content to perpetuate the misconception, for I was more amused by your recent letters than by anything else this past month.

I return to you your cheque, for though it was a laudable notion to repay me, it is unnecessary. I also return Miss Bennet’s money, but with a caveat. I ask that one or both of you should read this second book I enclose, and then respond with your thoughts when you return it to me. I quite look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Fitzwilliam Darcy

Elizabeth is pretty sassy in this one. I think that’s why Darcy falls for her, but I can’t be sure. You know how book characters mutiny and take over the plot, right?

She goes live today, so enter the drawing or grab your own copy!

Nicole