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| Image credit: belchonock / 123RF Stock Photo |
Welcome back! Last
week Amelia left her Giles, her trusty footman, waiting for her at the front
entrance to the milliner's shop while she scooted out the side door. Read on to
find out why Amelia was so secretive about her errand:
****
Phineas Culpepper
looked up from his ledger at Amelia's entrance. "Prompt, as always, Lady
Amelia."
"Of course,
Mr. Culpepper. I've brought the edited manuscript, as you requested."
Reaching in her borrowed satchel, she removed the bulky package and handed it
to the editor. "I trust the revisions I've made will be suitable for your
markets."
"I'm sure
they will be. You're an excellent writer, as I'm sure you've been told."
She hadn't been
told that. No one but Mr. Culpepper knew of her double life, but that was all
right with her. She was able to get much more fodder for her stories when
people didn't think their dirty laundry would be featured in a book.
Mr. Culpepper
opened his desk, pulled out a thick envelope, and handed it to her. "Here
are your earnings for the past month. Your romance stories are so popular I
have my printer working six days a week now."
Amelia took the
envelope and hefted it to gauge its weight. Her eyebrows rose and she drew a
quick inward breath. "I had no idea my stories were this successful."
Mr. Culpepper
chuckled. "Thanks to you, I may be soon able to move my operations to a
more respectable area of the city." He paused and studied her over the rim
of his spectacles. "You did bring someone with you this time, didn't you?"
"Oh, yes,"
she reassured him. "He is waiting for me at the door."
She wasn't
actually lying, she told herself. Giles truly was waiting for her at the door.
Just not at the door to Culpepper and Winston.
****
Thanks for stopping by! Please
leave a comment, and be sure to visit other authors participating in Sweet Saturday Samples.
The Partridge and the Peartree is now on Amazon's best-seller list in Regency
Romance! Check it out at Amazon,
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and Noble, Smashwords,
and of course, at Astraea
Press.
I would rather read about this time period than live in it because of the lack of opportunities open to women. Your heroine is very resourceful!
ReplyDeleteOh, me too, Elaine! We're very fortunate.
DeleteThis excerpt made me smile! I love reading, and writing, about smart, resourceful, women, who go against what is expected of them for their time. :-)
ReplyDeleteI do too, Ruth! Amelia is one smart woman.
DeleteNice snip, Patty. I love it when an author gets her/his due.
ReplyDeleteAnd now I'm expecting something may happen to the heroine before she gets back to the shop where the servant is waiting.
Maybe so, Jeff!
DeleteI wonder what door Giles is waiting for her at. :)
ReplyDeleteGiles is still waiting at the milliner's while she slipped out and went to the publisher's office! She'll get back to him, eventually.
DeleteThis is a lovely story.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sherry! I just downloaded Vidal's Honor and looking forward to reading the entire story.
DeleteThis sounds like such a good read! I too think something is going to happen on her way back to Giles. A lot of money and a bad neighborhood is such a bad combination! Can't wait to see what happens next!
ReplyDeleteYou're so right Jenna. Add to that combination the fact that she's a woman walking alone, and something has to happen! Hope you like what's next.
DeleteI loved this story, Patty! It was really cute!
ReplyDelete