Tag: Forget Me Not Elizabeth

9 Things Forget Me Not, Elizabeth Taught Me…

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A lot of the enjoyment I get from writing is in the research. Here are some of the gems I uncovered in my latest book!

Here are the Top 9 things I learned during the creation of Forget Me Not, Elizabeth:

Photo by Noah Boyer on Unsplash

1. Forget-me-nots haven’t always been so romantic.

The forget-me-not (translated from 1530s Old French ne m’oubliez mye) was worn by lovers to ensure they never forgot each other. However, these delicate, blue flowers were known as ‘scorpion-grass’ in England until the early 19th century. Not nearly as romantic…

2. The Royal Navy’s uniform was inspired by a woman. Fashion matters! (Says the person wearing a t-shirt and yoga pants…)

3. Ironically, the originator of the theory that a second blow to the head will cure amnesia…apparently died of a head injury.

4. As early as the 1700s, electronic stimulators were available to the public for treating the brain. Shocking!

5. Frankenstein was inspired by the experiments of 2 eccentric Italians who believed they could bring people back to life with electricity. The uncle-nephew duo’s experiments were both grotesque and extremely popular.

The Hospital of Bethlem [Bedlam], St. George’s Fields, Lambeth. Coloured engraving. Credit: Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

6. Bedlam, the famous insane asylum, was a tourist attraction often compared to the Palace of Versailles.

The fancy façade disguised crumbling walls and deplorable living conditions for the patients inside.

7. Belladonna, or Nightshade, was the go-to beauty treatment for rich women.
The flowers made a lovely rouge and the oil, used as eyedrops, dilated the pupils, making eyes appear larger. The berries are sweet. Too bad they’re so very deadly.

Photo by Vivek Doshi on Unsplash

8. If you want to attract a swarm of bees (like many people do), use a brood comb.

One of the gentlemanly pastimes of the Regency era was beekeeping, not so much for the bees but for the science. They might have used this method to attract bees and further their studies.

9. Mr. Collins was not a very nice beekeeper (according to the ’95 BBC film adaptation, anyway.) Regency beekeepers used straw skeps to house their hives, which, unfortunately for the bees, meant that collecting their honey was a murderous business.

What do forget-me-nots, uniforms, bees, belladonna, Bedlam, blows to the head, and Frankenstein have to do with Darcy and Lizzy?

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Forget Me Not, Elizabeth, A Peek Inside Chapter 2

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What could possibly go wrong on Darcy’s wedding day? Hmm…

Photo by Anna Rozwadowska on Unsplash

Chapter 2

Fitzwilliam Darcy checked his pocket watch again. The seconds did not tick any faster for his constant scrutiny. Fifteen minutes had never felt so long. Longer than the last year and half during which he had met, felt himself in danger of, and fallen in love with Elizabeth Bennet.
He glanced through the open entrance door to the carriage which would convey him and Bingley to Longbourn’s chapel. The horses pawed impatiently. Darcy resumed pacing.
After another turn about the hall, he paused by the doors. Pulling out the ring he had selected especially for Elizabeth, he held it up to the morning sun, appreciating how the light gleamed crimson reflections off the polished garnets. Five glistening, red gemstones shaped into a forget-me-not encased with gold stretching around the band symbolized everything he had already promised in his heart to give Elizabeth: faithfulness, dependability, constancy, love, his very self.
He had fallen in love with her despite his best efforts to the contrary. Despite her better judgment, he thought with a chuckle. How proud he had been — insulting her, leaving her vulnerable to others’ self-serving lies, and demeaning everyone she held dear in a madcap declaration of his undying love. Of course, he had expected her to throw herself at his feet, grateful he would condescend to make an offer for her when he had so graciously overcome all the obstacles he had taken pains to enumerate. What a fool he had been.
Thank goodness their worst troubles were in the past, the valuable lessons learned and applied. It was easy — even for Darcy — to laugh at their faults now.
He had won Elizabeth’s heart, and he would cherish it all the more, knowing she gave her his hand in full understanding of his weaknesses (of which she was foremost). While Darcy was tempted to believe his lessons learned and his pride conquered, his character was too firmly formed to believe such deeply ingrained tendencies entirely subjugated. But he would always exert himself for Elizabeth.
He loved her so much. She demanded as much from him as he demanded from others, forcing him to soften his expectations and leaving more place in his heart for her. Would that she remained the same always.
Tucking the ring back into his pocket, he glanced again at his pocket watch.
Two minutes passed. With a grimace, he resumed his pacing.
Were it up to him, he would have applied for a common license and married Elizabeth weeks ago in a small, private ceremony. However, Elizabeth’s eyes had sparkled like flutes of champagne when Bingley had suggested a double wedding. Blast Bingley.
Darcy was not so cruel as to separate Elizabeth from her family before she was ready, and so he had been forced to develop patience as he waited for the banns to be read, contenting himself that he would not have to share her once they were wed. He had dutifully informed his family, his invitation lackluster in an attempt to discourage them from attending for that very reason. Otherwise, his relatives (except for his aunt Catherine) would descend on them and he would have to share Elizabeth, and he had waited long enough. Surely, a gentleman ought not be deprived of his wife after the ceremony and the wedding breakfast.
Soon, this same morning, he would give his name to Elizabeth. Mrs. Elizabeth Darcy. He would swear before God, her family, and friends that he would never part from her side from that day forward. He would love her and cherish her so long as they both lived. The blessed day had finally arrived, and Darcy was impatient to begin his life with the woman he adored.
He checked his pocket watch again and groaned. Ten minutes. The longest ten minutes of his life.

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Forget Me Not, Elizabeth

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When working together to solve a mystery is the surest path to love… Darcy and Elizabeth are the main targets — for Cupid and for crime — in a new Mysteries & Matrimony standalone novel.

Here’s a taste of the adventure that awaits you.

CHAPTER ONE

Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Elizabeth Bennet wrinkled her nose at her signature. Much too commanding and formal. Dipping her quill into the inkwell, she tested another variant.
Mrs. Lizzy Darcy. She twisted her lips. That was not quite right either. Far too inelegant, informal … no matter how lovely the “L” swooped and curled on the page.
Mrs. Elizabeth Darcy. She sighed contentedly, signing her forthcoming name once more, exaggerating the loop on the “Y” with flourish. Nearly perfect.
She filled the cream surface with the surname she would forever use once she signed her name beside her husband’s in the marriage register that morning.
Her husband. Elizabeth’s heart hummed. The three previous weeks, during which the banns had been read, were a torture, forcing her to be patient when she would rather not, but today was her reward. Finally, she would marry the man she truly, deeply, madly — nay, not madly. Never that! — ardently … Yes, ardently loved.

Intrigued? You can pre-order your copy here.