My Lady Coward, In Three Parts

~♥♥~ Now playing in my head: Adele, Someone Like You ~♥♥~

I have succumbed to reader demand and submitted another installment of My Lady Coward to the Clever Fiction story prompt site. I really like these characters and I think they're beginning to like me. :O)

Below, you'll find the opening paragraphs of each installment and a link to the Clever Fiction site where you can read the rest. Enjoy!! 

Part 1 (posted 10/06/11): 

  He'd had a mistress for years. She'd known it all along. Heart aching, she'd comforted herself with the thought that it was nothing more than a physical relationship, something he did to save face before his Society friends.

  He'd lost so much respect when he'd married her. She was nothing more than the daughter of a Cit, a despised class of people who earned their money from trade rather than inheriting it as any decent sort would.
  Lady Maria sighed and sipped her tea. Was marriage to a duke worth the heartache, the loss? With her marriage vows came the acquisition of a title and position in Society. Security. With her marriage vows came the loss of her friends, her family, and everything familiar and comfortable. Love.
  (to read the rest, CLICK HERE)

Part 2 (posted 10/20/11):

  Lady Maria waited in her bed, clothed in a diaphanous nightdress. A single candle, burning on the nightstand, kept the room from complete darkness.
  It was the fourteenth consecutive night she'd waited thus, a book in hand so as to appear nonchalant, less like a young wife awaiting her husband's presence in her bed.
  Would this be the night? She'd listened to rumor after rumor concerning her husband and where he preferred to spend his nights. She'd accepted it as life in high Society, the life of a real lady.
  They'd consummated their marriage, of course. Her face warmed at the memory, a tiny smile touching her lips. Even now, weeks later, Maria could still feel Richard's caress, feel his fingers grazing her skin, his lips brushing her lips, her neck, her shoulder, her...
  (to read the rest, CLICK HERE)

Part 3 (posted 10/27/11):
  They were married in October. No Society marriage ever took place in October. The weather had already turned cold, a harbinger of the no doubt difficult winter to come. Was it an omen, a sign of ill luck?
  Shaking her head, Maria turned away from the window through which she'd been blindly staring, watching the servants load boxes and traveling cases into the carriage waiting out front. The soft rustling of her skirts made a strange counterpoint to the occasional crackle from the fire, a necessary luxury on such a chilly morning.
  It was silly to believe in such superstitious nonsense. Her marriage was not doomed due to an October wedding or an early chill in the air. No, her marriage suffered the insurmountable odds of unequal birth.
  (to read the rest, CLICK HERE)

This started as nothing more than a short story but I like that it's developing into a serial instead. I hope you enjoy it. I'll update this blog when a new short is posted. Until then, happy reading, writing, and blogging!!

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