Happy Hump Day, hookers! Click on the link to get to the linky list of 30+ authors who are providing glimpses into their work.
Mine, as usual, comes from an affectionate pastiche of a Regency romance, which was the first thing I ever wrote using a word processing programme. Teensy keyboard on a Spectrum ZX and the memory had to be purged every 10 pages because the ‘hard drive’ was about 16Kb. And it was STILL a big improvement over writing by hand.
Anyhow – last week Agnes, the maid, muttered something to anger young Lady Cicely, but Agnes is by no means a downtrodden drudge.
~~~
Agnes flushed but held her ground. “I’ll not hold my tongue, milady,” she declared. “If you’re not moping, you’re as cross as crabs and it has gone on long enough. Captain Munro was a thoroughgoing scoundrel and I was glad to see the back of him but now, honestly, milady, there’s times I could wish him back again.”
“Agnes!” Cicely was outraged. She rose to her feet to administer a sharp rebuke, then she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. I look, she told herself, like an ugly, bitter old maid, and I won’t be twenty-five until my next birthday! She dropped back into her chair and removed her spectacles.
“Forgive me,” she whispered. “Have I really been so unbearable?”
“Not unbearable,” Agnes replied, “just powerful hard to live with.”
Pink-cheeked, Cicely toyed with the papers on her desk. “I was such a fool,” she said. “Rory was so exciting, such fun, so plausible. I could not believe that it was my fortune alone that counted with him. I’ve learned my lesson now. In future, I will keep to my library; books are less fickle than men. I am so sorry for being so horrid.”
“We made allowances, never fret,” Agnes told her, cheerfully. “Are there any letters from your aunt?”
~~~
Aww, a moment of calm before the storm that is Aubrey breaks over their heads. Next week, then. Toodles.
Elin Gregory 
I’m really enjoying this! yes we should look at ourselves in the mirror at times like this. She’s lucky her maid is so forgiving.
Cross as crabs…Yes!!!
I love this line: “Not unbearable,” Agnes replied, “just powerful hard to live with.” Nice hook!
‘We made allowances…’ LOve it x Nicely written
Ha ha. I love Agnes already. Great hook, Elin. 😀
Great lines in there, Elin! Well done.
Fantastic writing!
I agree with Gem, that’s some pretty wonderful writing. 🙂
Love the style and the interaction. I’m sometimes cross as crabs too! Well done!
I am loving this tale! So many great lines in this snippet…”cross as crabs” made me laugh, as did Agnes saying that she had been “powerful hard to live with.” lol, I love the period speech. And I agree that books are less fickle than men. However, I would counter that they are less fun than men in some ways as well. 😉 Great hook! I can’t wait for more!
great dialogue/interaction between the two. liked the line ‘powerful hard to live with’. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
C.R.
Wow, you just have such a way with words. I’m really thrown into the time period. Makes me so jealous cuz I could never write something like this. Your character’s personalities really shine through just by their speech. Nice job! Can’t wait to read more ❤
Ha! Love the “powerful hard to live with”!!! Screa volumes as to the Lady’s behavior! Well done!
Screams! Damn phone won’t keep up withy thumbs! Lol
I’m enjoying this story.
But you wrote stories on your Spectrum! I just played games on mine (and occasionally tried to write very simple programs. I wrote all my stories by hand.
Meanwhile, one of my scarily young co-workers was impressed by the Alestorm CD in my car, so I pointed out that I’d been introduced to the band’s music by someone even more grown-up than me.