I am thrilled today to be part of the blog tour for Nicole Clarkston's latest release, Northern Rain. My thanks also goes to Janet Taylor for inviting me to take part.
"There is nothing like a long walk in the rain to guarantee a little
privacy… unless the last person you wish to encounter happens also to be in
search of solitude.
John Thornton is a man of heavy responsibilities who has many things
on his mind, but the most troublesome of them all is Margaret Hale. She wants
nothing to do with him, and he wishes he could feel the same. When a moment of
vulnerability allows her a glimpse into his heart, she begins to see him very
differently.
Is something so simple as friendship even possible after all that
has passed between them? Thornton has every good reason to move on, not the
least of which is the lovely Genevieve Hamilton and her wealthy father. Will
Thornton act according to duty and accept an opportunity to save his mill, or
will he take a chance on love, hoping to change Margaret’s mind?"
Nicole has written a vignette of John and Margaret's first love letters. Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My Dearest Love,
Would that it were my arms you found on your
pillow for your comfort tonight, rather than this simple note. How I shall miss
you, my darling! I had promised myself that we should never spend a day apart,
but I suppose that was a selfish notion. I much prefer to know that you are
safe at home, my love, and resting as you should be. I have commissioned both Mother
and Dixon to ensure that you do, in fact, rest a little!
My Margaret, I scarcely know how I shall face
these few days apart from you. You have brought so much wonder to my life,
Love, that I cannot comprehend how I survived so long in my cold, colorless
world. I am loath to return to it, but now I have the assurance that very soon,
I shall come again to your loving embrace and your delicious kisses. I shall
sleep well tonight, Love, knowing that this brief sojourn will only serve to
sweeten the reunion when I take you in my arms again on Saturday.
All of my heart,
John
Darling John,
As I write this, you are even now making your
preparations for your trip. Should you find any smudges on the paper, you may
be assured that they are not tears of sorrow, but of deepest joy. That is what
I shall tell myself! It was not so very long ago that I had begun
to think I would never know the contentment of love, or the pride that I feel
in you. My husband, you have taught me the truest meaning of the word, for it
is not in any merit of my own, but in my fine, loving husband and his
affections that I boast.
I am so proud of you, my darling; of your
devotion, your honor, your cleverness, and the sacrifice you make in leaving us
for these interminable few days. I understand the value of your efforts, and I
feel the full measure of your faithfulness to the mill and to us. I think there
is no more blessed wife in the kingdom than I! I quite rival your mother now in
her pride for you. I shall try to conduct myself in a worthy manner while I
wait for you to return to me, but I cannot quite promise that I shall bear up
as bravely as I should like. I fear that I am not always myself of late!
I must close this now, for I hear you coming up
the stairs to kiss me goodbye before your train. I am privately wondering how
long it will take you to find this note which I secrete in your bag, so do be
certain to write tomorrow and tell me.
I remain entirely yours,
Margaret
My Dearest Margaret,
I was still at the rail office when I began
searching for the note you so cleverly tucked into my bag. I treasured it for
the duration of the ride to London, and it kept me company in the small hours
of the night. Did you rest well, Love?
I expect you will have passed two nights by the
time you receive this. I am immeasurably grateful to your cousin for her
hospitality. Not only am I assured that you already have the address, and I may
soon expect the comfort of word from you, but her library is more than
adequate. I spent a good many hours in it last night, so you may be certain
that I know that of which I speak.
Mrs Lennox is faring quite well, but I expect
that her confinement draws very near, if I may speak so indelicately. I look
with some jealous sympathy on the Captain as he hovers over his wife, and I
almost wish that I had stayed elsewhere at such a momentous time for their
family. Your cousin, however, would not hear any objections. She received me
very warmly on your account, and questioned me for a long while last night- and
such plain questions she had for me! I think I was quite blushing when her
husband at last drew her away.
It is nearing dawn now, my love, and I am
reminded of that first morning I awoke in your arms. I believe I know now why a
woman’s hair is said to be her crowning glory. It is because the man blessed to
hold such a laurel close to his heart may rightly feel himself a king. I still
think myself quite unworthy of such a gift as your love, and wonder at heaven’s
mercy in imparting your heart to me, but I shall never cease to grateful. It is
because of you that I can look boldly to the future and laugh at what troubles
may come our way.
I must now put down my pen, Love. I dislike
doing so, for in writing you, it seems we are not so far apart. However, if I
am to make myself at all useful when I meet with Mr Colthurst and his
associates today, it would behoove me to seek out a cup or three of hot coffee.
Yours forevermore,
John
My Husband,
I would ask how you passed your first night in
Edith’s home, but I expect I know the answer- despite your first note’s
assurances to the contrary. I fared little better, I am afraid. It seems that I
had come to lean against you a great deal as I slept, and being deprived of your
support, I found your pillow wholly inadequate to my wants. It seems that I can
no longer balance myself in my sleep, and the babe protested quite violently no
matter what I tried!
John, I am so longing to see our child! Are we
to expect a boy or a girl? Will I look down into the eyes of my husband, and
see that spark of his that I adore shining anew in our child? I now begin to
understand your mother a little better, for in anticipating our babe, the
fiercest thoughts come to my mind! I never thought myself capable of such
feelings, but I would turn over the world, John, to spare our son- or daughter-
the faintest measure of grief. I know that is a foolish notion, and a vain one,
for life has shaped you into the man I love, and it will do no less for our
children.
Dr Donaldson came by this evening to discuss
some hospital business, and told me that new medicines and supplies are
arriving daily. I am glad of that. If it is all I can do to improve my own
little corner of the world, I shall continue to aid his efforts. It may seem
small, but I do hope some good will come of it. I feel I owe our children- yes,
I hope for more!- a better world than the one we found. I thank you for your
indulgence and understanding in allowing me to spend much of my time so
employed. I blame your influence entirely, John, for your ambitions have rubbed
off on me.
I do hope your meetings with Mr Colthurst are
productive. I know you felt yourself undeserving of the honour to be chosen as
Milton’s representative in these affairs, but I do not. None understand the
legislation, or its impacts on the industry, better than you do, my husband. I
have every confidence that you will carry out your duty faithfully and with
distinction, and that at the end of it you will return to find me
Ever yours,
Margaret
P.S. I think I ought to inquire which
of the staff has the keys to my room and my writing desk. Someone has been gaining
access when I am away. I discovered the pilfering because each day, they are
carelessly leaving a rose behind with my ink jars. I am determined to solve the
mystery! -M
My precious wife,
Have I mentioned lately how delicious that word
tastes when I speak it? It looks just as well on paper. I, a married man! A
year ago, I never could have dreamt that I might call you my own. Before I met
you, my Margaret, I am convinced that the desire was not even in me. Whether
you planted it there, or merely awakened what I had long forgotten, I shall not
trouble myself to determine. I know only that our marriage has brought a
richness to my life that I had never dared believe in for myself.
I am sorry to read of your troubles in sleeping
comfortably. You may be assured that I will hurry back to your arms as quickly
as possible. I cannot have the mother of my child in distress! Ah, there was
another word I had failed to appreciate until just now. The entire phrase
sounds purely exquisite! There is such a sense of belonging, of oneness with
the woman I love, to think that even now she carries our future within her. I
have not the words to express my heart, but to simply say that it is nothing
short of miraculous. I, too, wonder if I shall see my love’slikeness as our
child grows. I hope, my Margaret, that if we should be blessed with a daughter,
she will look just like her beautiful mother. I would count it a privilege to
watch you grow up all over again before my very eyes.
It would be unfair of me not to report the
progress we have made here, for I know that you are curious. Mr Colthurst has
proven an agreeable, intelligent fellow. I believe he may be reasoned with, and
has shown himself willing to consider new perspectives. I have great hopes that
our efforts may result in a more thoughtful draught of the bill at hand, which
will mutually benefit all.
Henry Lennox was here to dinner last evening,
and we two spent a long while over drinks in the study. I cannot fathom why you
did not marry him, Margaret, for he is quite an inoffensive chap. It seems you
have missed your opportunity, for he has recently made the acquaintance of the
daughter of one of his law partners. He spoke very little out of sensitivity
for the lady, but it sounds a promising attachment. I am afraid you shall have
to continue to make do with your humble manufacturer!
I expect that this is the last letter I shall
be writing on this trip, for on the day after tomorrow I intend to board a
train bound for the north, and home. The words I would wish to express on
paper, I shall preserve in my heart to whisper into your ear. You will be glad
to know, however, that I am at last comfortably installed in my room and
finding it much to my liking. I believe it was just after your cousin informed
me that it had once been yours that I discovered what an agreeable room it
truly was. I shall again rest my head on your old pillow tonight, and think on
my sweet Margaret who dreamt her girlhood dreams as she lay under that very
coverlet. On second thought, perhaps sleep may be more difficult than ever now!
Your sleepless and fervently devoted
husband,
John
p.s. We have never yet had a dishonest
housemaid. Are you certain that you are seeing correctly, Love? I should hate
to unjustly accuse any of the staff. Perhaps your lack of rest has made you
delusional. -J
My John,
I do hope this letter reaches you before you
leave London. Should you board a train before receiving this, however, I do not
think I shall complain.
Father has been nearly insufferable of late. He
does not confess as much, but I think he misses you, John. He comes out of his
rooms, sits by the fire but a few moments, and then returns. He offers no
excuse for his strange behavior, only making some comments that he had thought
of something of a sudden, and that it will keep for another time. It is
amusing, I think, but your mother finds it all most disturbing!
She bears up rather the best of us in your
absence. John, I really rather like your mother. Fancy that! She has been a
great deal more conversant of late. I know she only tries to comfort me while
you are away, for it is not at all her nature, but only this morning she
suggested that we ask Nicholas and Mary to tea! I nearly dropped my pretty rose
pot in shock!
Please do hurry home to us, my love. I miss the
way you tease me when I try to be serious, and the way you clasp my hand under
the table when you think no one is watching. I miss hearing you snore when you
have had a particularly taxing day, and how silently you try to rise in the
morning, thinking that I am still asleep as you dress. I miss the look in your
eyes when you come to me, and how during those exquisite moments, all the world
vanishes and there is only you. I am aching to kiss you and to drink in every
delicious, unique detail which makes you my John. Can you really marvel that I
chose you over Henry Lennox? I must take care to whisper in your ear all of the
reasons why when you return to me.
Your loving
Margaret
p.s. Just as I was sealing this
letter, the door to my room opened very silently. I believed for a moment that
I had caught my burglar! Alas, it was only your mother, claiming she had mislaid
something. How very odd, that she would not show me what was in her far hand.
Love,
If my instructions have been carried out, you
are just now sitting down to your vanity to arrange your beautiful hair. There
should be a bower of roses blocking the view of your mirror, and this sealed
little missive should have been nestled in the blossoms. Perhaps by now, you
will have discovered the identity of my accomplice!
Today, I come home to you, my darling. I write
this several days before you read it, and so the ache of missing you has yet to
grow to its fullest measure. I have no doubt that this week will have been
torment for me of the most glorious sort, such as that of a starving man who
only waits to return home to a feast. Do keep these letters, my love, as I do
not anticipate having many opportunities to write more.
I trust you have nothing important planned for
a few days, for I intend to entirely monopolize your schedule. I do hope you
have all of the locks secured again.
Your impatient and immeasurably
blessed husband,
John
Blog Tour
Schedule:
7/8-9:
Launch Vignette, Excerpt & Giveaway at Fly High
7/
10: Guest Post & Giveaway at Babblings of a Bookworm
7/11:
Guest Post, Excerpt & Giveaway at My Kids Led Me Back to Pride &
Prejudice
7/12:
Author Interview at More Than Thornton
7/14:
Review & Giveaway at Just Jane 1813
7/16:
Excerpt & Giveaway at Half Agony, Half Hope
7/17:
Vignette & Giveaway at Laughing With Lizzie
7/18:
Author/Character Interview & Giveaway at From Pemberley to Milton
7/19:
Guest Post, Excerpt & Giveaway at So little time…
7/20:
Vignette & Giveaway at Stories from the Past
7/21:
Vignette & Giveaway at More Agreeably Engaged
7/24:
Review, Excerpt & Giveaway at Margie’s Must Reads
7/26:
Guest Post & Giveaway at A Covent Garden Gilflurt’s Guide to Life
Author
Bio:
Nicole Clarkston is the pen name of a very
bashful writer who will not allow any of her family or friends to read what she
writes. She grew up in Idaho on horseback, and if she could have figured out
how to read a book at the same time, she would have. She initially pursued a
degree in foreign languages and education, and then lost patience with it,
switched her major, and changed schools. She now resides in Oregon with her
husband of 15 years, 3 homeschooled kids, and a very worthless degree in
Poultry Science (don't ask). Nicole discovered Jane Austen rather by guilt in her early thirties- how does any book worm really live that long without a little P&P? She has never looked back. A year or so later, during a major house renovation project (undertaken when her husband unsuspectingly left town for a few days) she discovered Elizabeth Gaskell and fell completely in love. Nicole's books are her pitiful homage to two authors who have so deeply inspired her.
Contact
Info:
Buy
Links:
CreateSpace:
Amazon:
GIVEAWAY!
My thanks again goes to Nicole for this sweet vignette! My thanks also to Janet for setting up this tour.
I wish Nicole all the best with this release as well as any stories in the future!
Your affectionate friend,
