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Beauty, Mistress Anne

After my rushed and crude day I came needing repair, not believing. I would not have known ten minutes later my novel would make me blush. A novel has never made me blush. I have read some torrid novels, never blushed.

But this Temple Bailey novel is so kind-hearted. It is a novel in which gentlemen declare their intentions.

This chapter has some interesting references. One is the mention of drug abuse. I was really surprised. I didn't know the word was around then to describe controlled substances, but from what I can tell of the context it means mood-altering substance abused.

The other is Tabasco sauce. Beulah asks the others at dinner if it seems particularly hot?

I wish I could copy/paste things. I want to find an eBook reader that will let me do that.

So I will describe the scene as best as I can.

Geoffrey is a writer at a boarding-house and Anne is a school teacher at the same boarding-house. She has bought some silk she is making into a dress, and he reads her chapters of his book every night while she sews. With the book's advance he has bought her pearls for the ball to make her costume complete (she is recreating her grandmother's portrait gown), and declares his love. She is shocked (dumb) and rejects them (wrong) because her mommy's boy's mother gave her pearls that some day HE will give to his bride. Never mind that Geoffrey bought her pearls with his own poor writer's earnings, and Richard (mommy's boy) knows nothing about any of it. She wants to wear the pearls Richard's mother gave her. Sigh. I don't know if my blush was for the declaration of love or for horror. I think both. Unfortunately I read ahead and know she ends up with mommy's boy in the end, and Geoffrey gets paired off with someone in a very unconvincing scene.

Well, I know the Victorians felt getting along with the MIL was preeminent. Also, Geoffrey's behavior is subtly unacceptable. He has tried to buy Anne and Beulah wine at dinner (the author avoided even mentioning the word), also he's spending every evening with her in her room, at his initiative. It's really interesting the way the author introduces these subtle breaches in conduct. I would never have the self-control to force my characters to obey such a rigid social code, or face the consequences.

Does this post even make sense anymore? I better just go buy my ivory twill.

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