Tag: Gossip Page 18 of 40

1919: Letters in a Time of Epidemic

On April 4, 2020

**The Teatime Tattler has come into possession of a cache of letters and notes from the Kinmel Repatriation Camp, Wales. They appear to be from another time.**

Elks Corner, Saskatchewan, January 15, 1919
Dear Harry,
It is glad we were to receive your Christmas greetings, even though they reached us the first week in January. Now the war is over I can tell you of the relief with every letter that came; it meant you were alive and well. This time we can breathe a permanent sigh of relief, no?
As to your question, yes, the influenza found the province, but we got off easy here in Elks Corner. A few folks came down sick. Old Mrs. Butterworth, you may remember from church when you visited us summers—she was ninety—didn’t make it. Come November the epidemic died back mostly. Your grandmother and I escaped it entirely.
Christmas in Ypres, huh? Maybe next year we’ll see you here at the farm again. Your grandmother is already planning what to bake.
She tells me to stop writing nonsense and just send her love.
Grandpa Matthews.

Ypres, Belgium, January 16, 1919
Dear Madame Laporte,
It is my sad duty to report that your son Emile, corporal in my unit, passed away in the army hospital in Ypres. He fought bravely alongside my company through three years of the war, only to succumb, worn out by fighting, to the demonic Spanish flu. He was buried with honors in the cemetery near Elverdinghe, along with hundreds of his fallen comrades. I was with him in the end; he died peacefully.
Lieutenant Henry W. Wheatly, Canadian Expeditionary Force

To: The priests remaining at the cathedral, Amiens, France, January 16, 1919
Reverend fathers,
I write again in hope you have some word of Rosemarie Legrand, resident of Les Hortillonnages Amiens. We lost touch some months ago, and it is imperative that I find her. I am currently confined to the Kinmel Repatriation Camp near Bodelwyddan in Wales. They plan to send us home. I need to find Rosemarie and marry her quickly so I can arrange passage as a war bride.
I continue to hope that my old friend Abbé Dejardins has returned.
Lieutenant Henry Wheatly, Canadian Expeditionary Force
letter marked returned to sender

January 27, 1919, Regina, Saskatchewan,
Dearest Harry,
Just the one letter after Armistice telling us you are well? Not well done of you.
Your father has been bursting with pride since word of your promotion came and he is anxious—we both are frantic, really—to have you back. He heard your regiment has been delayed in some pokey camp in Wales waiting for transport home, and he is furious. He has taken the lieutenant-governor to task, I can tell you.
Please write often.
Love, Mom

February 5, 1919
My darling Rosemarie,
I am writing once again to your cottage among the islands of les hortillonnages. I pray that you and Marcel have returned there safely. Send word to me at the address on this envelope and I will come immediately. Your letters to me have gone astray and I suspect mine to you as well.
Please know that I love you and that has not changed.
Harry
letter marked undeliverable and returned

February 10, 1919
Mother,
Sorry I have not written often. Even though the fighting has stopped, my life is not my own. Please tell Father to stay away from the lieutenant-governor and to stop sending me letters about what he wants me to do when I get home.
Harry

To Sabine Legrand, Rue du Moulin Neuf, Amiens, France, February 18, 1919
Madam
We have not had the best of relations in the past. I write to beg, however, for any word of your sister-in-law Rosemarie. I am frantic to find her.
Lieutenant (formerly Corporal) Henry Wheatly
A note on the returned envelope :
Monsieur Wheatly, Sabine fled to Marseilles when the Krauts advanced in the summer. She has not returned.
S. Thierot, neighbor

February 24, 1919
To whom it may concern:
It has come to our attention that no action was taken on our recommendation of commendation for Pvt. Ezekiel Willard for his actions at Vimy Ridge. As we wrote, he charged into a gun nest, capturing the gun and several enemy single handedly, likely saving two of our squads during the first day of the offensive. Witnesses can be supplied, but they will soon be repatriated and dispersed. We urge action on this.
Lieutenant Henry W. Wheatly
Sergeant Angus McNaughton

Telegram
February 28, 1919
From: Lieutenant Henry W. Wheatly, Kinmel Repatriation Camp, Wales
To: Mrs. Martha Wheatly, 538 West Marlboro, Regina, Saskatchewan
Mother: Tell father to cease writing to Gen Fitzgibbon. STOP Tell him I demand it. STOP Don’t listen to stories about Spanish Flu. STOP Have things to do before I come home. STOP Be there soon.
Harry.

March 5, 1919
Willard,
Tell the boys the Spanish crap got the lieutenant. He’s in hospital. He says watch your back from Walker. Get me if you need me.
Mac

Telegram
March 18, 1919
From: Lieutenant Henry W. Wheatly, Kinmel Repatriation Camp, Wales
To: Mrs. Martha Wheatly, 538 West Marlboro, Regina, Saskatchewan
I am well. STOP. Don’t listen to Father. STOP Down with influenza but recovered. STOP Do not worry.
Harry

March 21, 1919
Regina, Saskatchewan,
Dearest Harry,
Your father tells me you’ve gone off in search of a woman. She obviously means the world to you. Go get her Harry, and bring her so we can meet her. Ignore your father’s interference, I beg you. He means well, truly.
Please take care of yourself, darling boy. You haven’t been well. Find your Rosemarie and come home.
Love,
Mother

About the Book

After two years at the mercy of the Canadian Expeditionary force and the German war machine, Harry ran out of metaphors for death, synonyms for brown, and images of darkness. When he encounters color among the floating gardens of Amiens and life in the form a widow and her little son, hope ensnares him. Through three more long years of war and its aftermath, the hope she brings keeps Harry alive.

Rosemarie Legrand’s husband left her a tiny son, no money, and a savaged reputation when he died. She struggles to simply feed the boy and has little to offer a lonely soldier, but Harry’s devotion lifts her up. The war demands all her strength and resilience, but the hope of peace and the promise of Harry’s love keep her going.

In the confusion at war’s end, will their love be enough?

More information and buy links: https://www.carolinewarfield.com/bookshelf/christmas-hope/

About the Author

Caroline Warfield grew up in a perapatetic army family and had a varied career (largely around libraries and technology)before retiring to the urban wilds of Eastern Pennsylvania, and divides her time between writing and seeking adventures with her grandbuddy and the prince among men she married.

Harry’s lovely story is a departure. She writes primarily family-centered Victorian and Regency novels and believes firmly that love is worth the risk.

A Season Full of Promise!

By Bluestocking Belles

On March 25, 2020

In Teatime Tattler

The Tattler hears from an anonymous lady…

In truth, I find most teas to be dreadfully dull. There are only so many biscuits one can consume while listening to the other ladies gasp and giggle over the same weary gossip as was discussed at tea the day before. But propriety–and appearances–dictate I attend, just the same.

No one knows the inner goings on of a household better than the maids or housekeeper or the occasional footman, and it is not unusual to overhear them talking about their mistresses and masters or the rest of the peerage when they think we are sufficiently occupied.

Yes, dear reader. I admit I attend teas more so I can stand in darkened corridors, behind heavy doors, or in out of the way corners, and simply listen to the staff! I realize it is scandalous. And you now realize I may know your secrets, as well. But it has been this guilty pleasure that allows me to bring you two tidbits of gossip you have not heard elsewhere.

First, I only just learned the Marquess of Castlereagh has returned to London after a year’s absence. Much to the chagrin of the young ladies of the ton, as he is not only one of the most handsome of the eligible peers, but one of the wealthiest, he left London unexplainably at the beginning of last Season, immediately following the fire at the Darkshire ball.

If you will remember, that fire claimed the lives of several in society, including the aged Viscount Manderly and the young Lady Katherine, daughter of the Marchioness of Windham, whom we have not seen since the fire. The event put a damper on the Season, to be certain, but it doesn’t explain the marquess’s unseasonal absence.

Near the end of the Season last year, I heard the marquess had taken up with an Irish woman while in Ireland–a commoner, no less. That could certainly explain his extended absence.

Then, this week during my wanderings at one of the teas, I overheard the housekeeper tell the butler that the housekeeper of another house had told her there was an Irish peeress she’d never seen before being fitted in Madam Boutrey’s for the Gloushire ball.

Are these two Irish women one and the same? Will Lord Castlereagh be looking in the lines for a wife this Season? Or does he have a surprise in store for all of us?

In other news, sadly, I must report the passing of Gerald, Earl Dodson, the fourth cousin of the dowager Duchess of Wiltshire. It seems the earl left a young daughter behind, and Lady Maris has become the ward of the duchess. The girl was quite lovely on the one occasion I’ve had to make her acquaintance, and the duchess beyond delighted to introduce her to society.

I have yet to speak to anyone who personally knew the earl, but the duchess has referred to him at tea as her “country cousin”. Perhaps it is because Lady Maris has been kept in the country that the duchess’s nephew, former naval captain and the Marquess of Wellesley, is said to be so very protective of his young cousin.

Of course the staff of many houses are already wagering amongst themselves on his intentions, now that the Duke of Wiltshire (the duchess’s nephew by marriage) is escorting Lady Maris to the ball at Pepperstill’s. And at another tea, just this week, I heard one maid whisper that is the reason Lady Twila has at put her foot down and demanded the Marquess at last make good on the marriage arrangement that’s been in place for years.

As for me, dear reader, I suspect both the Marquess of Castlereagh and Lady Maris will make this Season one of the more interesting in ages!

Yrs Truly,
Lady Doe

About the Book

THE BRIAR…
One moment Raven is alone in the world and working as a maid in the gardens of a grand estate in Ireland; the next she finds herself handed the life of a lady by the dark and handsome Marquess of Castlereagh. Devan insists his intentions are honorable, and that he only wishes to help reunite her with her family. But Raven finds herself in a constant struggle to deny the smoldering attraction between them, and in her secret heart, wishes he wanted more.

THE ROSE…
Devan, Marquess of Castlereagh, is tormented by his past and determined to live out his days in quiet solitude at his Ireland estate. That is until Raven enters his life. With the face of an angel, the body of Aphrodite, and the tongue of a drunken Irishman, he’s never met any woman so infuriating… so seductive… so… his match.

THE LEGEND…
From historical Ireland and its mystical legends to the elegant ballrooms of Regency London, together Devan and Raven discover the truth of the past and a love so strong it cannot be denied. ORIGINAL VERSION: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X3747H6 PG VERSION (closed bedroom door): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081QPPVBG

About the Author

Laura Mills-Alcott’s first love was music, and she began her writing career at the age of eleven, when she wrote her first song. After graduating high school, she moved to Nashville, and some of her music was published.

Though she wrote her share of love songs, Laura’s favorite was the story songs–the modern day equivalent of the old ballads. However, she often found herself frustrated when attempting to fit a single title novel into three verses, a bridge, and a chorus. So one day she decided she’d try her hand at writing a book. “After writing the first paragraph,” she says, “I was hooked.”

In The Briar and the Rose, she combines her love of music with her love for romantic novels and history.

Laura and her work have been featured in Romantic Times Magazine, on the “Talk America Radio Network”, and she acted as a consultant for the daytime talk show “The Other Half” on a segment dealing with why women read romance novels. Her non-fiction interviews have been published in newspapers and online, and her short stories have been published in a variety of print and electronic formats.

Laura currently resides in NE Ohio with her husband, where she spends her time restoring historical homes, and owns a remodeling company – Regency Remodeling – with her husband. She loves spending time with her children and two beautiful grandchildren, as well as her three dogs, and too many cats.

FB page: www.facebook.com/lmalcott2

Springtime and Babies

By Guest author

On March 18, 2020

In Teatime Tattler

By undercover reporter, Bellanna Banders

My Dearest readers,

This reporter has become aware of several authors who may or may not find themselves in a rather interesting condition together.

Lords, Ladies and Babies, yes. I mean babies; six of them!

Lady Meara Platt may or may not have exposed the going-ons of a certain duke who has discovered a rather unlikely surprise on his doorstep!

Lady Tabetha Waite writes of a lady who has taken (ahem) drastic measures to escape an unwanted betrothal. Drastic measures with a handsome highlander and now she faces rather drastic consequences.

Lady Tammy Andresen keeps company and has written all about the Earl of Sin—a gentleman who has quite sworn off marriage until… well, you’ll have to read the story to find out.

Lady Annabelle Anders has penned the memoirs of a troubled Duke who is desperate for an heir. The muddle-headed fool requires help from a levelheaded lady. Don’t they all?

Lady Merry Farmer will expose the scandalous deal that a disgraced miss strikes with another muddle-headed fool. Won’t they ever learn?

And Lady Scarlett Scott’s has penned of the scandalous goings on at a country house party… and oh, my… consequences here as well?

This reporter thinks it just may be springtime, what with all the birds and the bees flying about. She’ll be keeping a watchful eye on these six feisty author ladies. You ought to as well!

***********

About the Book

LORDS, LADIES & BABIES: A REGENCY ROMANCE SET WITH LITTLE CONSEQUENCES…features heroes and heroines who’s happily ever afters are “helped” along by six little bundles of joy.

The Duke’s Surprise by Meara Platt: Cheyne Lyon, Duke of Mar isn’t surprised when his wastrel brother dumps a wife and baby on his doorstep, but Jennifer is intelligent, nurturing, and sweet, just the sort Cheyne could love, if only she wasn’t already taken. When unsavory strangers come around looking for a runaway young lady, Cheyne realizes Jennifer isn’t who she claims to be, and he isn’t about to give her up.

The Scot’s Bairn by Tabetha Waite: Damaris Honeywell suffers from an unwanted betrothal. Her solution? Ruin her reputation. But one night with a handsome Scotsman leads to certain…complications that can’t be ignored. When Callum Murray, Laird O’Donogue encounters her again, he intends to show her that they are meant to be.

The Earl of Sin by Tammy Andresen: The Earl of Sinclair vowed never to marry again. But when a pretty spinster befriends his daughter, he begins to wonder.

The Perfect Little Marquess by Annabelle Anders… His father dies before turning forty. His oldest brother, the original heir, turns up his toes at the age of two and thirty. And this year, the spare is killed most suddenly in a duel. Things aren’t lookin good for this second spare turned heir. The new duke of Warwick needs a son… And Quickly!

The Substitute Lover by Merry Farmer… Lord Benedict Killian needs an heir of his own blood as fast as possible, but he has no intention of marrying. Disgraced Miss Meg Wallace needs money, and a lot of it, to start a new life. Agreeing to a deal to conceive a child for Benedict to pass off as his own seems like an easy solution for both of their problems. Until the red-hot passion between them proves irresistible.

Wooed in Winter by Scarlett Scott… The Marquess of Haven has finally decided to do his duty and settle upon a bride, preferably before the new year begins. What better place to find her than a country house party? There’s just one problem, and she’s the beautiful widow who once owned his heart. Surely there’s no harm in indulging in one night of passion with her to get her out of his mind. But Haven is about to discover old habits are hard to break, especially when the consequences last forever…

***********

Universal Book Link

https://books2read.com/Lords-ladies-and-babies

Love doesn’t always go as planned and sometimes it results in adorable little consequences! Six tales of Regency love, each enhanced by a little bundle of joy. Don’t miss this very special set of books written by your favorite Historical Romance authors!

Inappropriate Woman!

By Bluestocking Belles

On March 11, 2020

In Teatime Tattler

My name? Let’s just call me Miss Kitten. I have some of the most wonderful gossip about Lord Belmont!

You see, he’s in town with his mother for the Season and it seems he’s taken a liking to the most inappropriate of women. You probably know who she is, of course. That’s right, Miss Emma Sellars, the bluestocking who fancies becoming a doctor! Now I’m not exactly sure if he knows that about her, but I’m not going to say a word! Her parents are simply desperate to marry her off and once they find out about Lord Belmont they’re going to want to keep it as quiet as possible. I only hope Miss Sellars can keep herself in line long enough for him to ask for her hand!

The Hellion and the Highwayman, now available for preorder at all retailers as part of the A Hellion’s Midnight Kiss boxset!

http://books2read.com/AHellionsMidnightKiss

About the Book

Emma Sellars wants to be a doctor, but her parents would rather see her as a bride. Her sister Katherine is excited about the upcoming Season, but with her parents’s ultimatum that she either find a suitor or leave their house, Emma is less than enthusiastic about it.

Lord Thomas Belmont recently came into his title as Earl of Arabel when his father died, and in London at his mother’s request. While the balls are a delight, his real interest lies in the pockets of the affluent people coming in on the London highways.

When they meet by chance on an outing with Emma’s sisters, Thomas is immediately taken with Emma but knows his nighttime outings won’t make for a happy courtship. He’ll have to choose between duty and love, or leave Emma to continue her studies penniless.

About the Author

Rebecca Lovell fell in love with history when she first visited the stockyards in her native Fort Worth and she has been writing and studying different eras ever since. When she’s not writing she enjoys crocheting, running, and playing with her many cats.
Find her online at:

http://rebeccalovell.com
facebook.com/RebeccaLovellBooks
twitter.com/becca_el

Scandalous Doings in High Places

By Bluestocking Belles

On February 22, 2020

In Jude Knight, Teatime Tattler

To the editor, Teatime Tattler

Dear Honoured Sir

It is with the greatest of reluctance that I put pen to paper. I am not, I assure your readers, sir, one to speak ill of my fellows, but I also believe most strongly that we of the highest ranks must set a good example to others.

Sadly, what I have observed with my own eyes leads me to believe that a previous correspondent to your paper has the right of it. One of the highest ladies in the land outside of the Royal Family has, indeed, been led into the most grevious of errors by the kindness of her heart.

Just the other night, I was at the theatre. It was not a memorable occasion to begin with — a very mediocre crowd, and much focused on some actor from the provinces who was making his debut on the London stage. At the interval, however, a vast crowd, all very merry, joined us, which was a great improvement, for what is the point of getting dressed to attend the theatre, if few people see you?

But I digress.

Miss C., a young person (I do not say ‘lady’, though she aspires to such) who currently lives in the household of the great lady I mentioned, was reprimanded — very properly, I might add — by the cousin who is the head of her family, and responded most pertly.

Are these the manners she learns at a ducal table, I ask you?

Perhaps so. You will be shocked — I was shocked, sir — to know that one much closer to the great lady’s heart (though not precisely what a proper gentlewoman would consider family) was also seen behaving scandalously a few days earlier.

I happened to be walking in Hyde Park on one of the first days without snow and fog, and I came across Miss J. G. in the arms of Lord D., who has been heard to wager he will be there to catch the maiden, if maiden she be, when she falls.

Miss J. G., you will know, is said to be the ward of said great lady (though the polite world knows she has no right to be in a ducal household, unless in the most menial — or the most scandalous of positions). It appears she has inherited the appetites of the mother who gave away her virtue to the great lady’s husband.

I interrupted them and they were soon after joined by Miss J. G.’s sister and Lord H. — another scandalous pairing.

Furthermore, the newly minted earl, Lord C., might look to the company that his sister, Lady F., is keeping under the sponsorship of the great lady. As if walking the back alleys of London with only a one-handed footman for protection is not foolish enough, she has now taken up with the Recluse of Cambridge!

Alas. One hears rumours that the great lady’s husband is ailing, and that his ailment is of the type to affect the brain. Perhaps the condition is infectious, for what else can explain such terrible flaws in judgement on the part of a lady we should all look up to.

I am sure you and your readers will join me in my concern over the ruin that encouraging such behaviours will make of public morals. In my own family, moral turpitude had such terrible consequences that my only recourse was to flee my home. Let a public outcry arise before London likewise sinks entirely into the mire.

I remain, most sincerely,

Lady A.

Lady Ashbury, is, of course, having a go at the Duchess of Haverford, patroness of a Ladies’ Society formed to help veterans. She also takes a swipe at the heroines of three of the stories, plus Jessica Grenford, the sister of my heroine, Matilda Grenford.

For more about these stories of love in a time of ice, see our Fire & Frost page, which has blurbs for each story and buy links for most retailers of ebooks. You can also buy Fire & Frost in print from Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

Lady Asbury appears in my Children of the Mountain King series. She is the wicked sister-in-law of my Earl of Ashbury, the hero of the second book, who is one of the people she is accusing of moral turpitude; safely enough, because he hasn’t ventured from his estate since he recovered from the injury that crippled him to find his wife and brother dead, children sent off to school, and sister-in-law gone.