"Seeking the Niceties of Marriage", by Gratiana Lovelace, 2021 (Done)

Ch. 01: Romantic Yearnings

"Seeking the Niceties of Marriage": Introduction & Ch. 01, April 25, 2021 by Gratiana Lovelace

(An original Regency Romance story copyrighted by Gratiana Lovelace, 2021; All rights reserved)    [(1) story cover above left]

[Illustrations: I cast my stories as I write them. So from time to time, I will illustrate my story with actors and such, including: Richard Armitage as Lord Edward Carlisle, Daniela Denby-Ashe as Lady Emily Creighton, Blake Ritson as Lord Kittredge Wells, Polly Walker as Lady Patience Creighton, Bill Nighy as Lord Nigel Creighton, and others as noted.]

[Author's Note: This original Regency romance is a work of fiction, and as such, any character names, scenes or other descriptions were made at the creative discretion of this author. And this is a gentle romance (G to PG-13), but with some frank discussions about love and marriage put to humorous effect. This is my disclaimer.]

"Seeking the Niceties of Marriage", Introduction/Wattpad Description

Is love and marriage something that Lord Edward Carlisle can do—a second time? His first marriage was disastrous—it was arranged by the parents-- but not with taking the feelings of the two parties into account, remained unconsummated due to his deference to his wife stating that she loved another, then his wife was killed four months later with her lover in a carriage accident that was all hushed up. All London Society thinks that he is a still grieving widower the past five years, though he is not. But Lord Edward vows to try marriage again—and on his own terms this time, involving love, or at least some of the niceties of marriage such as bringing his future children into being.

And initially unbeknownst to Lord Edward, his best bet for marriage might be a childhood acquaintance lady who has not attracted any notice among society and no suitors during her previous six seasons—whom is ripe for the plucking, in more ways than one. Can two such haplessly lovelorn individuals find love and romance, together? They will need much hope and interventions--on both sides--if they are to marry and find happiness with each other.

Ch. 01: Romantic yearnings

Her first wedding was a blur in the then little Lady Emily's memories. She was only three years old--and looking oh so deceptively sweet [(2) above] with her beribboned curled hair, her pale blue tremulous eyes, and her little mouth which was often in a pout of wanting something that had been denied her –-when she was entrusted with delicately strewing flower petals from a woven twig basket as she walked up the church aisle before her first bride. The bride being her Papa's younger sister, her Aunt Lady Emmeline, for whom she was named. They are The Emmelines in the Creighton family. So to avoid confusion in the family, the little niece Lady Emmaline Marie Creighton was nicknamed Lady Emily.

And little Lady Emily was much more interested in the feel of the flower petals in her hand. Soft and squishy to the touch with a faint and pleasing scent, Little Lady Emily had never experienced anything like flower petals before that she could remember--her parents shooing her away from flowers in their garden because stinging bees were often nearby. And little Lady Emily, having been stung once before as a baby, had had quite a bad allergic physical reaction to that bee sting. And medicine in the 1820's had not progressed to understanding and treating allergic reactions well.

"Oh pooh!" Little Lady Emily was heard to exclaim often when she was prevented from doing something that she wanted to do as a toddler--whether it was jumping up and down on her bed, eating more scones than her Mama would like—with the evidence writ upon her person of her wearing copious remnants of powdered sugar--or any other such childhood nonsense that usually got her a scolding, or at least a sighing "Oh dear!" from her Mama Lady Creighton.

And what little Lady Emily's three year old self wanted to do at her first wedding was to toss big fisted flower petal balls at the people sitting in the pews--rather than to slowly drop them one by one on the white carpet. If her task was to scatter the flower petals, then throwing clumps of them would get that done that much sooner, was her toddler reasoning anyway.

But Lady Emily's Mama aptly named Lady Patience Creighton [(3)above]-–this noble Mama not adhering to the maxim that the Bride should not be outshone in her attire, by Lady Creighton wearing what can only be described as a floral fuchsia explosion gown upon her person--was facing the then little Lady Emily from her seat in a pew near the front of the church with such an expression of expectancy that her little girl would behave for once, that Little Lady Emily did behave.

Except, little Lady Emily now threw flower petal balls on the carpet before her as she walked up the church aisle toward the front, instead of her flinging the flower petals at the people sitting down in the pews. Not as fun of course for little Lady Emily, but oh well! At least that was a slight improvement.