Sunday, October 7, 2012

Six Sentence Sunday 10-7-12: An Infamous Marriage

As I continue to count down the weeks until my new historical romance, An Infamous Marriage, releases, today we visit with our heroine, Elizabeth, a few hours after her husband, Jack, has returned home from military service in Canada. As revenge for his adultery and the embarrassment it's caused her, she's announced her intent of barring him from her bed* until he finds a way to earn her forgiveness. (Their marriage wasn't consummated during the few days they had before he left for Canada five years ago because both of them were so deeply grieved over the lost of her first husband and his best friend.) However, she can't help but waver a little bit.

She’d had one week with Giles before he fell ill, just enough to whet her appetite for the pleasures of the flesh. Before she’d learned of Jack’s adultery, she’d begun to imagine what it would feel like to lie with him, but she hadn’t allowed herself such a fantasy in three years. Instead, night after night she’d raged against fate for being so cruel, so unfair, as to give her only one week of bliss when other women had years and years of happiness. And now already some traitorous part of her called out, See how handsome Jack is! And he wants you.
He wants an heir, her wiser self told her foolish body. 

*Yes, Elizabeth and I both know that according to the legalities of the day, her husband has rights to her body. However, she judges, correctly, that he'd be unwilling to force himself upon a woman who was actively resisting him even if didn't legally count as rape.

23 comments:

  1. I love her inner conflict: between the two men and between wanting to bar Jack versus giving in. Good luck with your book launch :)

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    1. Thanks! Giles and Jack ARE very different, and one of the things Elizabeth has to learn to accept, and even value, is how different her own life will be as an ambitious, outgoing army officer's wife than it would've been had her quiet, mellow clergyman of a first husband lived.

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  2. What a great conflict situation you've created. She's got a tough time ahead. Well done.

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  3. Great six! You've made me eager to check this book out :)

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    1. Thanks, Zee! I'm counting down the days myself--less than a month till it's out there.

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  4. She's really gotten herself into a difficult situation...good thing I have confidence in your hero to help her work it all out...eventually! Terrific six...

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    1. Well, the scandal that generated the most gossip was actually Not What It Looked Like, though Elizabeth hasn't yet made up her mind whether to believe his version of events. But for the rest, he wasn't as discreet as he might've been, little dreaming, man that he is, that gossip would cross the ocean.

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    1. Thanks! She'll find her way out of it, eventually.

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  7. I can't believe that was only 6 sentences. So much in there, so smoothly delivered.

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  8. I'm not a huge fan of historical but you've got me intrigued by the whole premise of this story and I love the characters as you've introduced them during 6SS. Can't wait to read the whole thing!

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    1. Thanks, Silver! Few things are more flattering than hooking a reader who doesn't usually love the genre.

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  9. That is such torture for booth of them. I want them to be together already. Great 6!

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    1. Thanks! I'm glad you're rooting for them to get together. :-)

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  10. That's a lot of tenstion in just 6 sentences, really setting up an interesting story. Great six.

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    1. Thanks, Rinelle! I'm glad the tension is coming through.

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  11. Wow! What a lot of conflict! And, what a difficult predicament! Great six!

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    1. Thanks! I had fun working through the conflict with the characters.

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