Sunday 13 March 2011

The Broken Hearts Blogfest!


This blogfest is kindly hosted by the lovely Dawn Embers.

The task of this blogfest is to convey the essence of a broken heart!
Mine is a snippet from a historical in which the hero reveals inner thoughts. 



As he saddled up alongside his men, he could not deny he had hoped for something more than tentative friendship from Anna. Their time together nothing short of torture for him, and her seemingly as indifferent as ever. Today of his departing Axebury Hall served only to inflict sufferance of separation, while for Anna it would afford sense of freedom for she would have the run of the house as and when she pleased instead of hiding away in her chambers.

What more could he say or do to convince her he had no hand in his father’s death? If perchance he had had more time he might have won her round. Unfortunately, he had no choice but to answer to the call of duty, now that Bristol once again secure in Parliamentarian hands.

He simply could not ignore a message arrived from Lord Fairfax the day of yesterday requesting all troops in attendance as soon as able near to Abingdon, which had caused him to think an offensive likely upon Oxford and the King’s court amidst the spires of the hallowed colleges. With Prince Rupert long since defeated it was assumed Prince Charles to be with the King and all ensconced at Oxford. Nonetheless, he thought otherwise and had it in mind Prince Charles already made safe and out of the country. It was something Anna had said in passing, but when questioned had denied any knowledge of the Prince’ whereabouts.

Sure his saddle secure he mounted up, in his heart hoping this to be the final assault upon Royalist forces. The end to the damn war? He wanted nothing more than to return to Axebury Hall as mere lord and master, not as a soldier of the state. And, with a Parliamentarian head of household in residence the old place would be exempt from heavy taxes to be levied upon known Royalist households and properties, as deemed likely as soon as Parliament in full control of the country’s purse.

As he led off and out of the mews his men in his wake, with solemn heart he glanced up at Anna’s windows, for she had not come to wave him off or to exchange favourable words. He’d thought her warmed a little in his direction over the last few days, but obviously insufficient to grant him a fond farewell. It was her way of saying she had not forgiven him, though what needed forgiving he couldn’t imagine.

Nevertheless he had served her well in giving her access to her dowry, and who could say what might happen in the months to come. She might run off and get wed, as she had suggested, though he’d thought her outburst more taunt than intention. Throughout he had kept his father’s treacherous theft of her inheritance secret, just that, secret. He bore no desire to tarnish the image of her once shining knight, the man who had brought her as a child to Axebury and when grown a woman had desired in taking her to his bed.

Morton Lord Gantry loved Anna Lady Maitcliffe with all his heart, and if the time ever arose and he fell to her favour once again, he would gladly marry her and provide for her and expect nothing but love in return other than of at least one son and a bevy of beautiful daughters just like her. Destiny, though, might be against him as it had been since his return to Axebury. For War, ever the unpredictable beast, could shatter dreams and destroy lives as it had his and Anna’s with one strike of a sword.


To see other participants entries go here and follow the Linky Tool at bottom of Dawn's post.


14 comments:

Tanya Reimer said...

Oh this is incredible! To see him justify it so. Very intriguing.

Margo Benson said...

Oh, she just has to come round and fall for him in the end! He sounds so noble and deep.

Raquel Byrnes said...

I wish she knew the truth.He sounds so wonderful for her. Great post.

Denise Covey said...

Great working of the male POV as always Francine. I loved the feel of this. Leaves lots of questions that I'm sure will be revealed in time...Hope you're feeling well now!

Thanks for the vote!

Denise<3

Broken Hearts Blogfest Entry

Trisha said...

Firstly, to answer your question about my excerpt - my MC's boyfriend died.

Now, onto this excerpt - loved it, and definitely want to know how things work out for the guy! I always get so impatient when lovers are separated in romance novels, but read quickly to get to the point where they get together again ;)

Anonymous said...

Oh, this was wonderful! I don't often read historical pieces--so many are so tiring--but this was great. I like the male POV as well.

Oh, and Sean Bean is one of my favorite hunks, too. ;-)

Francine Howarth said...

Hi ladies,

Thanks ever so for dropping by to comment. I'm still struggling to get around to everyone.

Denise, thanks for kind thoughts, but I'm not doing as well as I'd thought. The painkillers are only half-kicking in, and when they do I fall asleep. It's really hard keeping up with blogging at the mo. As for writing - forget it.

best
F

stu said...

It's a very tricky situation you've put him in, and a nicely powerful piece. Just a couple of small points. I'm not sure that some of the longer ways of phrasing things work (I assume they're there to create a historical feel) and the first paragraph or so could probably do with being in a slightly more direct style, closer to voicing the character's thoughts directly.

Bobbye Terry said...

I love the hero!
Bobbye

Heidi W said...

Love it! Enjoyed reading a historical story!

Unknown said...

Great stuff! Fun to read a historical romance after lots of contemporary ones ; )

T.x

ps thanks for putting up my blogfest button! can't wait!

dolorah said...

That was different. What a stout heart has he :)

........dhole

Dawn Embers said...

Thanks for entering my blogfest. This is a different entry just in the matter of the language but it's good to see something different. Your voice and the historical period ring through the text.

Anonymous said...

Fabulous Francine, male POV is great and I like the historical genre :O)