Waiting Game by Sheri Cobb South Page B
Authors: Sheri Cobb South
Tags: Regency Mystery Novella
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his condition, that encouraged me to hope that he might be mourning the death of a dream.”
It had been real, then. It warmed her heart to think of him standing in the street below, keeping watch over her like a knight of old protecting his lady. And no lady ever had a worthier, regardless of what Lord Rupert might say to the contrary. Nor was any knight more hardly used, she thought, suffering the now-familiar pang of guilt and shame at the demands placed on him by the annulment procedure. But according to her solicitor, the papers had already been filed, and it was merely a matter of waiting for the annulment to come before the ecclesiastical court.
And to hope, in the meantime, that she wasn’t making the biggest mistake of her life.
Author’s Note
Sharp-eyed readers will no doubt recognize Ethan Brundy, although this story takes place in December of 1808, eight (well, seven and a half) years before the events of his own book, which is set in the spring of 1816. Readers new to my books who want to know what happens when he does , in fact, meet the woman he wants to marry may read all about it in The Weaver Takes a Wife .
The seeds of his appearance here were first sown when I realized that, if they inhabited the same fictional “world,” poor insecure John Pickett would actually be four years older than the self-assured Weaver, hero of what is probably the most popular novel I’ve ever written. It was interesting to think about, but a moot point, since I never expected them both to turn up in the same book.
Then John Pickett’s newest case took him to a linen-draper’s shop, and it seemed only natural that Ethan Brundy should turn up there, delivering a shipment of fabrics from his (or rather, his foster father’s) warehouse. I had thought his would be no more than a cameo appearance, a sort of inside joke for people who had read The Weaver Takes a Wife ; I should have known he would not be content with so insignificant a role!
About the Cover
The painting on the cover of this book shows a 19 th -century view of Drury Lane; I regret that I was unable to identify the artist of this particular work. The church whose steeple appears in the background is St. Mary-le-Strand, which is mentioned briefly in this story.
This exact streetscape appears again and again in sketches, paintings, and, later, photographs throughout the century, ranging in mood from charmingly picturesque to downright depressing as the century progressed. (To see a few of these images, check out www.pinterest.com/cobbsouth/waiting-game.) This particular painting was the only one that portrayed the street in wintertime, so I decided to use it even though it is evidently several decades later than the novella’s setting of December 1808. How do I know? Because the double-gabled building in the right foreground was well-known as the Cock and Magpie pub at least as late as the 1840s; in this image, however, the distinctive sign between the second-floor windows has been taken down and/or painted over.
Sadly, this part of London no longer exists. The old Cock and Magpie, along with many other buildings, was demolished in 1900 to make room for the crescent-shaped street called Aldwych. In fact, the last time I was in London, my husband and I attended a stage production of the Fred Astaire classic Top Hat at the Aldwych Theatre, very close to where my fictional John Pickett would have lived.
About the Author
At the age of sixteen, Sheri Cobb South discovered Georgette Heyer, and came to the startling realization that she had been born into the wrong century. Although she doubtless would have been a chambermaid had she actually lived in Regency England, that didn’t stop her from fantasizing about waltzing the night away in the arms of a handsome, wealthy, and titled gentleman.
Since Georgette Heyer died in 1974 and could not write any more Regencies, Ms. South came to the conclusion she would simply
It had been real, then. It warmed her heart to think of him standing in the street below, keeping watch over her like a knight of old protecting his lady. And no lady ever had a worthier, regardless of what Lord Rupert might say to the contrary. Nor was any knight more hardly used, she thought, suffering the now-familiar pang of guilt and shame at the demands placed on him by the annulment procedure. But according to her solicitor, the papers had already been filed, and it was merely a matter of waiting for the annulment to come before the ecclesiastical court.
And to hope, in the meantime, that she wasn’t making the biggest mistake of her life.
Author’s Note
Sharp-eyed readers will no doubt recognize Ethan Brundy, although this story takes place in December of 1808, eight (well, seven and a half) years before the events of his own book, which is set in the spring of 1816. Readers new to my books who want to know what happens when he does , in fact, meet the woman he wants to marry may read all about it in The Weaver Takes a Wife .
The seeds of his appearance here were first sown when I realized that, if they inhabited the same fictional “world,” poor insecure John Pickett would actually be four years older than the self-assured Weaver, hero of what is probably the most popular novel I’ve ever written. It was interesting to think about, but a moot point, since I never expected them both to turn up in the same book.
Then John Pickett’s newest case took him to a linen-draper’s shop, and it seemed only natural that Ethan Brundy should turn up there, delivering a shipment of fabrics from his (or rather, his foster father’s) warehouse. I had thought his would be no more than a cameo appearance, a sort of inside joke for people who had read The Weaver Takes a Wife ; I should have known he would not be content with so insignificant a role!
About the Cover
The painting on the cover of this book shows a 19 th -century view of Drury Lane; I regret that I was unable to identify the artist of this particular work. The church whose steeple appears in the background is St. Mary-le-Strand, which is mentioned briefly in this story.
This exact streetscape appears again and again in sketches, paintings, and, later, photographs throughout the century, ranging in mood from charmingly picturesque to downright depressing as the century progressed. (To see a few of these images, check out www.pinterest.com/cobbsouth/waiting-game.) This particular painting was the only one that portrayed the street in wintertime, so I decided to use it even though it is evidently several decades later than the novella’s setting of December 1808. How do I know? Because the double-gabled building in the right foreground was well-known as the Cock and Magpie pub at least as late as the 1840s; in this image, however, the distinctive sign between the second-floor windows has been taken down and/or painted over.
Sadly, this part of London no longer exists. The old Cock and Magpie, along with many other buildings, was demolished in 1900 to make room for the crescent-shaped street called Aldwych. In fact, the last time I was in London, my husband and I attended a stage production of the Fred Astaire classic Top Hat at the Aldwych Theatre, very close to where my fictional John Pickett would have lived.
About the Author
At the age of sixteen, Sheri Cobb South discovered Georgette Heyer, and came to the startling realization that she had been born into the wrong century. Although she doubtless would have been a chambermaid had she actually lived in Regency England, that didn’t stop her from fantasizing about waltzing the night away in the arms of a handsome, wealthy, and titled gentleman.
Since Georgette Heyer died in 1974 and could not write any more Regencies, Ms. South came to the conclusion she would simply
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