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| Published by Candlewick Press |
Steampunk? It sounds like something that might get one sent to Bath by a doctor. I would be careful, if I were
you.
I, too, have been to visit Mr Doe's bookshop (again). Like a child, I chose a novel purely for the cover, and I am not the slightest bit ashamed. It is a very striking
blue, with a large, gilded feather on the front. The title is rather a fanciful mouthful: The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava
Lavender. Yet since the author, a Mr
Leslye Walton, has a fine English name, I expect I am in for some fine,
fanciful English romance.
But that is not why I wrote. I wish to warn you, in case you
were thinking of calling today, that I have bad news.
This morning, Alfie informed me that he thinks his father is
beginning to show his age (he is wrong on this count, but I cannot fault him
for being filial), and has determined to stay here to help with the estate. Which
means that Lucy will be staying.
She is a kind, pretty thing to be sure, and I thought her a
good match when she and Alfie intended to set up their own household in London.
But now that she is to be a fixture, it is impossible to ignore that the girl is
less intelligent than my least favourite mare. I wish I had no conscience, so
that I could dislike her for this trait in peace, yet the fault is not hers. One can
tell immediately that she was not permitted half the (modest) education Mr Pennylegion
and I gave Harriet. Just yesterday, she asked what the difference was between
Latin and Greek!
Harriet of course seized upon the opportunity. Oh, poor Harriet. Perhaps that is where we made our mistake with her. I shudder to think
that young men nowadays discount a woman simply because she is particularly unskilled
at hiding her education.
In any case, please tell me about your book, and I will tell
you about mine in return.
With love,
Prudence Pennylegion
Ps. I was not going to mention the dill.
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