"Encouragement" (Book 1), by Gratiana Lovelace, 2016 (Completed)

Ch. 10 (PG): The Kimball Ball, Part 1: Sincerity

"Encouragement, A Regency Tale of Love and Romance", 
Ch. 10 (PG): The Kimball Ball, Part 1: Sincerity
October 17, 2016 Gratiana Lovelace (Post #984)

(An original Regency romance copyrighted by Gratiana Lovelace; all rights reserved) [(1) story cover, left]

[From time to time, I will illustrate my story characters with: Armitage as Lord Christian Blount Earl of Sussex, Kate Winslet or Emma Lady Hamilton as Lady Madeline Lucretia Sinclair, Dame Maggie Smith as Lady Lucretia Beckham Knott, Polly Mabrey as Lady Elizabeth Blount, Crispin Bonham-Carter as Lord Harold Blount, Dame Judi Dench as Lady Catherine Blount the Dowager Countess of Sussex, Rupert Penry Jones as Lord Duncan the Viscount Lindsay, and others as noted.]

Authors Content Note: "Encouragement" is a frothy love story with sometimes humorous and sometimes dramatic themes of love and relationships. It will mostly be at the PG and PG-13 movie levels. Specific chapters or passages may have a further rating of: D for dramatic emotions, and LS for love scenes that are tenderly sensuous and not explicit. And I will rate the chapters accordingly. If you are unable or unwilling to attend a movie with the ratings that I provide for a chapter, then please do not read that chapter. This is my disclaimer. And as is my habit, I will summarize the previous chapter's events at the beginning of each chapter.

Author's recap from the previous chapter: While shopping with her Grandmama and his younger sister, Lady Madeline and Lord Christian had a heart to heart chat about their respective marriage prospect wishes—and not wanting to be overwhelmed with suitors, in Lady Madeline's case as she was the past week. For his part, Lord Christian finds himself disappointed because he perceives that Lady Madeline does not consider him a suitor—merely a visitor. Yet that is very far from true as this pair continues to misunderstand one another. For Lady Madeline is Lord Christian's chosen—if not announced—hoped for betrothed. That is, if his old school chum Lord Duncan Viscount Lindsay does not get there first.

"Encouragement, A Regency Tale of Love and Romance", Ch. 10: The Kimball Ball, Part I--Sincerity

As the day of the Kimball Ball dawns, Lady Madeline Sinclair continues ruminating about her week thus far. Firstly, it was only through daily visits with my new friend Lady Elizabeth Lizzie Blount that her brother Lord Christian Blount and I convinced her that she really must attend this Friday night's Kimball Ball. For Lady Lizzie's presentation ball is next week, and it will be helpful to her to have the experience of the society and of the requirements of a ball before her own ball.


I know that I am only one week out from my own ball, but I appreciated attending another ball before my own--so I surmise that Lizzie will also appreciate it. And I realize that I have but two weeks of experience in London society. However with my daily lessons as I engage with my suitors, visitors, and friends—especially with our friends the Blounts--I feel that I am trying to find my equilibrium. I believe that I am almost there.

Or so says my Grandmama, Lady Lucretia Beckham Knott. Grandmama is so kind and encouraging to me. Though I still wish—as I revealed to Lord Christian yesterday upon our shopping outing with Lady Lizzie and my Grandmama—that I do not wish to be pursued by so many gentleman. It is daunting. I am not skilled enough in my discernment to weed some of them out of being husband prospects for me. And if I even found some nice gentleman that were suitable and pleasing, he would still not be my paragon, Lord Christian Blount, Earl of Sussex. Lord Christian would be my ideal husband—caring, kind, a man of the world, yet not condescending, and loving.