Jillian Chantal

This week’s word prompt is town. I’m working on my NaNoWriMo story set in Regency England.

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As he strolled along looking for a hansom to engage to take him within a few blocks of his father’s house in Belgravia, Briony’s face floated in front of him. How she’d already become such a distraction, he didn’t know.

But as he mulled it over, he thought he might actually have an idea why. She was pretty and witty and someone to think about that wasn’t either evil or dying. Something he needed in his life right now.

Finally coming upon a hackney coach, he rode across town. Disembarking a couple of blocks from his destination, Jemison used his cane and walked as if he had a bad leg. Hunching his back, he hoped he looked like a pitiful elderly man making his way slowly down the street.

Turning toward the mews entrance to his father’s house, he prayed no one would pass by or see him besides Reeves. He was in dangerous territory.

At the back door, Reeves paced back and forth. “Thank goodness you’re here, Milord. I was frantic. I expected you an hour ago.”

Jemison had a moment’s guilt for leaving the man waiting and obviously in distress but he couldn’t really regret his stop at the perfumers. The girl Briony was unlike any he’d ever known and he wouldn’t begrudge himself one moment of her company.

After all, when his father did die—which would be sooner than Jemison wanted—he’d have to take the mantle of dukedom and marry a proper young woman. One who could rise to the task of being his duchess. Of course if he married now, his bride would be a countess and much as he liked the spunk of Briony, he knew what so-called polite society would do to a girl like her. He wouldn’t wish that on even a mutt.

“How is Father?” he asked Reeves.

“His temperature broke. I may have reported it was graver than I thought. I’m so worried about what will happen when he goes, I keep thinking it’s the end. I’m sorry I called for you. It’s dangerous for you to be here so often.”

I’ve started a new story for NaNoWriMo and it’s a Regency era historical. This one is a little different than the norm as I have the heroine with a job. She’s actually the “nose” at a perfumery. In this scene, she’s just come up with a new scent and is sharing it with the father and son who are the owners and her employers. The son’s wife died the day before giving birth to his child.  The word prompt of the week is band.

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“Let me see how it smells.” Mr. Pecksniff turned to his son. “You said you like it?”

“Yes, Father. It’s nice,” the younger man said without looking up.

“Come on over and let’s allow Briony to explain what she has in it. We’ll have to come to a decision on a name and packaging for it as well.” He rubbed his chubby hands together gleefully. “I love new scents and all the wonderful things that go with it, including the introduction party.”

He held out his left hand. “Let me have it.”

Briony placed the container in his palm and watched— excited for his reaction—as he took it and placed it close to his nose. His own sense of smell was deteriorating as he aged. Briony was sorry for him as he was dejected at the loss. One of the reasons the family had been putting so much hope in the new baby.

While Mr. Pecksniff evaluated the product, she thought about how odd both he and his son had been since they came into the shop from the events of the day before. Neither of them had acknowledged the birth of the child, the death of the mother or even the black wreath with the sympathy band around it she’d hung on the front door. It was decidedly odd.

Not wanting to broach the subject, she stood silent as the man effused over the new creation.

This week’s word on Tuesday Tales is gold. We’re still in my murder mystery and the detectives are interviewing the victim’s former husband.

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“Tell you what, if he doesn’t get the immunity permission, I won’t use anything you say against you. Time is really of the essence here and I’d like to get your statement and get out of here.”

“You promise not to double cross me?”

Maggie held her hand up as if she were a Girl Scout. “On my honor.”

He stared at her for a moment and must have liked what he saw in her eyes because he started to talk, “Dru met the guy when he came in to hire her to do a tax return. He said some friend of his recommended her. She thought he was a bit of a weirdo but when she quoted him her fee, he didn’t hesitate and pulled out a wad of bills. Since he clearly could pay, she latched on to him.”

“Something she did a lot?”

“Oh, yeah.” David nodded. “Once she knew people had money, she would milk them for it. Weirdly, when we were married, I wanted us to get a better house with all the money she was making but she was so obsessed with buying gold and coins that she wouldn’t even consider leaving that neighborhood.”

“It doesn’t seem that bad to me. Sure the houses are older but there’s low crime there.”

“She wanted kids in a really bad way. We’d started trying but then I realized I didn’t even like to be in the same room as her and I had to get out.”

“I’m confused. Was it her or the neighborhood?”

He slammed his hand on the table. “It was actually the house itself as well as her meanness. She would go along all nice and friendly and snuggling up to me like I could do no wrong and then, before I knew it, she was cold and making my life miserable. Way too much fighting and then silent treatment happened in that house. I asked her to sell and move so we could truly start over. She refused, I moved out.”

“What did she do with all the gold and coins she was buying?”

“Hid them somewhere. Dru gave me some when we got divorced. I agreed to sign the house over to her within the last few months but I wanted her to buy me out by giving me some of the Kruggerands. That’s why I was at her house that day you found me. She’d promised them to me in exchange for the deed. I was stupid enough to sign the deed and trust her secretary to hold it until I got the coins.”

“And she double crossed you by giving it to Drusilla. You never got paid.”

“Right. That’s why I was there that day. To find those coins.”

“You had a motive to kill her, then.” Maggie tapped her pen on his desk.