Hello, everyone. This week’s snippet is from my sweet Regency romance novella, Clytie’s Caller. Enjoy!
Bath, England
1816
“Clytemnestra, you need to come out of that room. You cannot keep hiding like this.”
From the other side of the locked bedroom door came the tearful reply: “You don’t understand, Mama. I can’t.”
Mrs. Anne Preston threw her hands up in melodramatic disgust.
“Archimedes,” she sighed, “see if you can talk some sense into your sister.” She walked way, muttering to herself about ungrateful daughters.
“Clytie,” Archie pleaded, “Please. Half of Bath is going to be at the Assembly Rooms. You need to show yourself.”
“I can’t, Archie.”
“Can you have Susan unlock the door so that I might come in?”
A long pause. “All right.”
Once the tumblers turned, Archie let himself in. His sister was curled up in a ball on the pale green Aubusson carpet. He knelt beside her, his highly polished boots creaking.
“Don’t make me, Archie. Please don’t make me.”
Clytie was clearly terrified … and still in her night gown.
“I can’t get dressed,” she sobbed. “My clothes and shoes hurt all over. I can’t go among people.”
“But why, Clytie? You used to love Almack’s and the Assembly Rooms.”
What Archie said was true. Clytie had been very popular for two seasons, although no one suitor declared for her. And then something had changed.
First, she stopped going to Almack’s, although her voucher was still good. And then she stopped going riding in the park. Eventually, her world shrank to her bedroom, whether in Town or at Bath.
Archie’s fiancée, Isabel Browning, was beginning to express concerns about marrying into the family; Clytie’s reclusiveness carried hints of madness.
Want to find out what happens next in Clytie’s Caller? Here are the back cover copy and purchase links.
Bath, 1816. Clytemnestra Preston has become so terrified of life that she refuses to leave her room. Not even her family can convince her to take her place in Society again. Doctor Samuel Whittington, late of His Majesty’s Army, may be her only chance for a cure … and romance. Can Sam convince Clytie to open the door, and her heart?
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