Lady Naomi Lutonville - age 22Her figure was dainty, her complexion fair, the features delicate and lit by wide green eyes. Thick, powdered ringlets clustered charmingly beside her left ear and flirted with the shoulder of her light cloak. Altogether an adorable little creature, from the lacy ruffles that edged her pink cap, to the hem of her wide hooped skirts.
Chapter 1Rossiter stared after it [Naomi's coach] for a moment. It occurred to him belatedly that he had no idea of the identity of the infuriating woman, and in the dimness had only been able to ascertain that, as Falcon had said, she'd looked a proper fright with her hair all tangled and askew and herself soaked and muddy.
Gideon's first encounter with Naomi after 6 years
Chapter 3She watched him unsmilingly, her head very high, her firm chin tilted upward. Her riding habit was of a dark green that made her fair skin look almost translucent, and white lace gleamed at her throat and wrists. A broad-brimmed green hat, one side turned up and decorated with a sweeping white feather, was set upon her powdered hair, and thick ringlets had been pulled into a cluster below her left ear. Her beauty was not so exotic as that of Miss Falcon, but he found her delicate little nose adorable, the moulding of her face superb, her mouth sweetly curved and very kissable, the slim but well-rounded shape of her exactly as he had dreamed. The top of her proud head reached to his ear, just as it should. She was the personification of his gentle lady from Tranquillity Terrace, only inestimably more perfect.
Gideon's first knowing look at his lady in 6 years,
Chapter 5The swansdown-trimmed stomacher emphasized her tiny waist; the overskirts of her gown looped back to reveal the pink embroidered underdress. Her hair was swept up from her face and arranged into loose curls at the sides with a pink silk flower pinned above her left ear. About her white throat was a golden chain from which hung a pendant of pearls and rubies, and jewelled slippers glittered on her little feet.
Lady Naomi at the Dowling Soiree
Chapter 8Half an hour later, watching as she descended the staircase, Rossiter caught his breath. Her robe à la Francaise was a shimmering sweep of palest green and silver brocade, cut very low in the bust, the stomacher emphasizing her tiny waist. The hem of the green satin underdress was caught up into deep scallops. Her unpowdered head was held regally high, the candlelight awaking flashes of dark red fire from amongst the rich brown of the glistening curls.
Chapter 11Captain Gideon Rossiter - age 28
Strands of his thick brown hair had escaped the riband that attempted to hold it in severe restraint, and wet curls had crept to cling about his gaunt features.
Chapter 1Despite her unkind remark to Katrina, she knew Gideon well enough to be assured that his appearance would not disgrace her. She had not, however, been prepared for the sight of him in full regimental evening dress, and to see him standing there, tall and straight, his cloak flung back from one shoulder, his tricorne under his arm, his fine eyes fixed on her face, momentarily struck all power of movement from her.
Chapter 11Sir Mark Rossiter - age early fifties
Sir Mark Rossiter stood with one hand on the mantel, and turned, frowning at this intrusion. His bag wig was elaborate; an inspired tailor had fashioned his velvet habit of dark gold; and the quizzing glass he raised to a pale blue eye was richly jewelled.
His father was still as tall and well-built; still carried himself with prideful arrogance. But he had aged more than might have been expected in six years, and the lines in the distinguished face, the pallor of the skin, came as a shock.
Chapter 6Newby Rossiter - age 28, Gideon's twin
For a panicked moment she was speechless, staring blankly at the tall young man who advanced to bow over her hand, and taking in the meticulously curled and tied wig, the lean, proud face with its finely cut features, the splendid physique, the peerlessly tailored riding coat of dull gold, the moleskin breeches and gleaming topboots. She drew a breath of relief when she realized that the eyes watching her with such patent admiration were hazel.
Naomi, meeting Newby unexpectedly
Chapter 1Gwendolyn Rossiter
Leaning on a walking cane, the crippled girl moved awkwardly, colliding with Naomi, and glanced up, smiling in shy apology. She was not a beauty, but the fine-boned face with its high forehead and generous mouth had a rare sweetness of expression, and her short powdered ringlets were charmingly arranged under the dainty laced cap.
Chapter 7He eyed her disinterestedly. There was nothing to distinguish her, aside from the fact that her frank and unmaidenly stare was disconcerting. Her unpowdered hair was a very light brown, drawn back from a rather thin face in curls behind her head. She had Rossiter's well-shaped sensitive mouth, and high forehead, but her eyes, which he thought fairly good, were blue rather than grey. 'Dull,' he thought, 'and with neither looks nor charm.'
August's first impression of Gwen
Chapter 9Simon Lutonville, Earl of Collington - age 53
Simon Ordway Lutonville, seventh Earl of Collington, was standing by the glowing hearth, one hand on the mantel, the other holding a half-full wineglass. He was not a tall man and enjoyed his table, but he had refused to allow himself to run to fat, and at three and fifty wore his clothes well.
Chapter 4August Falcon - age 29
Many women found him irresistible, but an early tendency towards sarcasm had deepened over the years, his caustic tongue alienating those few gentlemen in Society willing to befriend him despite his unfortunate birth. His unpopularity was increased by his immutable refusal to approve applicants for the hand of his sister. The contempt and finality with which he dismissed all comers, even gentlemen of breeding and fortune, had driven three stricken and insulted admirers to call him out. They had all recovered, but the speed and ease with which they were vanquished had discouraged others. And although he was by this time as disliked as he was despised, men trod softly around Mr. August Falcon.
Chapter 2His riding habit of dark grey broadcloth might have been plain on another man but served only to accent the commanding height and perfect physique that were allied to features as handsome as his sister's were beautiful. He had the same high and broad cheekbones and thin chiselled nose. Unlike Katrina's, his complexion was inclined to be sallow, but the dark blue eyes were as brilliant and thickly lashed and had the same faintly alien slant. The resemblance ended there, however, for his lips were thinner, his flaring black brows and stubborn chin betrayed a tempestuous nature, and his expression was cold and forbidding.
Chapter 2Katrina Falcon
She stood a little above the average height but she was fine boned and her creamy beige travelling gown clung to a tiny waist. Her ivory-hued skin was clear, her mouth sweetly bowed, her cheekbones rather broad but beautifully molded. Her black brows arched over a pair of velvety eyes of so dark a blue that at first sight they appeared to be black also. Despite their size and rich colour, however, it was her eyes alone which prevented her beauty from being termed perfection. Gentlemen found their slightly almond shape fascinating, but that her grandmama had been born to a lady of the Orient was well known. Her eyes were a reminder of that fact, and her mixed blood provided many less well-favoured ladies with an opportunity to sneer.
Chapter 2James Morris
Had Morris been aware of all the eyelashes fluttering at him, he would have retreated in horror, but he had eyes for only one lady. Katrina saw, however, and their admiration caused her to look at the lieutenant again. He really was quite a well-favoured young man. And, la, but he was bashful, his face reddening when his eyes met hers, and his glance falling away. She rather liked shyness in a gentleman.
Chapter 11Enoch Tummet
A man was running along behind them. A most disreputable figure, his clothing old and shabby, his scratch wig dishevelled, a battered hat flourished in his hand, and one eye decidedly blackened.
Chapter 7A very different Tummet this, his wig sleek, his person immaculate in a neat black habit that lent him a dignity somewhat at variance with his craggy face and discoloured eye.
After being taken on as Gideon's valet
Chapter 8Promontory Point - Rossiter country seat
Lined by dripping yews, the drive swung in a wide easterly curve. A grey mist hovered, limiting the view, but at last the gables of the three-storeyed Elizabethan house loomed up. It looked only vaguely familiar to Naomi, although she did remember the gardens in what had once been the moat, which surrounded the original pile. Noting the impressive entrance front, its forecourt sheltered by projecting wings, the countless latticed casements, the tall works of art that were the chimneys, she thought it a truly beautiful old place, so much more inviting than Collington Manor. The ancient mill and the now shallow millstream near the west side of the house evoked the shadowy image of a youth with brown curls and laughing grey eyes, playing with a liver and white spaniel...
Naomi's view of Promontory Point
Chapter 1Collington Manor - the Earl of Collington's country seat
Gideon had never admired the long sprawl of the two-storeyed mansion, which could boast of neither bays, conservatory, nor the shallowest of projecting wings to alleviate its plain front. The unrelieved grey of stone and trim he found depressing, and the balustrades above the cornices too heavy, adding to an overall impression of frowning gloom.
The entrance hall was vastly ostentatious with its painted ceilings, thick carpets, and a great quantity of red velvet and gilt furniture.
Gideon's views on Collington
Chapter 2Snow Hill - the Rossiters' current home in London
Rossiter, who was petrified by heights, took one glance at the sheer hill they had climbed, and moaned.
...Rossiter swore, and turned back to the tall and rather shabby house that stood silent and unwelcoming among its more prosperous-looking neighbours.
...Rossiter mounted the two front steps and gave the door knocker a vogorous exercise.
...The upper hall was long and narrow and rather gloomy.
Chapter 6Emerald Farm - Gideon's home
During his grandmother's lifetime, Rossiter had visited it in winter and summer and never failed to find it a delight. The house itself faced south and was built on a low rise, with higher hills lifting emerald shoulders behind it. A long, low, half-timbered structure, the roof deeply thatched, it stood serenely amidst its lush pastures and fields as it had stood for over a century, the many windows twinkling in the sunlight that painted a golden glow on the whitewashed walls. No smoke rose from the chimneys, and the silence was broken only by the distant lowing of cows, the twittering of birds and the occasional bustling stir of the breeze.
Chapter 14Tranquillity Terrace - Gideon's dream-garden while in hospital
Tranquillity Terrace was a garden. There was the shadowy outline of a nearby house; not a great house like Collington Manor or Promontory Point, but a rambling country house after the style of Emerald Farm, with whitewashed and half-timbered walls and a thatched roof shielded by venerable oaks. He had never entered the house. His dreams all took place in the garden. A garden fragrant with blossoms, with benches here and there, and a big weeping willow tree trailing its branches over a stream.
Chapter 3
Lutonville Family great-grandsire the pirate
|
grandfather | +-----------------+ | | Vincent Simon Ordway=f 6th earl 7th earl | +-------------+ | | Italian(?)=Joan Naomi b.1721 b.1726Naomi has an Uncle Bertram
Rossiter Family Sir Mark Rossiter=f | +-----------+--------------+ | | | Gideon Newby Gwendolyn twins b.early spring 1720General Samuel Underhill is a distant connection.
Military General Samuel Underhill
Major Stephen ? - aide to General Underhill
Villains Lord Collington
Sir Louis Derrydene
Men who hold Naomi prisoner - Bill Forbes, Paddy with a high-pitched voice, Mac, Jolly a young giant, Jem
Servants Rossiter servants
Enoch Tummet - Gideon's valet who reads Shakespeare, and talks in rhyming slang
Henri Delatouche - Newby's servant
Bernard is their solitary footman
Byrd was the groom attacked on the road
Cook is married to the coachman, and took over the kitchen after the French chef decamped
Zebediah Upton, Gideon's farm manager at Emerald Farm, with his wife and grandson
Collington servants
Maggie Osgood is the gardener's daughter, and was Naomi's playmate before becoming her abigail
Robert Hinton - Collington first footman
Roger Coachman
Camber - Lord Collington's devoted groom, has a mangled hand
Other Folk Major Sturtevant, tall heavyset soldier on board with Gideon and Jamie. Agrees with Jamie that Gideon should be told of disaster awaiting him and that neither of them can bear to tell him. (August does the honors and gets half-throttled for his pains)
Gideon is insulted by Reginald Smythe & Sir Gilbert Fowles in London's streets
Horatio Glendenning and Gordon Chandler are friends of Gideon
Mrs. Dudley Falcon - August & Katrina's aunt
Naomi's admirers - Gordon Chandler, Tio, Mr. Alfred Harrier, a plump and fashionably pale youth of great fortune and a slight lisp, Lord Sommers, large, ruddy-complected, and unfailingly good-natured, also an unnamed duke, a very tall young man whose quizzing glass was a vital necessity, and Mr. Rudolph Bracksby, who proposes to her. Major Hilary Broadbent. Mr. Crenshore.
Melissa Coombs, Samantha Golightly - arch-gossips
Hiat, Rossiter's ex-bank manager
Davies - embezzler
Murchison - foreman of the shipyards
Mr. Shumaker - unfortunate jeweler in Canterbury
Seconds at Falcon and Rossiter's duel - Perry Cranford and Hector Kadenworthy for Falcon, Jamie Morris and Tio Glendenning for Rossiter. Dr. Lockhart the surgeon.
Thomas Kendall-Parker - self-proclaimed collector of rarities, offers £ 1000 for the Jewelled Man
Jean & Lilla Favre, Mignon and twins - Jean was a friend from school, and Gideon helped the family in Belgium
Animals Apollo - August's big, black beast - likes biting people (even August!) and chasing sticks (as Gwen discovers)
Windsong - Jamie's high-strung thoroughbred
Travels This section to be assembled sooner or later.
Jamie's Maxims |
Tummet's Rhyming Slang |
|
Storing milk in a sieve |
Fork & gaiters = pork and taters |
The Jewelled Men are diamond, emerald, topaz, opal, sapphire, and rubyLieutenant Morris started to apologize, but checked as he stepped on an extremely sharp pebble. He glanced down instinctively. Beside some wet and crushed papers something gleamed faintly in the dim light from the carriage lamps. Curious, he bent and took up a tiny figure crafted from pink stone and set with red beads. A child's toy, probably, dropped here by some youngster. He started to throw it aside, but it was rather quaint and his little niece might like to have it. He dropped it into his pocket, then joined Rossiter as a liveried coachman ran up, wheezingly out of breath.
The first appearance of the Jewelled Men,
Chapter 3About three inches tall, and surprisingly heavy. It was of pink jade, I think. Rounded at the top...so. Like a gravestone. And with what looked for all the world to be rubies inset here...here...and here...
A carven face, similar to some of the drawings that have been found where the ancient people dwelt, so that it appears like a tiny man, with--
Naomi's description of her father's "chessman," as she sketches
Chapter 14Derrydene was number five, his figure lapis lazuli with 6 sapphires, and after he "shot himself" he was replaced.
Collington is number six, his figure is the pink jade with 3 rubies.
Trivia News of Tony and Mitten Farrar. They have a daughter Joanna (named for Dimity's mother,) 5 months old, and are expecting another by Christmas, either a Gilbert or a Helen (for Anthony's uncle and aunt.)
Chapter 9News of Treve and Becca de Villars - living in France and expecting un petit pacquet.
Chapter 16
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