Gentleman Jim - Mimi Matthews Page 0,122
Thomas Finchley, Justin’s London attorney, and Finchley would negotiate the rest, just as competently as he’d negotiated the purchase of Greyfriar’s Abbey or those shares Justin had recently acquired in the North Devon Railway.
Still, he had no intention of making the process easy. He’d informed both Boothroyd and Finchley that he would not bestir himself on any account. If a prospective bride wanted to meet, she would have to do so at a location within easy driving distance of the Abbey.
He’d thought such a condition would act as a deterrent.
It hadn’t occurred to him that women routinely traveled such distances to take up employment. And what was his matrimonial advertisement if not an offer for a position in his household?
In due time, Finchley had managed to find a woman for whom an isolated existence in a remote region of coastal Devon sounded agreeable. Justin had even exchanged a few brief letters with her. Miss Reynolds hadn’t written enough for him to form a definite picture of her personality, nor of her beauty—or lack thereof. Nevertheless, he’d come to imagine her as a levelheaded spinster. The sort of spinster who would endure his conjugal attentions with subdued dignity. A spinster who wouldn’t burst into tears at the sight of his burns.
The very idea that anything like this lovely young creature would grace his table and his bed was frankly laughable.
Not but that she wasn’t determined.
Though that was easily remedied. Folding his paper, Justin rose from his chair. “I’ll take it from here, Boothroyd.”
Miss Reynold’s eyes lifted to his. He could see the exact moment when she realized who he was. To her credit, she didn’t cry or faint or spring from her chair and bolt out of the room. She merely looked at him in that same odd way she had in the taproom when first she beheld his burns.
“Miss Reynolds,” Mr. Boothroyd said, “may I present Mr. Thornhill?”
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I began writing Gentleman Jim many years ago, around the same time I wrote my other Regency romance, The Work of Art. The manuscript was originally titled Gentleman Jack, but by the time I got around to revising it, the HBO miniseries of the same name had been released, so I renamed my story Gentleman Jim. Not my favorite name, I confess, but still in the same spirit as the original.
The story was inspired by my love for two classic novels: Alexandre Dumas’s The Count of Monte Cristo, published in 1844, and Henry Fielding’s The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, published in 1749. There are various references to these two books throughout my story, in the names of characters, such as Jenny and Mrs. Square, and in lines of dialogue, such as when St. Clare says that he must “wait and hope” for Maggie to come back to London. I’ve included a part of that original quote as an epigraph. The full quote from Edmond Dantès’s closing letter to Maximilian Morrel reads as follows:
There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness. We must have felt what it is to die, Morrel, that we may appreciate the enjoyments of living.
Live, then, and be happy, beloved children of my heart, and never forget that until the day when God shall deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is summed up in these two words,—‘Wait and hope.’—Your friend,
Edmond Dantès, Count of Monte Cristo.
As always, if you’d like more information on nineteenth century fashion, etiquette, or any of the other subjects featured in my novels, please visit the blog portion of my author website at MimiMatthews.com.
This novel was painful to finish. And I mean that literally. My neck was in spasm and the whole world was in chaos. The last thing I wanted to do was meet a deadline. I’m so very grateful for the patience of everyone involved.
To my brilliant editor, Deb Nemeth. Thank you for all of your guidance. Your suggestions never fail to make my books better.
To my wonderful beta readers, Flora and Dana. Thank you for all of your feedback, and for cheerleading me on when the writing got difficult. I couldn’t have asked for a better team to see this story through.
Thanks are also due to my cover designer, James Egan; to Colleen Sheehan for formatting; and—as always—to my wonderful parents, who help me so much when things get difficult.
Lastly, I’d like to thank you, my readers. When I began serializing the first chapters of Gentleman Jim through my newsletter, many of you messaged me and asked why I didn’t just release it as a book. Your kind words and encouragement truly helped to make it happen. This story is for you.
USA Today bestselling author Mimi Matthews writes both historical nonfiction and award-winning proper Victorian romances. Her novels have received starred reviews in Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Kirkus, and her articles have been featured on the Victorian Web, the Journal of Victorian Culture, and in syndication at BUST Magazine. In her other life, Mimi is an attorney. She resides in California with her family, which includes a retired Andalusian dressage horse, a Sheltie, and two Siamese cats.
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NONFICTION
The Pug Who Bit Napoleon
Animal Tales of the 18th and 19th Centuries
A Victorian Lady’s Guide to Fashion and Beauty
FICTION
The Lost Letter
A Victorian Romance
The Viscount and the Vicar’s Daughter
A Victorian Romance
A Holiday By Gaslight
A Victorian Christmas Novella
The Work of Art
A Regency Romance
The Matrimonial Advertisement
Parish Orphans of Devon, Book 1
A Modest Independence
Parish Orphans of Devon, Book 2
A Convenient Fiction
Parish Orphans of Devon, Book 3
The Winter Companion
Parish Orphans of Devon, Book 4
Fair as a Star
Victorian Romantics, Book 1