LILLIAN MAREK SHARES HER NEW RELEASE-LADY ELINOR'S WICKED ADVENTURES

Dear Readers,

Today, the lovely Lillian Marek is chatting about about traveling in 1856 and sharing about her new release, Lady Elinor’s Wicked Adventures.

Let’s see what she has to say, shall we?

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Today, if you want to go from London to Rome, you cram as much as possible into your carry-on bag, take a taxi to the airport, and a few hours later, you’re in Rome. It will probably take you more time to get yourself to the airport and through security than it will take to fly.

It was different in 1856, when Lady Elinor Tremaine and her family went to Rome.

Some things were actually easier, at least if you happened to be a marquess or a member of his family. You didn’t have to worry about packing. There were servants to do that—and to get your luggage, any amount you wanted, wherever you wanted to go, unpack it and put it away, iron anything that got wrinkled, etc. If any little problems arose—well, there were always more servants to take care of that sort of thing.

However, the trip took a lot longer, even for a marquess. It wasn’t the sort of thing a clerk did on his two-week vacation. For one thing, employees didn’t get a vacation. They were lucky to get a day off. For another even a one-way trip took more than two weeks. Forget about the cost. Only the wealthy could afford the time to travel.

The trip was also far more uncomfortable then. Complain all you like about being cramped in an airline seat. It was a lot worse to be bounced along in a coach. Riding in even the most luxurious carriage over badly maintained roads was a bruising experience. Literally.

Most of the Tremaine’s trip is skipped over in the book, since the real adventures begin once they reach Rome, but I needed to plot out their journey for my own information. Like all authors, I need to know a lot more about my characters than I put into the book.

The trip may have been uncomfortable, but I can’t help envying those Victorian travelers.

They had a chance to see so much more than we do today. From a plane all we see is clouds, and even in a car, we zip along too fast to see much. The Tremaines spent a month just getting from London to Rome, stopping as long as they wanted along the way.

There’s a lot to be said for slow travel.

LILLIAN MAREK SHARES HER NEW RELEASE-LADY ELINOR'S WICKED ADVENTURES 2

Lady Elinor is searching for treasure

The intrepid Lady Elinor Tremaine is caught up in the Victorian fervor for exploring distant lands. Her travels throw her back in the company of an old friend—this time, far from the security of polite society.

And uncovering the secrets of her own heart

Harry de Vaux, Viscount Tunbury, has loved Lady Elinor for as long as he can remember— but his family’s sordid background put her completely out of his reach. Prowling through Etruscan ruins in Italy with Elinor is exquisite torture. She is so close, and so forbidden…

Lillian Marek was born and raised in New York City. At one time or another she has had most of the interesting but underpaid jobs available to English majors. After a few too many years in journalism, she decided she prefers fiction, where the good guys win and the bad guys get what they deserve.

ENJOY AN EXCERPT

Mr. Carruthers had timed it quite neatly, she thought. As the music ended and he twirled her into the final spin, they came to a halt just before the terrace doors. These were standing open, letting in the scent of roses on the breeze of the soft June evening.

“It is rather warm in here, Lady Elinor, is it not?” he said. “Would you care for a turn on the terrace?”

Before she could answer, a strong hand clasped her arm just above the elbow. “Lady Elinor, your mother wants you.” When she turned to object to this high-handed treatment, she found herself staring up at the all-too-familiar scowl of Lord Tunbury. “Harry…” she started to protest.

“If Lady Elinor wishes to return to her parents, I will be delighted to escort her.” Carruthers spoke frostily.

“Lady Penworth requested that I find her daughter.” Harry’s even icier tone indicated that there was nothing more to be said on the subject.

Lady Elinor looked back and forth between them and wanted to laugh. Carruthers was tall, dark, and handsome, or at least decorative, with a pretty bow-shaped mouth. Harry, equally tall, had broad shoulders and a powerful build. His square face was pleasant rather than handsome, his middling brown hair tended to flop over his middling brown eyes, and his wide mouth was more often than not stretched into a broad smile. Not just now, of course.

One would say the two men were not much alike, but at the moment they wore identical scowls. They did not actually bare their teeth and growl, but they were not far off. She could not manage to feel guilty about enjoying the sight. It was too delightful.

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