Acknowledgments
As always I would be lost without the Internet and the vast resources of the World Wide Web. Perhaps I should thank my Internet provider, Yahoo DSL, for rarely letting me down and running fast, as well as the makers of Mozilla Firefox for an awesome browser! Among Wikipedia, Google Books, and the wealth of websites, blogs, and historical archives, I am able to learn about far away places, long ago eras, and unfamiliar subjects from the comfort of home and with minimal expense.
For this novel I must thank my friend and music expert Jeff Rosbrugh for allowing me to pick his brain on musical terms. His helpful illumination on sonata form gave me the understanding to structure Miss Darcy Falls in Love as I have. Thanks Jeff!
Huge thanks to Simone van Lingen for perusing the text and correcting my poorly translated French. I wish I could have used more phrases or had more time for her to look over the entire manuscript. I love you sweetie and owe you for more than just the French!
Special thanks to my editor, Deb Werksman, for sticking with me, pushing when I need it, advising and mentoring, and simply being who she is: the best editor around! To my copyeditor Gretchen Stelter: A million thanks for being available to work on my novels, for tracking down my errors, and catching those annoying tense issues I never can get straight! What would I do without both my editors?
In the day-to-day I know none of this would be possible without the support of friends and family: Steve, Emily, and Kyle are my rocks at home, my sister Janis, my Calvary Chapel church family, Abigail Reynolds and the Austen Authors, the TSBO Devotees, my buddies at the hospital NICU and L&D, my local romance writers group, and the ever-increasing readers of the Darcy Saga. Collectively they keep me sane and inspired to excel.
Above all I give credit where it rightfully belongs: to God. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Amen.
About the Author
Sharon Lathan is a native Californian currently residing amid the orchards, corn, cotton, and cows in the sunny San Joaquin Valley. Happily married for twenty-five years to her own Mr. Darcy and mother to two wonderful children, she divides her time between housekeeping tasks, nurturing her family, church activities, and working as a registered nurse in a neonatal ICU. Throw in the cat, dog, gecko, and a ton of fish to complete the picture. When not at the hospital or attending to the dreary tasks of homemaking, she is generally found hard at work on her faithful MacBook Pro laptop or iMac desktop.
For more information about Sharon, the Regency Era, and her bestselling Darcy Saga series, visit her website/blog at: www.sharonlathan.net or look her up on Facebook. She also invites everyone to join her and other Austen literary fiction writers at www.austenauthors.com. If you live in California or simply love the Regency Era, you are welcome to participate in the Fresno Area Regency England Fellowship—visit the website at www.fresnoregency.com.
Table of Contents
Front Cover
Title Page
Copyright
First Movement: Introduction
Chapter One: Overture in Lyon
Chapter Two: Harmonics of Compromise
Second Movement: Exposition
Chapter Three: Intermezzo Atop Fourvière
Chapter Four: Composing a Friendship
Chapter Five: Consonance of Purpose
Chapter Six: Parisian Melody
Chapter Seven: An Étude from the Choir
Third Movement: Development
Chapter Eight: Syncopation at the Conservatoire
Chapter Nine: Opera: A Dramatic Song
Chapter Ten: Arias of Revelation
Chapter Eleven: Love Is the Refrain
Chapter Twelve: Psalms on the Pianoforte
Chapter Thirteen: Two Nocturnes
Fourth Movement: Recapitulation
Chapter Fourteen: Dissonance Accelerando
Chapter Fifteen: Two Requiems
Chapter Sixteen: Crescendo
Codetta
Coda
An excerpt from Loving Mr. Darcy
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Back Cover
Miss Darcy Falls in Love Page 31