Jo Beverley - Lady Beware
Page 37
Then there was the whole business ofcave canem and the pronunciation of the family name. There are many English names of places and people that are not pronounced as they’re spelled. Mainwaring is “mannering,” Worcester is “wooster,” and they say Featherstonehaugh is “fanshaw,” though I’ve never quite believed that one. So Cave could easily be “cahvay”—I just had to let the reader know.
The phrasecave canem dates back almost to “the year dot,” as they say. In aboutAD 20, a Roman called Petronius described the practice of putting a picture of a guard dog on the lintel above the door along with the wordscave canem . This was confirmed in the eighteenth century when exactly that was discovered in the ruins of Pompeii.
So yes, all those Harrow schoolboys, who were mostly taught the Classics—Greek and Latin—would have been familiar with the phrase.
Apart from that, this story progresses through quite normal Regency pathways—if we allow for scheming servants and a ruthless enemy. I hope you enjoyed it.
If you’re open to something different, a few months ago, NAL published a collection of novellas calledDragon Lovers . My story there is set in a fantasyland of castles, princesses, and knights in shining armor. Princess Rozlinda is the Sacrificial Virgin Princess of Saragond, which means that when a dragon swoops in to ravage the land, she’ll be offered to placate it and send it away. No bit deal, given that the sacrifice is symbolic, and once done, she can get on with her life. Marrying her dream knight, and thus ceasing to be a virgin, is top of her list of things to do. But someone has changed the rules, and Rozlinda discovers that the sacrifice isn’t symbolic anymore.
My fellow authors in this collection are my good friends Mary Jo Putney, Barbara Samuel, and Karen Harbaugh. We have a Web site at www.dragonloversromance.com.
You can find out more aboutDragon Lovers and my other work on my own Web site www.jobev.com. There are excerpts, pictures, and other material connected to my books. There’s even some free fiction to enjoy. You can also sign up to receive my more or less monthly e-mail newsletter.
I’m also part of a group of historical authors who blog about life and writing at www.wordwenches.com. We each do one day, and currently I’m the Saturday Wench, though that is subject to change. Drop by.
And you can always e-mail me at jo@jobev.com.
If you’re not into the Internet yet, you can still contact me by post. Please send any letters to me c/o Margaret Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency, 318 East 51st Street, New York, New York 10022 (SASE appreciated).
What’s coming next? A return to the Georgian era, I think. There’s this rake and he encounters a nun in distress. But is she really a nun, and exactly who is chasing whom?
Happy reading,
Jo