How inspiration works is a true mystery. Nonetheless I am grateful that it does work. When I began to draft my novella A Harvest Blessing, I knew that my hero, a vicar’s son returning home after Waterloo, would be walking up the path to knock on the front door of the vicarage, his childhood home.
But I’d never been to a vicarage, nor met a vicar for that matter. Thus, my first research efforts for this story were not about Waterloo, or British soldiers, or even French emigres. My heroine is one of those. No, my first research was about this building, the pathway leading to it, and the front door. I could see the entire event in my mind’s eye, but I could not have described the materials from which the house was constructed. For that I needed a picture or two and perhaps a description of a vicarage as it might have looked in 1815. I must have spent an hour searching for period accurate images of vicar’s homes. I found several, but the one that struck me as most like the home of Thom Owen and his father is pictured on the right.
I was doubly blessed when I found this image because it came with a description. The description references a ‘refacing’ circa 1872 but also refers to a number of the building’s features that existed prior to that time.
“House, early C18, altered early C19 and extended at front and largely refaced, probably by John Douglas 1872. Stone-dressed brick; tiled roofs. 2 storeys plus attic. Jacobean. Cross-gable right; octagonal entrance turret with spire (coved plaster eaves); recessed, lower,service wing left with cross-gable at end. Mullioned windows of stone and brick; leaded glazing; oak door in stone surround, mid C20 to wall behind turret; panelled brickwork; plastered gables with brick diapering. A well-composed vernacular revival reworking of an older house; the expression and materials strongly suggest John Douglas as architect.
Interior. Amongst many later C19 features of good quality, with some C20 modifications which fully maintain the character, an early C18 oak-panelled room and the open-well oak stair with 3 turned balusters per step and oak dado panelling are major items.” [Same Source as Photo]
Below is the text of the scene in which Captain Owen finally comes home.
EXCERPT from A Harvest Blessing
Captain Thomas Paul Owen recommended the ladies remain in the carriage and approached the vicarage door. Memories threatened to swamp him.
His mother holding his hand as they followed Papa to church. Then, a year later, following his father alone.
The years of silent meals and disciplined study. Thank heaven he loved to read. His mother may have died, but his father did his duty by his son. Successful study was praised. Failure received frowns and a warning to try harder.
As he’d grown older, he’d tried to discuss topics his father categorically said were wrong. Those attempts had met with many a supperless night. Until the final disagreement that had sent him from home.
Thom raised his hand to the knocker. His heart raced, and his empty stomach knotted. He clutched the iron ring in the lion’s mouth, waiting for the familiar and fearsome dizziness to pass.
His father’s last words to him rang in his ears. “Don’t do this, son. God forbids killing for good reason. War and taking others’ lives can break a man’s soul.”
He’d turned his back on his father and had gone off to fight Boney along with his childhood friends. Too many of them had died. Those few who survived returned home broken in body or spirit or both.
Thom was one of those. War had broken him—part of him, but he could never confess such to his father. The right reverend, Doctor Joshua Issac Owen, Vicar of Reabridge saw everything through the lens of unshakeable faith. It would give him no pleasure to say ‘I told you so.’ Nonetheless he would say it, and Thom had no wish to hear it. His soul might be held together by a thread, but he had some pride.
Finally steady, he rapped the iron ring on the wood three times. More than once in the journey from England’s southeast coast, he’d told himself this was a bad idea. But he had exhausted all options. Others depended on him now. He must swallow his fears and his remaining shreds of pride to seek help for them.
About A Harvest Blessing: After Waterloo, Captain Thom Owen is uncertain what to do with himself. Then fate casts Charité du Pessac and her aunt in his path. No gentleman would abandon a damsel as brave and kind as Miss du Pessac, but how can he help her? With no clear solution in mind, Thom escorts the ladies home to his father.
Charité ‘s aunt believes her niece and the captain are engaged, and Charité fears the captain’s father will not welcome them. She is French after all, and while the captain might not object to her nationality, others—like his father—might disapprove of a marriage between former enemies.
About Under the Harvest Moon, A Bluestocking Belles with Friends Collection
By Caroline Warfield, Jude Knight, Sherry Ewing, Cerise DeLand, Elizabeth Ellen Carter, Collette Cameron, Mary Lancaster, Alina K. Field, and Rue Allyn
As the village of Reabridge in Cheshire prepares for the first Harvest Festival following Waterloo, families are overjoyed to welcome back their loved ones from the war.
But excitement quickly turns to mystery when mere weeks before the festival, an orphaned child turns up in the town—a toddler born near Toulouse to an English mother who left clues that tie her to Reabridge.
With two prominent families feuding for generations and the central event of the Harvest Moon festival looming, tensions rise, and secrets begin to surface.
Nine award winning and bestselling authors have combined their talents to create this engaging and enchanting collection of interrelated tales. Under the Harvest Moon promises an unforgettable read for fans of Regency romance.
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Universal Link: https://books2read.com/UnderHarvestMoon
About Rue Allyn
Author of historical and contemporary romances, Rue Allyn fell in love with happily ever after the day she heard her first story. (She claims she was a precocious little brat who read at the age of two but could hear much earlier than that.) She studied literature for far too many years before discovering that writing stories was much more fun than writing about them. One of her greatest pleasures as an author is being able to read the story before anyone else. Rue is happily married to her sweetheart of many, many years. Insatiably curious, an avid reader and traveler, she loves to hear from readers about their favorite books and real-life adventures. Crazy Cat stories are especially welcome. You can contact her at Rue@RueAllyn.com. She can’t wait to hear from you.
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