Beautiful Butterflies…
In The Master’s New Governess heroine Maud Wilmot collects (but does not harm) butterflies. Many species of butterflies fluttered across British landscapes in the Victorian era, when the romance is set. Butterfly-catching was a popular hobby, and ‘The Butterfly Vivarium or Insect Home: being an account of a new method of observing the curious metamorphoses of some of the most beautiful of our native insects’, by Henry Noel Humphreys, published in London in 1858, became a best seller.
A Victorian Butterfly Vivarium
Sadly, many British butterflies are now rarely sighted. The Swallowtail, Britain’s biggest butterfly, is threatened with extinction due to salination of Britain’s lakes and marshes. The small tortoiseshell is also facing declining numbers.
You can learn more about butterflies from The Association for Butterflies (you can even attend Butterfly College) support Butterfly Education and Awareness Day (US) or aid their conservation in Britain by joining The Big Butterfly Count.
Enjoy the story!
‘Good
morning, Miss Wilmot.’
Maud entered the schoolroom to find
Sir Dominic standing by the window. The sunlight streamed in, putting his face
half in profile. It emphasised the set of his jaw.
She stepped back, then raised her
own chin as she crossed the room and placed on the table the large jars she had
borrowed from the kitchen earlier that morning. The glass glistened in the
sunlight, making the foliage she had gathered inside them appear even more
vivid green.
‘Good morning,’ she replied,
unsmiling, with the slightest nod of her head. Overnight, for she had struggled
to sleep as usual, her indignation at the master of the house had not abated.
She had resolved to display the utmost propriety towards him at all times.
‘I thought I would come and see that
you have what you need here in the schoolroom for today’s lesson. But I see you
have already been busy,’ he said.
‘Since just after dawn,’ she
admitted. ‘I was fortunate to find what I needed around the vegetable patch.’
He frowned slightly as he studied
the contents of the jars. ‘Are these of sufficient size for your purposes?’
She ran her finger over the lid of
one of the jars, where she had made the holes for air. She’d not only caught
caterpillars, but a butterfly, too. ‘These jars are large enough for insect
homes.’ She couldn’t suppress a sigh. ‘Ideally, of course, I’d have a vivarium.’
His raised eyebrow met the other in
a slight frown. ‘You are already teaching me something, Miss Wilmot. I’m not
familiar with the word. What is a vivarium?’
‘It’s a Latin term,’ she told him
eagerly, unable to hold back her enthusiasm. She picked up one of the glass
jars. ‘It’s a most innovative idea. Imagine this insect home being four or five
times the size. That is the size of a vivarium. They are big glass cases or
domes, with ventilation, where caterpillars and butterflies can be observed
alive, without harm. Mr Ward of London has made some marvellous ones that are
being used on long sea voyages to collect specimens, I believe. But we can make
do.’
‘Thank you for enlightening me.’
Maud stiffened as she put the jar
back with the others on the table. She wondered, for a moment, if he was
mocking her enthusiasm, but she could discern no trace of mockery on his face.
Instead, he was studying the insect homes with increased interest.
The door from the nursery opened.
~~ excerpt
from The Master’s New Governess: Eliza Redgold
About the Author
Eliza Redgold is an author and ‘romantic academic’. Her natural pen name is based upon the old, Gaelic meaning of her name, Dr Elizabeth Reid Boyd. English folklore has it that if you help a fairy, you will be rewarded with red gold. She writes fiction as Eliza Redgold and non-fiction as Elizabeth Reid Boyd. She is represented by Joelle Delbourgo Associates US.
Eliza Redgold’s bestselling historical fiction includes her Ladies of Legend trilogy, starting with “NAKED: A Novel of Lady Godiva” released internationally by St Martin’s Press New York. Her ‘Romance your Senses’ series of contemporary romances are published by Harlequin (MIRA) Australia. Her Victorian historical romances are published by Harlequin Historical London (Harper Collins) and translated internationally. They include the W.H. Smith historical romance bestseller ‘Playing the Duke’s Mistress’. Her new Harlequin Historical ‘The Scandalous Suffragette’ is out now.
Eliza Redgold on the web:
Eliza Redgold has a new book out:
The Master’s New Governess
A new position for the governess
As mistress of Pendragon Hall?
Unfairly dismissed from her previous position, her reputation ruined, governess Maud Wilmot is forced to take on a new identity. When she feels an ever-growing attraction to her new employer, Cornish railway entrepreneur Dominic Jago, Maud longs to reveal the truth. But doing so could end their fledgling romance before it’s truly begun…
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that's a new word for me too! Intriguing set up!
ReplyDeleteYes, it was a new word for me too!
DeleteThe book sounds interesting!
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy it! The research was really fascinating.
Deletei would like to read those books:)
ReplyDeleteHow awesome it would be to have a butterfly vivarium?! Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteSound cool :)
ReplyDeleteI love going to the live butterfly exhibit every year at my local botanical garden so the idea of a butterfly vivarium sounds amazing to me!
ReplyDelete