I agree...Cant find a new photo of dear HJ as hot cowboy. But I need to erase Renne's crinkly Cowboy from my memory and replace it with something yummy. Maybe this one may help? Will do my best to find HJ. Promise.
According to the NY Times, the substantial opening weekend of "Wolverine" was attributed in part to "an unexpectedly large female audience." Unexpected? With Hugh Jackman buff and shirtless? Ha!
Ahhh, Wet Darcys...*sigh* They always make my day!!
Thank you Ellen for this lovely western. Looking forward to the epilogue. I am sure you must have something secreted up your pen with which to surprise and delight us even more.
Thank you again.
Oh, how I loved this final chapter, but it helps to know that it is not quite over--still an epilogue!
After the way Elizabeth rejected Darcy earlier in the story, and indeed, the way he fought his feelings for her, their wedding night was a welcome relief--for us readers as well as them, LOL. He was everything I--I mean, Elizabeth--could have wished. He planned her pleasure perfectly, taking his time, taking care--right up to the moment when her coming brings him along. Lovely HMS, and the kind that makes an impression that stays long after one has stopped reading!
Also, nice to see everything and everyone else fall into place, including real redemption for Denny that actually helped secure the wedding. I am eager to know what happens to minor players like Lydia, Caroline, even Aunt Catherine (I would love to see Will get her money because who else does she have to leave it to? It's not the money but the principle. I would like to see her punished or brought down in some way for the way she treated the couple, particularly Elizabeth).
And, while I assume that Elizabeth and Darcy live happily ever after, I want details!!
Thank you, Ellen. Silver Dust is a wonderful story. Do you think you'll end up getting it published?
I'm both happy because it was an entertaining and satisfying chapter *AND* at the same time I'm also melancholy because the story has ended.
You wrapped up the loose ends; glad Denny saw the error in his ways, Caroline will stalk.. ur, I mean take an interest in someone else (and maybe end up happy), and that L&D *FINALLY* are together.
Ellen thank you for the new chapter. You certainly shocked me bring Denny back. I don't know how Darcy can trust him let alone Mr B being buddy buddy with him.
I also hate that Lizzy was treated like a field hand while the other sisters do nothing.
I loved Darcy unarming her totally appropriate considering how you started this fun tale. I hate that there is only one chapter left but I can't wait to read it.
Ellen I hope you will soon grace us with a new story I've loved your writing style.
Geri
This a story that I know I will read again & again. Te last chapter was so yummy and the bath itself was perfection! Joe Denny will be a loyal employee from now on I think. I hope Wickham gets some punishment for his treatment of the Bennet girls. I am sorry the story is finished and I can't wait to see the epilogue!
It’s taken me a while to find the time to write a proper response to your last chapter. Because, oh, what a chapter it was! Packed with all the good things a fangirl like me appreciates. Other readers have remarked on Denny’s redemption, Caroline’s predatory instincts and the smart detail of the Remington derringer and the story coming finally to a full circle, so I’ll skip those, though I enjoyed those episodes as much as everyone else. However, these are a few of the extracts I particularly like:
Oh, yeah, I know all 'bout what happened at the Lone Wolf with you and Miss Elizabeth, the whole town does. Sheriff musta thought it was mighty funny, 'cause it looks like he's the one what spread it around, but you can imagine that Wickham wasn't happy 'bout everyone knowin' how he got his ass whupped by some girl.
Now, it must be my “instinct of perversity”, but I confess I enjoyed the fact that everyone in Reno knew what had happened and the sense of humiliation it must bring about for Wickham. I know it’s twisted, but I can’t help it.
I also loved Georgiana’s reaction:
Had it not been inappropriate, she would have whooped with joy and turned cartwheels across the room.
I could picture her beaming young face as I read this paragraph.
But my favourite has to be the last paragraph:
Then, assured that the rest of their belongings, as well as beloved King, would follow by carriage with Georgiana and Mrs. Reynolds, Elizabeth and Will rode off - not, alas, into the sunset - but into the dawn of a new life together.
It is not the first time I say this, and it will not be the last, but, Ellen G., you are a gifted writer. Your descriptions are so vivid and powerful, your characters so real... I’m not very good at words, so I can only summarize it with the following:
I am so grateful for the wonderful comments you've all left for me! This story has been great fun, not just to write but also to research. Yes, there's still an epilogue to come, which I hope will not disappoint.
Ellen,
I'm going to miss this story and will return to re-read it regularly. I never would have thought I'd enjoy westerns, but you've done an icredible job. The wedding night... WHEW! I think we all needed that. THANK YOU!!!!
Adding on my accolades. I waited for the story to be complete (minus the promised epilogue - still looking forward to that) to read it and really enjoyed it. I grew up a fan of Heath Barkley on The Big Valley and Little Joe on Bonanza so I guess I've got a cowboy thing and the reference to Darcy with a holster around his slim waist was particularly appealing!
How clever, Ellen, to come up with this western twist. Well done!
Am still working on the epilogue, though I'm in "end of school year" mode now and busier than expected. I've never left any loose end hanging though, have I?
Am still working on the epilogue, though I'm in "end of school year" mode now and busier than expected. I've never left any loose end hanging though, have I?
That is a relief! But I still suffer from abstinency syndrom. LOL
Yes, Geri, "still." I just looked back and realized that I've been promising the epilogue for two months! Having my teenagers around all summer has been an unexpected drain on my inspiration.
I'll have to put the epilogue on my lengthy to-do list for this week. Thanks for the reminder!
I have been horribly remiss, haven't I? I don't suppose it's worth much to keep promising that I will provide an epilogue... I wouldn't be surprised if no one believed me at this point.
But I just brought my son to college yesterday, and my daughter starts her senior year of high school a week from today, and I'm very hopeful that I will have some time to myself to bring everything to a satisfying conclusion.
This is a delightfully sensuous ending to a story of love and passion in the Old West. When you transplanted Darcy and Elizabeth to this environment, you immediately shot a lusty vitality into canon that is not quite possible in the Regency period. In less restrained times, our couple is wilder--ride 'em, cowboy!--but as sweet and inspiring in their commitment as ever.
I like the pacing of this, with the main emphasis on their story.