Coming 22nd January 2015...
From the erotic pen of Viveka Portman comes the latest instalment in the sexiest set of diaries you have ever read…
When Miss Martha Swan enters the fine home of
Lord and Lady Stanton to become a governess, she is full of lofty
ideals. Yet something is amiss in the hallowed halls of Stanton:
whispers, laughter, and something darker and more wicked
echoes from behind closed doors, and Martha is determined to find out
what.
She
soon discovers that all is not what it seems in this stately home. The
lord and lady have secrets - lustful, carnal, shameful secrets that
could spell ruination
for all. Martha wants to be appalled, but she finds herself intrigued,
and when her long time friend Mr Jonathan Reeves comes to visit, Martha
conceives a daring plan to assuage her curiosity.
Thing are not so simple however, as neither Martha
nor Jonathan have the money to marry. Nothing can come from this
relationship - nothing but the experience of ecstasy.
In such a
situation, what is a curious governess
to do?
~Excerpt~
Meet Miss Martha Swan, a curious governess with a very light step...
I like to think I have a good eye for the finer things, and had paused before marvellous marble statue of Achilles battling the Amazon Penthesilea. As a woman who wishes for independence, I have a place in my heart for the Greek heroic tales of Penthesilea and her sisters. Such strong women, with lives cut so brutally short by the men so eager to dominate them. Was the fate of the Amazons not echoed countless times after, even today? Were not men still forcing women to submit to them, whether it be their daughters or their wives? Were not countless ladies, many of my own peers in fact, pushed into arranged marriages to serve men and bear children? I knew the truth of it even if others seemed blind.
I stared at the marble Penthesilea, her beautiful face contorted in eternal agony by a futile battle. Her breast had fallen from her dress, as she collapsed before Achilles beaten but defiant. I glanced up at Achille’s face, so stern, enraged.
Was every woman a Penthesilea, Hippolyta or Melanippe?
As I pondered this profound notion I heard a most peculiar sound.
A giggle, a grunt and sounds of whispers. I frowned, the very skin my arms prickled beneath my shawl. I stood still once more, looking from the agonised face of Penthesilea down the corridor towards the sound’s origin.
More grunting - undeniably masculine grunting.
A gentle feminine cry.
Something tightened in my belly at the sound. I found myself abandoning the statue of the suffering Amazon and begin to walk down the corridor.
I confess my interest in the epic battles of the statues and the delights of the magnificent portraits that decorated the walls had all but diminished. I felt a peculiar sense of urgency lead me forwards towards the mysterious and strangely exciting sounds.
~
The character of Miss Martha Swan is one of my favourites in the Regency Diaries. She desperately wants to be an intellectual and independent woman, but in her naive attempts to be that paragon, she ends up sexually frustrated, disillusioned and terribly lonely.
Martha's story is one of self-discovery and acceptance, and was an utter pleasure to write. Her studies of Mrs Hester Chapone became my studies and I'm grateful to have enriched my knowledge on the righteous Georgian beliefs because of it.
I hope my readers enjoy this one as much as I have!
~VP~
