The Girdle of Melian

Larksong is set in Montreal, July 1914. In chapter 1, Alice, after her grandmother's funeral, arrived at the family cottage to take care of her grandmother's aviary, only to find that her parents had already leased the cottage to another family for the summer. The only way she could have one more summer in her favourite place was to surreptitiously take on the role of governess to the two young girls... In chapter 2, we met George, laid up at the hospital with a broken leg. Instead of joining his friends on a Grand Tour of Europe, he's being sent off to recuperate at a rented cottage in the country... Now we return to Alice's point of view: "Our brother is coming, too," the younger girl – Lucy – piped up. Mam said we'd be a bother to him if we all travelled up together, so she made James – he's our eldest brother, and a lawyer – drive him down. He's got a new Ford! James, I mean. And–" "Take a breath, Lucey-Goosey," El...

hapter 2! Larksong is set in Montreal, July 1914. In chapter 1, Alice, following her grandmother's funeral, arrived at the family cottage to take care of her grandmother's aviary, only to find that her parents had already let the cottage to another family for the summer. The only way she could have one more summer in her favourite place was to surreptitiously take on the role of governess to the two young girls... Now we turn to George's point of view: George came to consciousness in his hospital bed, dragged up from sleep by the sound of voices, but did not immediately open his eyes. He could hear his elder brother, James – the barrister – holding forth. "This is most inconvenient, Mother. It's much too early to head to the cottage and instead of opening ours, you've gone and rented a new one sight unseen?" Even without looking, George knew his mother was wringing her hands. "We had no choice, James. The girls need a place for the su...

elcome to a mini story serial! Trying something new today, rather than updates or photos, or songs, or anything else... How about a bit of summer reading? Here's chapter 1 of Larksong , set in Montreal, July 1914. I hope you like it!   Alice left Montreal on the afternoon of Granny Cunnick's funeral. Still in her funeral coat and hat, she picked up the carpetbag she'd stored the day before at Windsor Train Station and boarded the afternoon train to Knowlton. She hadn't wanted to draw attention to her abrupt departure, though in truth her parents were hardly likely to notice; neither had seen much of anything beyond the sickbed in the past few months. Not since Granny had first deigned to inform them of her illness. By then the TB had advanced past any hope of recovery; Granny had known it, yet Alice's parents insisted on removal from one sanatorium to another, always seeking a new doctor, new nurses, new treatments. Alice had visited her every day at the last sanato...

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