Ahhh... book #2 in the Belmont series did not disappoint! While it took me a while to get into the first one, this one I was sold right off. There were also several quotes and thoughts that jumped out at me.
Pg. 59 ~
Pauline, a young child at Belmont, was just talking with Eleanor about marriage ...
" 'So when it comes your time' -- she brushed a kiss to Pauline's brown tossing a wink in her aunt's direction -- 'and a young man you love very much asks for your hand in marriage, it shouldn't come as a surprise.'
"Even as she said it, Eleanor knew she was perpetuating the promise of a reality that didn't come true for every girl, especially in the aftermath of the war, with marriagable men so scarce."
I guess I never thought about how of course there would be a shortage of "marriageable men" after the Civil War when the country was still somewhat small and so many men were killed.
Pg. 90 ~
Marcus goes nearly daily to a local bakery and has befriended the shopkeeper, Leonard Fitch.
" 'Guten Morgen, Fitch. How is the world treating you this fine day?'
'Pretty fair. 'Bout as good as I've treated it so far, I guess ... ' "
Love that dialogue!! Reminds me of when Leah was about 8 and I would ask her if she was going to have a good day that day and she would say, "It's too early to tell..." :)
Pg. 93 ~
Caleb, a young boy in the neighborhood where Marcus was working (who had recently lost his father), had just been beaten up by a group of older boys.
"Marcus helped the boy up and over to a bench outside the drygoods store and sat next to him, looking into eyes that seemed years older than the boy's age."
Caleb was an only child who had to grow up fast to become the "man of the house" ~ escpecially in the rough part of the neighborhood where the widows and orphans lived.
Pg. 235 ~
SPOILER ALERT!!!! In the book we discover Eleanor's dad has been placed in an asylum because of his dementia. There was so little known about it back then. It is heart breaking now, but even more so back then.
"Eleanor peered from behind the tree, watching her father from a distance as he sat swinging in the garden. She didn't want to disobey Dr. Crawford's orders, but she couldn't stay away any longer. She needed to see him, to make sure he was all right. But also ....
"The part of her that still remembered what it was like to be a young girl wanted to see her daddy again. Needed to see him."
Oh my heart! I just selfishly pray neither of my parents are affected by that disease!
Eleanor Braddock - plain, practical, no stunning Southern beauty - knows she will never marry. But with a dying soldier's last whisper, she believes her life can still have meaning and determines to find his widow. Impoverished and struggling to care for her ailing father, Eleanor arrives at Belmont Mansion, home of her aunt, Adelicia Acklen, the richest woman in America - and possibly the most demanding, as well. Adelicia insists on finding her niece a husband, but a simple act of kindness leads Eleanor down a far different path - building a home for destitute widows and fatherless children from the Civil War. While Eleanor knows her own heart, she also knows her aunt will never approve of this endeavor. Archduke Marcus Gottfried has come to Nashville from Austria in search of a life hedetermines, instead of one determined for him. Hiding his royal heritage, Marcus longs to combine his passion for nature with his expertise in architecture, but his plans to incorporate natural beauty into the design of the widows' and children's home run contrary to Eleanor's wishes. As work on the home draws them closer together, Marcus and Eleanor find common ground - and a love neither of them expects. But Marcus is not the man Adelicia has chosen for Eleanor, and even if he were, someone who knows his secrets is about to reveal them all. (picture and description from Amazon)
As desperately as I want to move right on to the last book in the series, I must take a brief departure and move onto our Book Club book for the month~
Keep reading!
O:)
Melissa
