Joana Starnes

Some years ago, I went down the rabbit hole looking for wedding-day superstitions, and came across this:

‘Marry under May’s changing skies – a chequered path before you lies.’

It was a line from a traditional English rhyme, and it tickled me, because it was a great fit for the plot and the timeline of Mr Bennet’s Dutiful Daughter, the book I was writing at the time.

I’m not quite sure yet when our favourite couple will marry in my current WIP. I’ll just have to wait and see how they get on 🙂 . At the moment, the challenge is to write winter-weather chapters as I sit with a notebook ‘under May’s changing skies.’

I love writing outdoors. Sometimes, when I’m stuck, I go and sit on the garden steps with a cup of coffee, listen to the birds and try to figure out what our favourite people are most likely to do next. But over the last couple of weeks, I found that the time of year and the sunny weather have been playing tricks on me. The number of times I forgot that they were in late autumn – early winter, and sent Elizabeth out without her pelisse, or had Darcy going for a ride at six in the morning, then had to remind myself that he’d have to wait another hour or so, or else he’d be riding in the dark.

This time, the plan is for them to reach their understanding much sooner than in canon. I must say, I have a soft spot for springtime courtship. Can you imagine anything more romantic than our favourite couple strolling among bluebells, or in a glade overgrown with daffodils, or under cherry trees in bloom? Or perhaps wandering into a secluded garden, to be blissfully alone and steal a kiss or two beneath a towering magnolia or under garlands of wisteria?

The first three photos were taken at Greys Court, near Henley-on-Thames. Downton fans might remember it as the place where the Earl of Grantham’s family would live, once obliged to relinquish their grand abode to Mr Crawley. The Dowager Countess had tea on the lawn, looking extremely sour at the prospect. And well she might because, compared to Highclere Castle (a.k.a Downton Abbey), Greys Court is not grand at all.

But in real life it was a home full of love. Its last owners, Lord and Lady Brunner, who donated it to the National Trust, seem to have been one of those extremely fortunate couples who were not only deeply attached, but also blessed with the good fortune of growing old together. There is a portrait in the house, showing them in their old age, sitting together in the garden. Their faces are heavily lined, but they glow with almost tangible love. It’s in their beautiful home that I saw this quote set in a frame – a few deeply moving lines which, to me, are the perfect embodiment of the Darcys’ marriage:

“There is nothing better than this: when a man and a woman, sharing the same ideas about life, keep house together. It pains their enemies and delights their friends, but only they themselves know what it truly means.” (Homer – The Odyssey)

On this note, let me finish with some more lovely pictures. Imagine our favourite couple strolling through the vast grounds of Pemberley, only to turn a corner and come across this:

How Elizabeth’s eyes would light up in wonder and absolute delight! How irresistible she would be to a besotted Mr Darcy! And how sweet to imagine them kissing among azaleas, then walking hand in hand towards their ‘happily ever after’!

Thanks for stopping by to read this, my dear friends. All the best, and have a lovely day.