A
few years ago we had a terrible summer here in the UK. It rained endlessly, and
several major cities were flooded. It just so happened that as the downpours
began, I was on my way on holiday, to southern France, and so I escaped all of
it. I caught the train home on my last day at work, as usual, and remember my
anxiety at the water level creeping nearer and nearer the tracks as we passed
by our local river.
The
very next week, I was in a completely different location. The skies were a
bright, cloudless blue and the Mediterranean glittered under the sun. What a
contrast with the gloomy and foreboding weather I’d left behind me. As I
explored the south coast of France, I began to think as all writers do: how can
I turn this wonderful scenery into the setting for a story?
The
mixture of gloom and clear, bright skies took a hold in my mind. Whilst in the
south of France I took the opportunity to visit the tiny principality of
Monaco, and when I saw the Palace, and the guards parading in their white
uniforms, a story began to take root. Now that story has been fleshed out, and
has become a novella, full of suspense and romance, and solidly based in the
wondrous light of the Mediterranean.
Here’s
an excerpt, to give you a flavour of
the surroundings:
It was eleven o’clock precisely. Daria
dropped back to let me pass. The heat rose in waves from the stone flags, and a
bright sun beat down on my bare head as I stepped through the doors. I blinked
in the unaccustomed light, casting a brief glance at the blue sky I had only
seen through glass for five long weeks. To my starved eyes, its colour was a
miracle of purity.
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| Palace at Monaco--Image Courtesy of Pixabay |
The carriage was waiting, gleaming gold
in the sun like something from a fairy tale. Two white horses, large and proud,
snorted and stamped at its head. Everything had the quality of a dream, and it
seemed to me as though I were outside my own body, gazing down at Princess
Charlotte of Montverrier as she left for her ceremony.
And then Léon was by my side, and the
cool fabric of my dress floated around my ankles as he handed me into my seat.
I felt Léon’s fingers press mine—the merest touch of reassurance—before he
followed lightly behind me. I sank back into the carriage’s blue silk seat, and
the horses swept through the gates.
Léon’s attention turned to the crowds as
we emerged onto the avenue. A great roar went up, and in the bright
Mediterranean sun everything took on a vibrancy and intensity such as I’d never
before experienced. The bright green of the poplars stirring gently overhead,
the vivid sky where seagulls whirled and cried, the gold and blue of the
Montverrier colours, hanging from every lamp-post. The crowds waved and called
out to me from behind the barriers. I leaned forward, returning their well
wishes in the manner I’d practised so long, with a smile and a graceful wave,
palm forward, the fingers of my hand slightly spread. Children sat on their
parents’ shoulders, clutching flags, whilst others clung to the slender trunks
of the poplars.
The carriage rattled down the avenue
before rounding the corner into the square between the Mediterranean and the
Cathedral. What a magnificent sight lay before us! The sea was a glittering
expanse of brilliant blue and silver in the sunlight, and the stones of the
great Cathedral a blinding white. A red carpet had been laid down for my
arrival, lined on each side by trumpeters dressed in gold and blue. A group of
maids-in-waiting, all in white, were at the bottom of the Cathedral steps to
greet me. As we drew to a halt, a voice crackled in Léon’s ear-piece, and he
spoke into his device. And then the carriage door was open, and two footmen
helped me alight. The maids-in-waiting darted forwards to arrange my dress with
deft fingers while the trumpeters sounded their welcome. Another great cheer
went up from the waiting crowds, and it was time to begin the long procession
into the Cathedral.
I
hope you’ve enjoyed my excerpt, and a small taste of the brilliant heat and
warmth of the south of France. Here is the blurb to Palace of Deception:
A
sinister housekeeper, a silent bodyguard, and a missing princess—mystery and
intrigue in a gripping romantic suspense
When Princess Charlotte of Montverrier
disappears on the eve of her Investiture, Lizzie Smith takes on the acting job
of her life.
But in the run up to the ceremony, all
is not what it seems in the Palace of Montverrier. Why does the housekeeper
insist Lizzie keep to her suite of rooms? What danger lies outside the palace
walls? As Lizzie learns her role, her only confidant is Léon, her quiet
bodyguard…but what secrets is he keeping from her? And above all, what has
happened to the missing Princess?
Mystery and suspense against the
backdrop of a beautiful Mediterranean city.
Palace
of Deception is available in several international sites on
Amazon, especially the following…
Other
formats will be released in November.
***
I do
hope you’ve enjoyed hearing about my escape from the rain, and my romantic
suspense! If you’d like to hear more, you can find me on my website www.helenafairfax.com, on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HelenaFairfax,
or on Twitter https://twitter.com/HelenaFairfax
You’re very welcome, Helena!
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