#this is still the gay agnes grey sequel project

[artemismatchalatte]

NaNoWriMo 2022: Day 13

I did my writing when I first got up this morning. I have an idea for tomorrow’s session already which I’m glad about. This was a chores/rest day mostly because I’ve been working on both school and on sales this week. 

Day 13 Word Count:1,703 words

November Total so far: 43,213 words

Excerpt:

"Tilly! Tilly!" Mama shrieked when she saw Papa hugging me. 

She barreled over to us and threw herself into my arms. She kissed me several times all over my face in a frantic sort of way. I was slapped in the face with her high strung energy. 

I cried too, overwhelmed that they were happy to see me again. I thought they wouldn't want to see me. 

Clara came up to me, clutching two dolls to her closely. One was Annabelle, one of Rosie's fine dolls from childhood and the other was my Miss Sampson, still in her uniform- her confident smirk still visible on her face. 

"It's okay, Auntie Matilda, don't cry." She said with such concern. 

The little girl was now nearing thirteen, but Rosie did not rush her into adulthood. She was very much still a little girl and I agreed with Rosie- that might protect her from the world. She was always with Rosie or our parents. Ashby did dote on his only living child. He never pushed Rosie to have another baby again though she admitted to me that she wouldn't have minded maybe another one or two more. She had wanted a son, but Clara was all she would ever have.  

Clara sat between Rosie and me on one couch while our parents sat across from us on another. Tea and snacks were carried in. 

Gerry let me borrow one of her suits: we were close to the same size. I was a bit wider where she was about two inches taller but the tailoring had been loose so I could wear her clothes and she could wear mine. Gerry had great taste in clothes too; I was used to farmer and work man's clothes because they were functional. It had been ages since I wore a suit.

[artemismatchalatte]

NaNoWriMo 2022: Day 30

I went back to Tilly and Hess because they started the story for me. Huzzah for Anne Bronte crack ships! This project is a very gay sequel to Agnes Grey and it also brings in some characters from The Tennant of Wildfell Hall, briefly. And there’s a lot of people that I made up (that is almost all of the Victorian lesbians except three of them-Matilda, Miss Green, and Hess, though she has a different name in Agnes Grey and the reason for that is explained in this novel). The Starlings, Dave, Miss Holburn, Peggy, Jake, and Ursa are all my characters. 

And now another NaNoWriMo season is officially over. So how did everyone else do? Did you reach your writing goals? 

Well, congrats, regardless of how far you got! :D And good luck with all your editing. Mine is going to be a great Victorian beast to edit and organize. ;-; 

Day 30: 1,917 Words

NaNoWriMo 2022 Word Count Total: 84,400 Words !!!

Excerpt:

I’m not sure if she knew about us or not. Mrs. Weston was clever, of course, because she had been a governess. I always got the feeling that she felt sorry for me. I don’t know if she also felt sorry for Hess. Perhaps she pitied us both. I was still trying to get a grasp on Hess’ situation, but she dodged my well-meaning inquiries about her people. I wondered if she had anyone in the world to claim her as kin. She very well could have been an orphan girl that the Westons took on to help. They were that good and kindly that I would have believed it myself; so would anyone who knew them.

If poor Hess was all alone in the world then I decided then that I would be her family. She could call me her kin. I would claim her as my own. I hated the idea that poor Hess had no one who would love her, no one who would stand up and proudly call her family. So I decided that I had to be that person to remedy the evil that the world had dealt my darling Hester.

“Don’t let me stop you.” Mrs. Weston said kindly but then reconsidered. “Girls, could you do me the great favor of going shopping for me today?”

“Both of us, Mrs. Weston?” I asked.

“Yes, you may both go. In fact, because you are such fine friends, I’d prefer it.”

“What if one of the babies wakes up when we’re gone?” Hess then asked.

“I will be fine. They’re my own children. I will have to learn to manage on my own, won’t I?”

“Mrs. Weston, we won’t leave if you don’t want us to.” I said loyally. And Hess nodded to confirm her agreement.

“You girls don’t have to stay with me forever. You aren’t my servants either. I feel badly that you feel you must work so hard.”

“We didn’t want you to strain yourself. Birth is dangerous.” I said and for some reason she seemed surprised. She doesn’t know I had seen my horse give birth nor about Mama’s friends’ funeral.

What can a naïve twenty year old girl who had never been with a man know about babies anyhow? Was what she probably thought as I spoke. Because to her, that’s what I probably was. Most girls my age were already married or were on their way to the altar. I wondered then if Hess was running from a bad suitor. We were the age for it now. She was nineteen to my twenty but she seemed to know so much more of the world. I thought what that might mean, but it did not bode well for poor Hess.

“Well, I’m surprised that they let you know that before marriage, Matilda.” Mrs. Weston said.

“It’s okay, Mrs. Weston, I don’t think I’ll ever get married. I wanted to be a bluestocking when I was a little girl.” I admitted and her eyes widened at that.

Hess gave me an odd look which I couldn’t read. But I get the feeling that my words upset her somehow. I don’t know why they would. It should have reassured her. I wasn’t going to leave her for a male suitor. I would have loved to hear her say something similar. Her silence however was pained more than I had expected and at the time, ignorant to the ways of the world, I didn’t yet realize why.