Author Regina Jeffers joins the blog today with her new release.

This is Regina’s second contribution to the Tragic Characters in Classic Lit series, following I Shot the Sheriff, which was featured here last December. Enjoy!

Captain Stanwick’s Bride

Friday, February 19, 2021, was release day for Captain Stanwick’s Bride: A Tragic Characters in Classic Lit Series Novel. It is my 54th novel in the last 10.5 years and is loosely based on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “The Courtship of Myles Standish.”

However in this project, I brought a “tragic character” of classic lit into the Regency era. This is my second novel in the series, having tackled the infamous Sheriff of Nottingham back in October. Check out “I Shot the Sheriff” on Amazon, Kindle, Nook, and Kobo.

Foundation Behind The Tragic Characters in Classic Lit Series 

Nearly a dozen authors contributed books to this series. Readers will encounter some of the “favorite,” or should I say, “least favorite” characters found in classic literature. The parameters of the project were quite simple.

1. The story must be, at least, 40,000 words.
2. Instead of the original setting for the tale, all the stories in this series take place between the late Georgian period and early Victorian, meaning late 1700s into about 1840.
3. Each novel is based on a different tragic character from a public domain novel, story, or poem.

The idea is to provide the tragic character a “happily ever after.” It does not matter if he/she was the protagonist or the antagonist in the original tale, in these new renderings he/she will be the hero/heroine.

In the series, one could meet fallen heroes who have succumbed to vice, greed, etc. He/She could originally have been detested for what values he accepted, but, in these new tales, fate changes and brings redemption. The character finds the fortitude to change his stars, learn to accept what cannot be changed, and move beyond the impossible to discover “Love After All.”

Characters Found in Captain Stanwick’s Bride: Love After All 

Basis of the Story: This story is inspired by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s narrative poem “The Courtship of Miles Standish.” Truth first, the “hero” and “heroine” of Longfellow’s narrative poem are John Alden and Priscilla Mullins of the Mayflower and Plymouth Rock fame.

The Aldens are my tenth great-grandparents through their daughter Rebecca. However, I am well aware that Longfellow (who is also related to the Aldens through their daughter Elizabeth) told a tale is not necessarily based in actual history. There is no proof that Captain Standish wished to court Priscilla Mullins and sent Alden as his spokesman, with Priscilla supposedly telling Alden, “Why don’t you speak for yourself, John.”

Meet the Main Characters:

Captain Whittaker Myles Stanwick

Myles Standish has many fine qualities that I attempted to display in my tale, with the main exception of Standish’s renowned quick temper. I have moved my story from 1620 America to the War of 1812 as its backdrop. My Captain Whittaker Myles Stanwick (notice the purposeful change in the spelling) is on the Canadian front when the story begins, fighting alongside the Indian Confederation at the Battle of the Thames. The real Myles Standish was a fierce opponent, who stood against the Native Americans encountered by the Plymouth settlers, but he was respected by them, as well. I wanted to show my Captain Stanwick as a leader of men, one displaying reason and fortitude and being deeply devoted to his duties.

Ruth Stanwick

Ruth Standish was the real Captain Standish’s first wife. Unfortunately, we know little of the woman, including anything of her family, for she died during that first disastrous winter for the Pilgrims at Plymouth, Massachusetts. For my purposes, Ruth Stanwick dies at home in Lancashire, England, while my hero is away at war.

Beatrice Spurlock 

Standish’s second wife, Barbara, arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts, on the second ship to land there, the Anne. We also know little about the second Mrs. Standish, not even her maiden name.

For this story, instead of “Barbara,” I chose the name “Beatrice.” Beatrice is based on some real-life members of my family. My sixth great-grandmother was actually a Powhatan Indian Princess named “Elizabeth.”

In the story, my great-grandmother serves as the basis for Beatrice’s mother, who I have also called Elizabeth, who, in real life, married a Scot, named Charles Spurlock, and faced much criticism and repudiation until they moved to the backwoods of what was then Virginia and helped found a settlement called “Spurlock Creek.”

Even then, “Princess” Elizabeth did not acclimate well, but it is said her daughter proved to be a leader in the community. Also note, in real life, the Charles Spurlock from my family tree was not a surgeon, but his grandson was. You will see how those facts play out in the story.

Jonas Alderson and Portia Miller 

I did not totally abandon Longfellow’s poem for inspiration. These two are my John Alden and Priscilla Mullins characters. My Captain Stanwick has a friendship with Alderson, who is a cooper, a man who makes casks, buckets, barrels, etc., in which to store food stuffs, whale oil, fresh water, and the like, as was the real John Alden.

History shows that Standish and Alden founded the settlement of Duxbury, Massachusetts. They each served in several positions to both the original colony and that particular town.

Duxbury Hall

Myles Standish’s origins are not clear. In his last will and testament, he did claim to be part of the Standish family of Duxbury Hall in Lancashire, England. I did not go so far as to claim the same in my tale, but I do present my Captain Stanwick with a sizable farm in the shire.

FICTION VERSUS NONFICTION

Before anyone chooses to send me a nasty email about how I bent history for my own device, I will remind the reader that this book is FICTION. I did my research, and, I admit, I did NOT find information that said British prisoners were held in tents outside of Fort McHenry, but then again, I found nothing that said they were not. I took artistic liberty, for the setting of Fort McHenry allowed me to place my main characters in a position of uncertainty with the backdrop of one of the last great battles of the War of 1812 raging around them.

Captain Stanwick’s Bride

“Happiness consists more in conveniences of pleasure that occur everyday than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom.” – Benjamin Franklin

Captain Whittaker Stanwick has a successful military career and a respectable home farm in Lancashire. What he does not have in his life is felicity. Therefore, when the opportunity arrives, following his wife’s death, Stanwick sets out to know a bit of happiness, at last—finally to claim a woman who stirs his soul. Yet, he foolishly commits himself to one woman only weeks before he has found a woman, though shunned by her people and his, who touches his heart. Will he deny the strictures placed upon him by society in order learn the secret of happiness is freedom: Freedom to love and freedom to know courage?

Loosely based on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “The Courtship of Miles Standish” and set against the final battles of the War of 1812, this tale shows the length a man will go to in order to claim a remarkable woman as his.

Excerpt

Enjoy Whit and Beatrice’s first meeting during Chapter Two:

15 November 1813

Fort McHenry, Maryland 

It had taken his party eighteen days of hard travel to reach Fort McHenry. Whit pitied those who would follow, for the nights, and even some of the days, in the mountains had been bitterly cold, but, thankfully, snow free. He and his men and numerous officers from other units had huddled together, sharing blankets and body heat, even though cleanliness had long since left their persons. They had worn the same clothes for nearly seven weeks, and body odor would make them easy prey for predators in the wild.

“Line up,” an American soldier ordered as Whit and his men stepped gingerly down from the wagons. “Most seriously injured at the front. Sort yerselves out.” The soldier waited while Whit and the other officers arranged some fifty plus British soldiers in some sort of order. At length, the American shouted, “Listen. I shan’t repeat meself. You’ll stand before the clerk presentin’ him yern name, rank, next of kin, and the location of yer home. Then you’ll be seen by the camp doctor—some of you may be sent for treatment. You’ll be given new clothes to wear, meaning shirts, socks, and the like, and then assigned to quarters, meaning the tents you see before you. Some of you will be released immediately in an exchange for arn soldiers. Others will be here until . . . well until yer not.”

* * *

“Your name?” an American sergeant asked.

“Whittaker Stanwick,” he replied.

It had taken more than an hour for him to reach this critical point in the line. They had been brought into the fort itself, three at a time, to be treated by the physician. Like everything else dealing with the military during a war, organization was patchwork at best. Decisions were fluid. He watched as the sergeant scribbled his name into a log book.

“Rank?” The American did not look up from his task.

“Captain.”

“Place of birth?”

“Lancashire, England.”

“Any injuries?”

Whit sighed heavily. He had to remember to break the habit as quickly as possible, for he feared it betrayed his thinking to perfect strangers. He said quickly, “Nothing that a good meal and a bath would not cure. Perhaps some liniment for my knee.”

The sergeant finally looked up long enough to frown his displeasure with Whit’s response. “Speak to Doctor Spurlock for the liniment. Go to the end of the L-shaped hall and wait until they come for you. You’ll see the doc, and he’ll send you on to yer quarters afterwards.” He gestured to the passage behind him.

Whit nodded his understanding and ambled down the long hall, lined with a row of doors on both sides. He had just taken up a stance against the wall where he studied the posted notices when a sound at the other end of the “L” drew his notice. A woman struggled with a soldier. A woman? When was the last time he looked upon a woman not part of the camp whores who followed the army wherever they went. Abandoning his position, despite his ailing knee, Whit took off at a hastened pace to reach the lady. “Halt! None of that!” he declared in his best “captain’s” voice.

The man stiffened, for the passing of perhaps three heartbeats, which was long enough for Whit to step between the American and the woman, shoving her behind him to protect her.

The American attempted to reach around him, but Whit easily blocked the man’s hand. “Ladies are not to be mauled,” he hissed.

“She ain’t being no lady, so tell the Injun to keep her filthy hands off me,” the man protested. “I don’t need none of her potions and elixirs.”

“It is only a bottle of liniment,” the lady responded, anger underlining her tone.

Whittaker eyed the American soldier with disdain and received a like form of contempt in return.

The man pointed an accusing finger at the woman. “Just stay away from me. I know what your type do to the likes of honest men.” The American stalked away, mumbling a series of complaints along the way.

It was then that Whit turned to look upon the woman. Eyes the color of storm clouds met his. A wealth of hair, as dark as coal soot marked with strands of red, wrapped in a tight braid at the nape of her neck, framed an oval-shaped face that displayed both relief and frustration at the same time.

“I beg your pardon, ma’am. I did not mean to handle you so roughly.” Whit thought to offer her a bow, but he knew the Americans did not customarily bow and curtsey, as did those in Great Britain. “I am Captain Stanwick.”

“Miss Spurlock,” she murmured.

“As in Doctor Spurlock?” he questioned. Surely the Americans had not employed a female to treat the prisoners.

“My father,” she responded softly.

Ah, he thought. That makes more sense. Whit tilted his head to the side to study her. “Pardon my forwardness, miss,” he said. “Your accent is laced with bits of the Brit.”

She smiled up at him, doing something to his heart, but he could not name the emotion.

Purchase Links:

Kindle      https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08W9GW1M8

Kindle Unlimited https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/hz/subscribe/ku?passThroughAsin=B08W9GW1M8&_encoding=UTF8&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08W7JV2RR

About the Author:

Regina Jeffers, an award-winning author of historical cozy mysteries, Austenesque sequels and retellings, as well as Regency era romances, has worn many hats over her lifetime: daughter, student, military brat, wife, mother, grandmother, teacher, tax preparer, journalist, choreographer, Broadway dancer, theatre director, history buff, grant writer, media literacy consultant, and author. Living outside of Charlotte, NC, Jeffers writes novels that take the ordinary and adds a bit of mayhem, while mastering tension in her own life with a bit of gardening and the exuberance of her “grand joys.”

 

Author Social Media Links:

Every Woman Dreams (Blog)  https://reginajeffers.wordpress.com

Austen Authors (Blog)  http://austenauthors.net

Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/Regina-Jeffers-Author-Page-141407102548455/?fref=ts

Twitter  https://twitter.com/reginajeffers

Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/Regina-Jeffers/e/B008G0UI0I/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1479079637&sr=8-1

Pinterest  https://www.pinterest.com/jeffers0306/

BookBub  https://www.bookbub.com/profile/regina-jeffers

Instagram  https://www.instagram.com/darcy4ever/

You Tube Interview  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzgjdUigkkU

Website  https://rjefferscom.wordpress.com/

 

Image credits: the guest author and Wikimedia Commons