The Silver Mistress

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No,” Lettice admits. “Lionel has always courted trouble and caused us pain, long before he had to go to Kenya in disgrace. Do you remember how much he enjoyed teasing Lally and I when we were children?” Just try and stop me,” she replies with a smile. “It isn’t every day my big brother gets married. Now go, before Nigel has an aneurism on the drawing room carpet.” Queen Mary was an eager collector of objects and pictures with a royal connection.[48] She paid above-market estimates when purchasing jewels from the estate of Dowager Empress Marie of Russia[49] and paid almost three times the estimate when buying the family's Cambridge Emeralds from Lady Kilmorey, the mistress of her late brother Prince Francis.[50] In 1924, the famous architect Sir Edwin Lutyens created Queen Mary's Dolls' House for her collection of miniature pieces.[51] Indeed, she has sometimes been criticised for her aggressive acquisition of objets d'art for the Royal Collection. On several occasions, she would express to hosts, or others, that she admired something they had in their possession, in the expectation that the owner would be willing to donate it.[52] Her extensive knowledge of, and research into, the Royal Collection helped in identifying artefacts and artwork that had gone astray over the years.[53] The Royal Family had lent out many objects over previous generations. Once she had identified unreturned items through old inventories, she would write to the holders, requesting that they be returned.[54] Picasso's early Cubist paintings, known as his "Analytic Cubist" works, include "Three Women" (1907), "Bread and Fruit Dish on a Table" (1909) and "Girl with Mandolin" (1910). His later Cubist works are distinguished as "Synthetic Cubism" for moving even further away from artistic typicalities of the time, creating vast collages out of a great number of tiny, individual fragments. These paintings include "Still Life with Chair Caning" (1912), "Card Player" (1913-14) and "Three Musicians" (1921). I'm a bigger fan of Pat after this sequel novel. I remember that the first book "Pat of Silver Bush" didn't feel, to me, like most of Montgomery's works do. Still, I knew I must read the sequel... And I'm so glad I did! Pat has risen high in my esteem. Another fun, sweet, loving character in L.M. Montgomery's canon.

Alice Frederica Keppel was a British society hostess and a long-time mistress and confidante of King Edward VII. Keppel grew up at Duntreath Castle, the family seat of the Edmonstone baronets in Scotland. She was the youngest child of Mary Elizabeth, née Parsons, and Sir William Edmonstone, 4th Baronet. In 1891 she married George Keppel, an army officer, and they had two daughters. Alice Keppel became one of the best society hostesses of the Edwardian era. Her beauty, charm and discretion impressed London society and brought her to the attention of the future King Edward VII in 1898, when he was still Prince of Wales, whose mistress she remained until his death, lightening the dark moods of his later years, and holding considerable influence. Through her younger daughter, Sonia Cubitt , Alice Keppel is the great-grandmother of Queen Camilla, the former mistress and second wife of King Edward VII's great-great-grandson King Charles III. May married Prince George, Duke of York, on 6 July 1893 at the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace, in London.[16] The new Duke and Duchess of York lived in York Cottage on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, and in apartments in St. James's Palace. York Cottage was a modest house for royalty, but it was a favourite of George, who liked a relatively simple life.[17] They had six children: Edward, Albert, Mary, Henry, George, and John. The tension hiked upward in the latter half of the book. I was so saddened by some of these latter events that I had to keep telling myself, “Montgomery writes happy endings. They may be bittersweet, but they’re ultimately happy.” One of the events so upset me I choked up. When it combined with another event—this one happy—I actually did cry. It seemed like Montgomery was writing that ending just for me. The bad event is one of the things I fear most in actuality, and the good event is one of the things I long for the most. It’s no wonder I was so emotional about it. Hilary Gordon deserves more of a high profile in readers' list of wonderful romantic heroes than he often gets. The way he stays true to Pat while she fobs him off for year after year is astounding. And this extract from the letter he sent her works its magic on me. 'Don't feel badly because I love you and you can't love me. If the choice had been mine I would have still have chosen to love you. There are people who try to forget a hopeless love. I'm not one of them, Pat... My love for you has enriched my whole existence and given me the gift of clear vision for the things that matter. It has been a lamp held before my feet whereby I have avoided many pitfalls of baser passions and unworthy dreams.'Originally published in 1935, this sequel to Pat of Silver Bush just happens to be the last of L.M. Montgomery's novels that I had not yet read, making the experience of completing it rather bittersweet. Continuing the story of Pat Gardiner, whose love for her home at Silver Bush, and for her circle of friends and family, is as strong as ever, it is spread out over eleven years, with an multi-part chapter devoted to each. In French, de rigueur means "out of strictness" or "according to strict etiquette"; one definition of our word rigor, to which rigueur is related, is "the quality of being strict, unyielding, or inflexible." In English, we tend to use de rigueur to describe a fashion or custom that is so commonplace within a context that it seems a prescribed, mandatory part of it.

I love this one more each time I read it. It is as of now one of my very favorite LMM books. Hilary, despite not having too many lines or scenes, is my favorite LMM hero. Interestingly, I feel that David Kirk has less personality this time, while I notice mother more. Yes, she is an archetype of a gentle, gracious mother, but somehow she has a strong presence on this reread. That is a large part of why I reread--aspects of a book stand out and affect me differently each time I read it, so in a way it is new while still feeling like an old friend. Like its predecessor, Mistress Pat takes a little getting into, mostly because Hilary Gordon is away. The reader must unfortunately spend quite a bit of time missing his presence in the story, and the very structure of the book makes it obvious that Pat will continue her blindness for an absurdly long time. And just be remimbering, Patsy, what the Good Book says... about happiness being inside av ye and not outside. Thim mayn't just be the words but it's what I'm belaving it manes." Pablo Picasso continued to create art and maintain an ambitious schedule in his later years, superstitiously believing that work would keep him alive. He died on April 8, 1973, at the age of 91, in Mougins, France. His legacy, however, has long endured. On 22 January 1901, Queen Victoria died, and May's father-in-law, Albert Edward, ascended the throne as King Edward VII. For most of the rest of that year, George and May were styled TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York. For eight months they toured the British Empire, visiting Gibraltar, Malta, Egypt, Ceylon, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Mauritius, South Africa and Canada. No royal had undertaken such an ambitious tour before. She broke down in tears at the thought of leaving her children, who were to be left in the care of their grandparents, for such a lengthy period of time.[23]

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SIT is the acronym for “safe in taxis” and NSIT is the acronym for “not safe in taxis”. These acronyms were used by debutantes and their mothers to refer to young men who could and couldn’t be trusted to escort a debutante home in a taxi without getting handsy. Some aristocratic mothers with daughters of a marriageable age being introduced into society kept a list of these young men and the debutantes themselves would avoid them. Country Life is a British weekly perfect-bound glossy magazine that is a quintessential English magazine founded in 1897, providing readers with a weekly dose of architecture, gardens and interiors. It was based in London at 110 Southwark Street until March 2016, when it became based in Farnborough, Hampshire. The frontispiece of each issue usually features a portrait photograph of a young woman of society, or, on occasion, a man of society.

The story dives deeper into misery than even the depressing Emily's Quest, but with this difference: Pat is innocently mistaken where Emily is proud and prone to making very bad assumptions. Pat retains the reader's sympathy better than Emily does. Because of that, her consolations are stronger, the sorrows contain less of bitterness and more of beauty, and the climactic events happen naturally rather than involving baffling character choices and/or supernatural intervention. Of his penchant for style diversity, Picasso insisted that his varied work was not indicative of radical shifts throughout his career, but, rather, of his dedication to objectively evaluating for each piece the form and technique best suited to achieve his desired effect. " Whenever I wanted to say something, I said it the way I believed I should," he explained. " Different themes inevitably require different methods of expression. This does not imply either evolution or progress; it is a matter of following the idea one wants to express and the way in which one wants to express it."

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In contemplation of Picasso and his Blue Period, Symbolist writer and critic Charles Morice once asked, "Is this frighteningly precocious child not fated to bestow the consecration of a masterpiece on the negative sense of living, the illness from which he more than anyone else seems to be suffering?" All that to say–the ending killed me. I was a MESS! I won’t get into why–because that would ruin it–but, I feel like Montgomery drug us along through a quite uneventful 4/5 of the novel and then decided to put us through the wringer at the end. I feel just like Rae when she says, " my ambition seems to have petered out... We're like that at Silver Bush, it seems, Pat. We're just domestic girls after all and want a home to potter over, with a nice husband and a few nice babies." I wish my dad would understand that! ALSO, this felt like the grab-bag of Anne plot points. The heroine gets mistakenly informed of her bff-slash-would-be-lover's engagement to a rival and feels pangs! A lovely girl with twin beaus falls in love with an "ugly" suitor who comes out of nowhere! A last moment catastrophe gives the bffs-slash-would-be-lovers a chance to reconcile! The older swain with the friendly sister who the heroine almost marries because her eyes have not been opened bows out! I COULD GO ON. Since life's messages can dawn on us in simple insights from the blue, that's how a lot of the book is structured, so I'll finish with a few very brief observations.

Solo for submissive // Solo for Mistress/Master // Spankings // Fem/Maledom // Sexy time // Aftercare // Clean I just-----this has little to nothing to do with the actual book but my gosh, do you ever just get livid on behalf of generations of women and the discourse surrounding their bodies??? My Gosh. How did humankind even survive the Victorian era, it's honestly a mystery to me. Horse and Hound is the oldest equestrian weekly magazine of the United Kingdom. Its first edition was published in 1884. The magazine contains horse industry news, reports from equestrian events, veterinary advice about caring for horses, and horses for sale.

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In spite of her one stupidity, Pat spends a fair portion of this book reasonably happy. Her closeness to Judy has matured into something truly beautiful, she has Rae to watch over and protect, her joys and sorrows are mostly deeper than in the previous book, and she throws herself into care of the home she loves. Silver Bush, with its old graveyard and generations of history, its trees and gardens and innumerable little beauties, as well as the nearby little spot that Pat and Hilary named "Happiness"—Silver Bush is a true home among houses, worthy of the devotion bestowed upon it. The long list of Pat's rejected suitors does get a bit tiresome and unrealistic. I'm sure the men wouldn't have continued to attend her if she was so aloof. But then I also think that how the story progresses and climaxes undermines Montgomery's "larger lesson" (if there was even meant to be one). Pat doesn't learn to love the world outside of Silver Bush in spite of Silver Bush; she learns to love the world outside of Silver Bush because Silver Bush is taken from her. First, via May's intrusion into her world, and second, via the fire. It's all a reaction to things that happen to her. Pat never chooses to leave Silver Bush: she considers it as an escape route from a home she no longer owns 100%. Even her "happy ending" with Hilary felt more like the decision of a desperate woman with no other real options open to her. Oh I can read all I want to in Debrett’s*, every bit as easily as Mamma can: names, dates of birth, clubs, lineage, pedigree. That isn’t meeting someone.”