A Marriage of Attachment
Book Two of
the Mansfield Trilogy
By Lona Manning
© 2018 Lona Manning
ISBN: 9781983255021
Book cover design by Dissect Designs
www.dissectdesigns.com
Also by Lona Manning
THE MANSFIELD TRILOGY
A Contrary Wind
A Marriage of Attachment
A Different Kind of Woman
Quill Ink Collective Short Story Anthologies
Available in e-book, paperback and audio
Edited by Christina Boyd
“The Address of a Frenchwoman”
A short story about Tom Bertram of Mansfield Park, in
Dangerous to Know: Jane Austen’s Rakes & Gentlemen Rogues
“The Art of Pleasing”
A short story about Mrs. Clay of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, in
Rational Creatures
“By a Lady”
A short story about Anne de Bourgh in
Yuletide: Austen-inspired short stories
E-book and paperback proceeds to Chawton House
and the Centre for Women’s Early Writing
Praise for A Contrary Wind
Jane Austen Centre, Bath: …Excellent... it’s a novel which certainly deserves a place on the bookshelves of a Jane Austen fan.
Austenesque Reviews: Brava to Lona Manning for her thoughtful twists and skilful execution in this variation. This story was in no way predictable and it kept me guessing almost until the end!
Historical Novel Society: A Contrary Wind is well-written, keeping close to the style of Austen.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it.
JustJane1813 blog: Lona Manning has a very engaging writing style, while her writing also captures the essence of Austen’s style and the time period in which she wrote her stories. She artfully wove text from canon into her own prose… Her creative storylines were bold enough to make this story a real page-turner.
First Impressions podcast: Her writing is not Austen, of course, but it is so good that she manages to blend it seamlessly with actual passages from Mansfield Park. Her grasp of the vernacular of the Regency era is incredibly well-researched and accurate.
Lost Opinions.com: This is an excellent read. Rich storylines, authentic characters (old and new), and writing I found hard to discern from the original (truly that good).
BlueInk Reviews starred review: A Contrary Wind is an impressive feat… Many try to emulate Austen; not all succeed. Here, Manning triumphs. She has retained Austen’s spirit, while providing a stronger Fanny who will surely win today’s readers.
PRAISE FOR A MARRIAGE OF ATTACHMENT
Austenesque Reviews: Lona Manning is quite skilled in capturing the voice and matching the tone and style of Jane Austen’s characters…Well-crafted, meticulously composed, and richly researched – A Marriage of Attachment is another remarkable and praiseworthy story by this skilled author!
Praise for “The Address of a Frenchwoman” and Dangerous To Know
Diary of an Eccentric: What surprised me is the ability of these authors to make me feel some compassion for the characters I love to hate, like the heartache experienced by George Wickham and Tom Bertram in their stories, which emphasized the complexity of Austen’s characters.
JustJane1813: As a fan of Jane Austen Fan Fiction, I can’t imagine a lover of Austenesque fiction not wanting to devour each and every one of these stories. Simply stated, these stories are, from start to finish, insightful, brilliantly plotted, and layered with that terrific combination of emotive tension and dry humour that Austenesque readers find so entertaining.
PRAISE FOR “THE ART OF PLEASING” AND RATIONAL CREATURES
GoodReads review: …as a lover of books about cons and conmen, I could not help but enjoy this fun story full of twists and fantastically deceitful characters..
Devoney Looser, author, The Making of Jane Austen: The stories, which reimagine and expand on Austen's strong women characters, are moving and provocative, from start to finish.
“…whose views of happiness were all fixed on a marriage of attachment…”
Jane Austen, Mansfield Park
Author’s note: A Contrary Wind concluded in the fall of 1809. A Marriage of Attachment commences in April 1811. A few Jane Austen phrases and references, from Mansfield Park and other writings, are included in this book. Devoted Janeites should have fun spotting them.
The novel concludes at about 82% in this ebook, followed by bonus material.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Acknowledgements
Background Information
Dramatis Personae
Afterword: The Merits of Mansfield Park
A Synopsis of Mansfield Park
Discussion Questions for Mansfield Park
Discussion Questions for A Contrary Wind: a Sequel to Mansfield Park
Discussion Questions for A Marriage of Attachment: a Sequel to A Contrary Wind
Bonus Excerpt: A Girl Called Foote
Chapter One
April 1811
Thornton Lacey, Northamptonshire
“I am not angry.”
“Forgive me if I dispute that assertion, my dear. After twenty-seven years of marriage, I recognize this frosty silence.”
“This is merely resignation, sir. The resignation of a much-tried woman whose husband believes what he is told by any random stranger while refusing to give credence to the same information offered by his wife.”
“I simply enquired of the man mending the hedge if this was the road to Thornton Lacey.”
“And I told you, not a moment ago, ‘this is the road to Thornton Lacey,’ and then you talked to the man mending the hedge, and asked him if this was the road to Thornton Lacey, then you graciously informed me, ‘this is the road to Thornton Lacey’ —I, who went to great pains to obtain—”
“And there, I think, is the parsonage.”
“A parsonage-house? Surely not. Not for a village of such limited extent as this. It must be the country home of some independent gentleman. Edmund Bertram would have to wring a guinea from every parishioner for marrying and burying to maintain so handsome an establishment.”
