AUL: An Unconventional Lady

Characters

Stephen Ashmore, Marquess of Rutherford (b. 1837).........................male protagonist

Annabella Wordsworth (b. 1845)..............................................female protagonist

Rebecca MacVaughan, (b. 1845)............................................Anabella’s best friend

Robert Middleton, Duke of Wellingshire (b. 1835).................Rebecca’s fiancé / husband

Estates

Billmore House (1850s-1860s)

Wordsworth Manor (1850s-1860s)

Wellingshire Estate (1863)

Wellingshire Townhouse (1866)

Rutherford Manor

Rutherford Estate

Abstract

Annabella Wordsworth is an irregular wallflower with a candidness which shocks and delights those who make an effort to know her. However she is a financial genius working under the alias of Mr. Smith whose columns in The Times are eagerly awaited by one and all. But after a year plagued with sickness & under the guidance of her best friend the vivacious “Diamond of the ton” the soon-to-be Duchess of Wellingshire, Anna turns out to be finally acknowledged as an Original.  

Stephen Ashmore, the Marquess of Rutherford is as handsome as sin and he knows it too. He is tired of young marriageable females playing coy with him to gain his attention. So he finds it refreshing when Anna talks to him with an open frankness. But before he can get to know her better she disappears only to resurface the next year as a huge success in the ton. Love blossoms between the two, but there are some secrets raring to open still.

Will Anna be able to tell all her secrets to Stephen? Will Stephen be accommodating enough in a world of grudges against the weaker sex? Will love conquer all, including – an unconventional lady?

Storyline

Lady Annabella Wordsworth, the daughter of the Earl of Montague is the best friend of the vivacious Rebecca MacVaughan, the daughter of a Scotish Laird. Anna is more quiet and inclined towards her books and prefers to stay in the shadow of her vivacious friend Becca. She turns out to be an irregular wallflower however, with a candidness which shocks at times and delights at times those who make an effort to become familiar with Anna. She may not be a beauty as per the standards of the ton and have no suitors to call upon her daily. However she is happy in her books and is one of the brightest minds of the country acknowledged grudgingly by few who know her well. Anna also works incognito as Mr. Thomas Smith, a financial genius and trade analyst writing columns for The Times. Few know of her secret as no one would take a female seriously in the world of trade. 

Stephen Ashmore, the Marquess of Rutherford is a handsome devil with females falling over him – young and old. He however is a confirmed rake with no intentions of settling down soon especially with any of the simpering females who throw coy glances at him. Then he meets Anna who is refreshingly honest about her feelings for him. It intrigues him and slowly enchants him.

Anna is sure there can be nothing romantic between the handsome as sin Marquess and herself. She is an unconventional lady with no looks to match his and a job which can shock all including the laid back Marquess. She however is attracted to him and soon develops a budding friendship with him. Then a sickness takes her back to the countryside to recover. After losing some weight due to her ill health and being forced upon by Becca to indulge in the newest fashions from Paris, under Becca’s tutelage Anna turns out to be an Original in the ton.  She continues her stint as Mr. Thomas Smith, the trade genius with help from Becca’s fiancé, Robert Middleton.

Stephen falls further for her and is on verge of proposing marriage to her. But because of some misunderstanding he thinks that Anna is having an affair with Robert. He starts avoiding her. Anna thinks that Stephen disapproves of her job and leaves the city. Stephen cannot live without her and is ready to live with her having had an affair in the past. He goes with a ring to her manor. They spend a beautiful night together where he realizes she is as untouched as the day she was born. Anna realizes that he thinks she has already slept with someone else. She cries herself to sleep & escapes in the middle of the night.

Nobody tells Stephen where she is. Becca is angry with him, Robert won’t talk to him. Finally they relent, and tell that she is at her ship taking a tour of the continent. He follows & gets on the ship through Germany. But she already has another suitor there. She stays aloof from him. However, she is enceinte and tells Stephen. He gives her the ring he had prepared for her. She finds the jeweller, realizes that Stephen had the ring before he came to the manor. All well.