I dozed off a little once it was morning, and woke up to stewardesses opening window covers and serving breakfast.
The captain’s voice came on, in a prim, polite British accent.
“Good morning, passengers, we hope you had a restful night. We’ve just passed over the Isle of Mann, and will be beginning our descent into London shortly.”
Isle of Mann…London…Whoa. I peered groggily out the window. The sun was just getting high enough to lose its morning softness, and I squinted against its growing glare, trying to see down through the patchy clouds.

When I first came to my office in London, I noticed him. He sat in the market place day after day, same place as always, same position, on his knees in an attitude of humility. A small wooden bowl was before him, and occasionally, a passerby would drop in a coin or two with a small clink. I never had time for him; he was just another beggar on the streets of London. And one couldn’t give money to all beggars.

PartⅠ

Dear Nathaniel,
The rain falls in large plump drops over here, which splatter everywhere and on everything. It is a miracle, for the garden sorely needed a spot of rain. It has been shockingly dry here this summer, and I have been so sick of mother’s dull company.
Poor thing, doesn't know she’s a complete and utter bore.
Must not keep you.
Miss you and wish to see you in a fortnight.
Sincerely yours,
Charlotte.

We're back on track with the main story arc, though I did enjoy writing Gianna's hidden tale. I promise that when I go back through the story in the first revision that there will be more of Gianna. For now, though, I need to get the MC story down... any side story threads are going to have to wait until 2013.

To make sense, place yourself where this one left off:
www.apricotpie.com/marlene-e-schuler/taverner-chronicles-one-summers-ni…

~~~~~

Previous Chapter

EXT. ENCAMPMENT - HILL - DAY

The team crouches behind some rocks.
Tuor peeks over one of the boulders.
He exchanges a glance with Aerandir.
They all look at each other, and move towards the camp.

The team makes their way into a main tent.
Tuor, Lessien and Valandil stop by the tent opening and watch while Aerandir opens a small, wooden chest.
He pulls a stuffed animal and a carved statuette out of the chest.
The team looks hopefully at Aerandir.

BRIAN
Think this one’ll work?

TANNER
I dunno... I hope so.

A few minutes later, Gianna was standing in the gardens. Only, there wasn't any snow (as in the present), and there were actually people in them. Of course it was cold, but it seemed everyone was anxious for a little exercise after the winter snows had subsided. She spotted Grandmother with the gardeners, no doubt discussing how the gardens were to be opened for the spring and how they should be managed.

If there was one person that Gianna could not stand, it had to have been Alex Rawlings. But if she had to pick someone else, the honor would have fallen upon Lord Anthony Lang. At first, she thought that he would have been an interesting person. She didn't know many people of the nobility, and this fellow had rank and money. He also had a singularly slicked-down hair style that was hard to ignore.

And then she ignored him. After that night, she tried to keep away from his very presence; if she saw him coming, she ducked in one of her many hiding places throughout the house and lawns. Though she was successful most of the time, there were times when she couldn't help avoiding him. Such times were meals.

I realized that Gianna has been almost ENTIRELY left out of the story for months now- and this is a serious problem, because she's really important in this tale. To ameliorate the situation, I'm writing just what the title says- 'What Gianna Did'. As what I'm posting is merely a very raw first draft, all the plot holes and such that you've no doubt noticed so far are going to be smoothed over and fixed.

But for now, this is my solution for the Lack-of-Gianna problem. Put yourself just before the first ball (in Midwinter) so that this part makes sense.

~~~