Bloody Lessons (35 page)

Authors: M. Louisa Locke

“Well you should read the card now. I worked awfully hard on it.” She tried to make light of her request, but her heart began to thump painfully.

Nate complimented her on the hearts on the front of the card with an admirably straight face. Then he turned the card over and began to read the poem out loud in a self-conscious voice, until he got to the last line she had written, just this afternoon.

He looked at her, then back down, and finally he said the line out-loud, haltingly. “Dear Nate, if you ask me again, I will say yes.”

So he did, and she did.

The End

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my appreciation to all the family and friends who gave their support during the writing of this book. As always, my beta readers have made this a better book than I could have achieved on my own, so thanks to my writer’s group, Ann Elwood, Abigail Padgett, and Janice Steinberg; my Historical Fiction Authors Cooperative friends, V. R. Christensen, Iva Polansky, and Elisabeth Storrs; my fans, Pat McClintick, and Kilian Metcalf, and my friends Jim and Victoria Brown, Sally Hawkins, and Kathy Austin. I want to give special thanks to Misty Walker who found the images that went into the cover, and to Michelle Huffaker who continues to produce such wonderful covers, and to my editor, Jessica Meigs who has the eye for detail I lack.

Finally, this book, as always, wouldn’t have been possible without the support of my loving husband Jim, my daughter Ashley and her family, and my sister Alice Clark.

About the Author

M. Louisa Locke, a retired professor of U.S. and Women’s History, has embarked on a second career as the author of novels and short stories set in Victorian San Francisco that are based on Dr. Locke's doctoral research on late 19th century working women.
Maids of Misfortune
features Annie Fuller, a reluctant clairvoyant who goes undercover to solve a crime, and the sequel,
Uneasy Spirits
,
explores 19th century spiritualism. Her short stories,
Dandy Detects
and
The Misses Moffet Mend a Marriage
,
offer glimpses into the lives of minor characters from the novels.

Locke is an active member of the
Historical Fiction Authors Cooperative
, and you can find more about her journey as an indie author and gain a deeper glimpse into the w
orld of Victorian San Francisco if you check out her website at
http://mlouisalocke.com/
If you enjoyed
Bloody Lessons
, please let the author know at [email protected]
.
Since positive word of mouth is crucial for any author to succeed, please consider writing a review on
Amazon.com
.