Forever and Forever (Historical Proper Romance)

© 2016 Josi S. Kilpack

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher, Shadow Mountain®, at [email protected] mountain.com. The views expressed herein are the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the position of Shadow Mountain.

Visit us at ShadowMountain.com

This is a work of fiction. Characters and events in this book are products of the author’s imagination or are represented fictitiously.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kilpack, Josi S., author.

Forever and forever : the courtship of Henry Longfellow and Fanny Appleton / Josi S. Kilpack.

pages cm

Summary: “Based on the true love story of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Boston socialite Fanny Appleton, this novel chronicles their seven-year courtship through Europe and Boston” —Provided by publisher.

ISBN 978-1-62972-142-2 (paperbound)

1. Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 1807–1882—Fiction. 2. Courtship—United States—History—19th century—Fiction. 3. Longfellow, Fanny Appleton, 1817–1861—Fiction. 4. Boston (Mass.), setting. I. Title.

PS3561.I412F667 2016

813'.54—dc232015030576

Printed in the United States of America

Edwards Brothers Malloy, Ann Arbor, MI

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Other Proper Romance Novels

Lord Fenton’s Folly
by Josi S. Kilpack

A Heart Revealed
by Josi S. Kilpack

My Fair Gentleman
by Nancy Campbell Allen

Edenbrooke
by Julianne Donaldson

Blackmoore
by Julianne Donaldson

Longing for Home
by Sarah M. Eden

Longing for Home, vol. 2: Hope Springs
by Sarah M. Eden

Other Books by Josi S. Kilpack

The Sadie Hoffmiller Culinary Mystery Series:

Lemon Tart, English Trifle, Devil’s Food Cake, Key Lime Pie,
Blackberry Crumble, Pumpkin Roll, Banana Split,
Tres Leches Cupcakes, Baked Alaska, Rocky Road, Fortune Cookie,
Wedding Cake, Sadie’s Little Black Recipe Book

Author’s Note

Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

In 1861, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote “Paul Revere’s Ride,” which has since become many people’s reference point to an event that ushered in the Revolutionary War and resulted in America’s freedom from British rule. Longfellow was the grandson of Revolutionary soldiers from both sides of his family tree and a great patriot in his own right.

He knew that Revere was not the only rider who set off to warn the colonist troops and that Revere himself was captured at Lexington on his way to Concord. Longfellow’s goal in his narrative poem was not to give a perfectly accurate historical account of the event, but rather to keep the story from becoming myth. He also wanted to remind readers of the importance of patriotism, even as the United States faced events that would shortly lead to the Civil War.

In writing the love story between Henry and Fanny Longfellow, I have used the same license as Longfellow. The public details regarding their courtship—as relayed through biographers, letters, and journals—are minimal, and I have attempted to flesh out the facts enough to bring Henry and Fanny to life again.

It is my hope that you will read this novel knowing it is a creation based on impressions made upon me through my study of fact and crafted through possibility. This story is not meant to be a biography or detailed accounting, but rather a sketch of two people who lived, and struggled, and ultimately loved one another enough to find great happiness together.

If, after reading this novel, you feel drawn to see a broader scope of Mr. and Mrs. Longfellow, please consult the bibliography, which lists the nonfiction resources I explored in creating the framework for this story. There are also Chapter Notes at the end of the book that outline specific details of fact and fiction.

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;

—From Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “A Psalm of Life,” 1839

One

Thun, Switzerland

The increasing rain made Frances Gold Appleton—Fanny, to her friends and family—quicken her step. She looked up from beneath the brim of her bonnet long enough to measure the distance left between her feet and the door of the chalet where her family had been staying for the last five days. Fifteen yards. Ten. Six. Four. Two.

She burst through the door and shut it behind her quickly, leaving the rain to wash the already clean Swiss streets and clear the already clear Swiss air. With her back against the heavy wooden door, Fanny took a breath and smiled. Her exertion had left her skin tingling and her heart racing.

Fanny’s older sister, Mary—though everyone called her Molly—stepped out from the parlor. “How was your walk?” she asked. “You were longer than I expected.”

Fanny untied the ribbons of her bonnet, now soaked through, and smiled at her sister. “I watched the most impressive storm roll in,” she said. “And simply could not tear myself away.” The storm had swallowed the Bernese Alps as the clouds descended into the Thun valley and then crawled upon the silvery lake toward the red-roofed village as though it were a cat creeping toward its prey. That Fanny had waited too long to turn toward the chalet, however—not wanting to miss a moment of nature’s show upon the most excellent of canvases—was her responsibility. “I’m sorry if I worried you, Molly.”

Molly nodded her forgiveness and then glanced through the parlor doorway, causing Fanny to realize her lateness was not all that had raised Molly’s anxiety.

“Is William no better, then?” Fanny lowered her voice even though she could see that their cousin William—he was like a brother to them all—was asleep on the lounge. His face was gray, and his increasing frailness was reflected in his thin face and hands.

At first, the demands of traveling seemed to be well with him—just as the family had hoped when they had invited him to join their Grand Tour. Such European trips were once reserved for young men just like William, but now they were accessible for any family wealthy enough to spare the expense. Fanny’s father, Nathan Appleton, had generously included William in the hope that Europe would be kinder to his frail health than Boston had been these last years. William had done well on the sea voyage, and he’d enjoyed France and Italy with almost the same energy as any of the rest of them. But he’d caught an influenza in Florence that left him with a cough that triggered the Appletons’ anxiety. Consumption, the doctor said a few weeks later. The diagnosis had felt like bullets.