The Glittering Fields

A thrilling Australian saga of bravery and determination. A sweeping Australian saga about love and understanding. Cry of the Rain Bird: A mesmerising Australian saga of love, intrigue and betrayal.

Gruenrekorder » The glittering thing on the mountain | Rodolphe ALEXIS

Where the Willows Weep: An enthralling romantic saga of conflict and tragedy in Queensland. The Feather and the Stone: A stunning Australian saga of courage, endurance and acceptance. River of the Sun: An unforgettable Australian saga of love, betrayal and belonging. A compulsive Australian saga of friends and foes. A man, his back to me, was bent over, trying awkwardly to comfort her by patting her shoulder. Immediately, my heart hardened as I wondered what kind of monster had brought this about. That startled both Ada and her guest. She lifted her face from her hands, still sniffling, and managed to rise for a small curtsey.

The man also straightened, turning to look at me. Well, maybe he was a scoundrel, but who was I to say? And the rest of him. Deep auburn hair swept back in a short, fashionable tail revealed a face with clean lines and high cheekbones. His eyes were an intense blue-gray, contrasting with skin tanned from being outdoors. I gestured the page away and sat down, a signal for the other two as well.

A chagrined expression crossed that handsome face. I could see new sobs bubbling up within her. He turned on a smile for her, one so confident and so practiced that I was certain he must use it regularly to get his way. I looked him over. He turned that gallant smile on me, no doubt hoping it would win me over as it did others.

It kind of did. He stood and bowed again.

The more I studied him, the more intrigued I was. He wore a brown coat of light wool that flared slightly at the knee, longer than current trends. A brown brocade vest under the coat caught the light. I raised an eyebrow at that. Ada was by far my most uninteresting maidservant. He launched into what had to be a well-rehearsed speech. My father and my uncle founded it ten years ago after learning just how few women there are in Adoria.

I nearly leaned forward and then remembered myself. Still, it was hard not to be taken in. The country discovered across the Sunset Sea. The very sound of it inspired adventure and excitement. It was a new world, a world far removed from the one in which I was required to marry my itching cousin—but also a world without galleries and theaters and luxuriously dressed nobility.

Were his eyelashes longer than mine? That certainly seemed unfair. I nearly asked what he found appealing and then again reminded myself I was a lady of exalted rank. Plenty set sail for Adoria with nothing more than the clothes on their backs and now have found success as businessmen and plantation owners. His Majesty wants it too. I was getting sucked into his pitch.

• The Life and Times of Robert Louis Stevenson.
• 39 Escritores y medio (Las Tres Edades) (Spanish Edition).
• The Glittering Fields?
• MISINFORMATION IN SLAVE TRADE HISTORY.
• The Glittering Fields by Patricia Shaw - FictionDB.
• Stains on My Name, War in My Veins: Guyana and the Politics of Cultural Struggle.

It was a new experience, having someone else turn the powers of persuasion on me. He looked surprised by the question. Far more so than me.

More by Patricia Shaw

Please—continue with your new nobility. A calculation, or maybe a reassessment. We take lovely girls like Ada here, girls of common birth, girls with no family—or maybe too much family—and we train them up to greatness. I felt a pang in my heart. Little did he know that just then, faced with a lifetime shackled to a sullen cousin and an overbearing grandmother-in-law, I would have given up my regal world and sailed to the colonies in an instant, savage conditions or no.

Not that I could have ever made it to the docks without dozens of people trying to usher me back to my proper sphere of society. Ada sniffled, reminding me she was still here. Now, for the first time ever, I felt jealous of her. She had a world—a new world—of potential and adventure opening up right before her. It was difficult keeping my tone light, lest my envy show. How to run a household and manage servants. How to throw social engagements.

What to talk about at social engagements. If she chooses to go. Her head jerked up. Ada looked immensely more cheerful, and I realized she probably thought said arrangement would involve a job similar to what she had now. The colonial men go crazy when we bring new girls. If more than one man makes an offer for you, then you can choose the one you want. Once again, I found myself brimming with jealousy, but Ada still looked uncertain. Many of the Icori had been driven away, but we still heard stories of other tragedies: But what were those things compared to the riches and greatness that Adoria offered?

I wanted to shake some sense into her, to tell her she should take this opportunity and never look back. Surely there could be no greater adventure than this. I felt myself softening. He was afraid Ada was going to opt out. Did the Glittering Court have quotas to meet? Was he on the hook to come back with someone?

I kind of feel like some trinket being bought and sold. Over her shoulder I scanned the contract, which was mostly a more formal explanation of what Cedric had told us. When she signed, I did a double take.

More books by Patricia Shaw

It took me years to learn to spell it. I wondered if he was starting to question this choice and if Ada could really be made. Contract in hand, he stood up and bowed to me. You can take the day to pack your things, and our carriage will come to retrieve you this evening and take you to your manor. My father and I will join you along the way. My uncle maintains four for the Glittering Court, with ten girls each. One is in Medfordshire.

Two are in Donley, an- other in Fairhope. They were true country houses then, I noted, placing each location on a mental map. They were each at least half a day from where we were in Osfro. He delivered a few more last-minute instructions before making motions to leave. Only a student would set his own fashion standards. He drew up short as we rounded a corner and heard more sniffling. Old Doris the cook was trudging toward the kitchen, trying not to cry as she walked. I shot him a wry look. It was another argument Grandmama had won.

I was losing my edge. Doris turned in surprise. I can understand if some- one else has already hired you on. She blinked, her one good eye focusing on him. Four silvers a month and room and board.

The Glittering Court

I can handle swaggering boys. Thank you—thank you so much. We reached the garden and were nearing the exit when he halted again. An expression of disbelief crossed his face, and I turned toward what had caught his eye. I saw it in the National Gallery. The smile on his face was genuine, and I found I liked it better than the show ones. But his prolonged absence enrages Thora further and, despite Alice's warnings, she travels to Perth to find her husband. Her dramatic reunion with Clem is to have shocking consequences from which those involved might never recover Patricia Shaw's Storm Bay is a gripping saga of shocking revelations and conspiracy behind the transportation of British convicts to Tasmania.

Once the pride of the British East India fleet, the Veritas has fallen on hard times. She is now a transport ship, her cargo prisoners of the Crown, her destination the penal settlement of Van Diemen's Land, now known as Tasmania, the southernmost State of Australia. Pastor Bob Cookson tries to offer solace to the convicts on board, but is shocked to discover that most of them have committed only trivial offences.

He suspects a conspiracy to empty British prisons, but finds a more sinister motive at work Patricia Shaw's The Five Winds is a tumultuous story of revenge and betrayal set against the beautiful background of the Australian Gold Coast. As the luxurious ocean liner China Belle enters Australian waters, its passengers have little idea of the tragedy that awaits them, particularly not Mal Willoughby, who is returning to his native land to start a new life with his Chinese wife Jun Lien.

The crew, led by First Officer Jake Tussup, mutinies off the coast of Australia, taking the passengers hostage. By the time the horrific ordeal is over and the crew have escaped to the goldfields of the Palmer River, Mal's beautiful wife is dead and the lives of all the survivors have been altered forever.