Here’s an excerpt:

May, 1815

Adriana Hayden didn’t even have to turn around. The quiet click of the door closing and the sigh of the sofa were all that she needed to hear to know that her dearest friend and companion, Henrietta, had come into the room.

She finished dabbing the black paint onto her canvas before stepping back and deciding that she had probably put too much. Well, she didn’t care. It was perfect and it reflected her mood so precisely Adriana imagined she wouldn’t even need to say a word to Henrietta.

She would paint the whole thing black if it wouldn’t ruin what was turning out to be a rather nice depiction of a stormy sea. The water thundered, crashing with violence onto the rocks at the base of a sheer cliff. Menacing clouds hung overhead within moments of letting loose a torrent of rain.

“Oh dear,” her companion said quietly, over the roar of the sea in Adriana’s mind.

Adriana closed her eyes for a moment to stop them from stinging and then swallowed down the anger that had risen to the top of her throat again. “They wouldn’t even let me see him,” she said, without preamble.

“Who wouldn’t?” Henrietta asked.

Adriana turned around into the quiet of the room. Henrietta was sitting, as always, with her back perfectly straight and her legs crossed at the ankle and tucked ever so slightly under the worn, comfortable sofa. Her brown hair was pulled up so tightly Adriana wondered that it didn’t hurt, but her hazel eyes spoke volumes of sympathy, for which Adriana was grateful. Adriana resisted the urge to run up to her dear friend and throw her arms around her.

Instead, she lifted her chin and replied, “The clerk at Sir William’s establishment.”

“So you didn’t even get to see Sir William? You didn’t show him your work?”

Adriana shook her head and turned back to her painting. Carelessly, she dabbed more black paint on where it wasn’t needed, darkening the sky even further.

“But that’s not right!” Henrietta said, full of indignation for Adriana. “What reason did he give?”

Adriana couldn’t even bear to turn around to face Henrietta again; the hurt was still too painful. She bit her lip to keep herself from either screaming in rage or crying like a thwarted child. She swallowed hard, again. “The clerk told me that he was certain that my watercolors were very pretty, but Sir William Agnew did not deal in a young lady’s dabbling. He only sold the work of true artists.” She paused at Henrietta’s gasp, but then continued. “He suggested that I give my work to some handsome young gentleman in the hope that he will marry me.”

“No, he didn’t!”

“Oh, yes.”

“Why, the nerve! The gall! The temerity of such... such...”

“A man,” Adriana finished for her.

“An imbecile is what I was going to say.”

“Perhaps they are one and the same,” Adriana said, allowing her mouth to quirk up in a little smile.

Henrietta just harrumphed.

Adriana turned around and attempted to put a real smile onto her face. How was it that Henrietta always made her feel better? No matter what had upset her, Henrietta always slipped herself right up under Adriana’s hurt and pried it away.

“It’s all right, Henrietta. I’ll just try someone else. I don’t have to sell my paintings through Sir William. I’m certain there are plenty of other art dealers who will take a look at my work.”

“But Sir William is the best,” her friend argued.

“Yes, but another dealer will be able to sell my work just as well. He may not get the prices Sir William could command, but at least we’ll get the money we need.”

“Oh, Adriana, it’s such a shame to have to sell your beautiful work...”

“But necessary. Absolutely necessary,” she said with all of the conviction and certainty she felt, and that was substantial.

“You wouldn’t have to sell so many or worry so much about price if you just left me...”

“I will not! How could you even suggest that I leave you here to deal with Lord Devaux yourself?” She took the few steps that separated them and knelt down on the floor at Henrietta’s feet. “We will wait until I have enough money for both of us to survive. I will never leave you.”

Henrietta squeezed Adriana’s shoulder gratefully. “But...”

There was a knock at the door. Before Adriana could respond, Lord Devaux himself walked into the room.