Charlotte Ashcroft and George Fitzpatrick were two young strangers in New York City until Charlotte took matters into her own hands. Confronted by a busybody who would surely inform her mother she was where she shouldn’t be, and alone, she forced the man in the jaunty blue hat who had caught her eye to act as her escort. By going along with the ruse, George Fitzpatrick sealed his fate with Charlotte.
Charlotte Ashcroft knows her family would never approve of her attending a women's rights speech in New York City alone. So when a busybody from back home confronts Charlotte, she grabs the man in a jaunty blue hat nearby and introduces him as her escort.
George Fitzpatrick had boarded the new omnibus intent on nothing more than a ride from one point to another. Until that gorgeous young blonde suddenly claimed he was her chaperone. What's an up-and-coming young banker to do but help a lady out?
Charlotte knows exactly what she wants, but can she convince a man who is her opposite that he can't live without her?
Excerpt
New York City, April 1829
Charlotte Ashcroft led her best friend, Emma, into her bedroom and closed the door. The lock slid into place with a satisfying click. They fell onto the bed together in a pile of giggles.
Charlotte put her hand to her stomach. “I thought dinner tonight would never wind up. All that talk from Mother about your brother ‘coming home from college in a month and what a fine catch he’d be.’”
“Well, he would be a fine catch for someone, just not for you, Charlotte. As much as I’d love for us to be sisters, let’s face facts—Theo’s a bore. All he wants to do is chase after women and drink with his Harvard chums.”
“That much is true. The couple of times I’ve met Theo, he hasn’t made my heart speed up. Besides, as much as I’d love loads of children, I’m not sure marriage is for me. Where’s the equality in that? A woman becomes a man’s property once she says ‘I do.’ I don’t ever want to become a man’s chattel. It would take a very special man to interest me, and I’m afraid Theo isn’t it. But there is no other man on the horizon, Emma, for either of us. We must do something to rectify our sorry state of affairs.”
“And how are we to do that, pray tell?”
“We need to do something exciting.” Charlotte tapped her teeth with her fingers as she pondered.
“You’re planning something, and I can bet it’s not going to be good. You always come up with outrageous ideas that get me in trouble. Last time, I wasn’t allowed out of the house for a month.”
Charlotte’s gaze focused, and she gave Emma a shrug of her shoulder as she picked up an after dinner mint and popped it into her mouth. “On the contrary. It will be immensely good fun. You can stay home if you want.” She wanted to draw out Emma’s reaction, so she closed her eyes and concentrated on the taste of the strong mint.
“Stay home from what? What are you planning?”
Charlotte moved across the room to her desk and took a newspaper clipping from a cubbyhole. “Here it is.”
She handed the story to Emma.
“Frances Wright is speaking on women’s rights in two days’ time, right here in New York City. We must go and see Fanny. I adore her.”
Emma cast a glance at her friend, her brow furrowed.
Charlotte smiled. “None of your skepticism, Emma, please.”
“Well, if ever there was cause for skepticism, this is it. You’re now on a first name
basis with one of the foremost speakers for women’s rights? Since when? Besides, our mothers won’t allow it.”
“So, we won’t tell them.”
“And how are we going to manage to keep it a secret?”
Charlotte flopped back onto her bed, her bell-shaped, jonquil satin skirt billowing out
around her. She smoothed out all the flounces before she replied. “We’ll tell our mothers 4
we’re going to the park after church is over, and we’ll take Katie with us After all, the speech takes place at one o’clock in the afternoon, so our timing will be perfect.” They both knew it was perfectly acceptable for single ladies to be on the streets during the day if they were properly chaperoned, as they would be if Katie, Emma’s lady’s maid, could be persuaded to join them. “And Katie’s as much an advocate of women’s rights as we are. It’ll be fun.”
Emma fanned the newspaper clipping before her as if it were a hot August day and she were melting like chocolate in the sun. “It is a nice idea, if somewhat flawed. If we’re going to see ‘Fanny,’ we’re going to need some sort of conveyance. It’s one thing for us to walk from your house to mine or take a leisurely stroll through the park, but Miss Wright’s event is going to be all the way downtown. How do we get there without revealing to our families what we’re doing?”
“That’s the only dilemma facing us. And I, of course, have the answer. I think we should try New York’s new omnibus service. I’ve been dying to ride on it. It’s dashing, and exciting.” Emma’s mouth dropped open at Charlotte’s statement. “Ooh, Charlotte, we can’t ride the omnibus without a male escort. All manner of New Yorkers ride on that thing. Even with Katie, it’s just not done.”
“Well, it’s high time it is done! For heaven’s sake, we are going to a rally for women’s rights, Emma. Are we going to slink in with our tails between our legs, or are we going to hold our heads high and walk in as if we own the place?”
“Well ...”
“Then we’re on. Let’s plan what we’ll wear.”
Professional Reviews
Meet The Parents!
An Unconventional Courtship is a delightful gift to those readers who have been fortunate enough to have discovered Becky Lower's Cotillion Ball series. Charlotte and George have a romantic story of their own to share. It was such fun to learn about the origins of the Fitzpatrick clan and to see the traits that will be passed down to their children. As a proponent of women's equality, Charlotte Ashcroft isn't convinced that she wants to get married. That is, of course, until she first spots George Fitzpatrick riding on the upper level of an omnibus. George had his life planned out and it included marriage to the young woman selected by his father. Charlotte is about to turn his plans upside down. If you haven't yet read a Cotillion Ball story, this is a lovely place to begin. And you will be glad to know that the first three books of the series have just been released in a package called The Cotillion Ball Saga.
Another Winner From Ms. Lower
Feisty Charlotte Ashcroft is less than excited about marriage until she meets George Fitzpatrick and sparks fly. Committed to women’s suffrage in 1829, Charlotte knows the man she marries must be like-minded. On her way to a speech by suffragist Fanny Wright, Charlotte corrals George, whom she has not even met yet, into acting as her escort in order to avoid scandal. He goes along with the charade and both experience an attraction neither has ever known before. Through schemes and machinations, Charlotte brings George into her circle.
An Unconventional Courtship is the delightful account of the love story of the parents of the Fitzpatrick children in Ms. Lower’s Cotillion Ball series. Filled with the delicious restraints of the 19th century, this story is the perfect backdrop for Charlotte Ashcroft’s bold and adventurous personality and her schemes for bringing George Fitzpatrick to the realization that he wants to marry her. But George needs no help arriving at that conclusion, as he was smitten with Charlotte the day she corralled him into acting as her escort.
Once again Ms. Lower delivers a delightful romance woven into the events of the 1800s for a richness of storytelling that brings readers back to her books. Meeting young Charlotte foreshadows the adventures of the Fitzpatrick girls in the Cotillion Ball series.
Another Fitzpatrick Love Story
I'm sorry I ever started this series. By that I mean, if I hadn't started it, I would have the pleasure of discovering the Fitzpatrick family still in front of me. And pleasure it is. This latest addition to the series tells the story of how Charlotte and George, the parents of the children whose stories have been told in the Cotillion Ball books, meet and fall in love. In keeping with the rest of the series, the atmosphere of the time is carefully created. Charlotte is entranced by George from the first time she sees him but, before she gives her heart away, she must make sure of two things: he has to support equal rights for women and he must want a large family. Luckily he's good on both points. Because if he hadn't been, I would never have had so many happy days and nights reading about their children!
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