The Land of Summer Read online

  Emmaline went into the drawing room and sat down on a gilt chair, as the music played on.

  After a moment Julius came up to her.

  ‘Good evening, Miss Nesbitt. May I say how beautiful you are looking this evening?’

  ‘Yes, you may,’ Emmaline returned, fanning herself and looking round at the rest of the company for appreciation of her performance. ‘And who may you be, sir?’

  ‘I am Mr Julius Aubrey, and I would very much like the pleasure of your company all evening, and every evening, for the rest of our lives.’

  ‘You may have it, Mr Aubrey. You may have it.’

  She reached up to Julius, and not caring one jot about the servants, the musicians, or the arriving guests, she kissed him very prettily, after which she stood back and said thoughtfully, ‘Yes, you see, how silly of me not to have known all along, it is all in the kiss!’

  Postscript

  To say that Mr and Mrs Julius Aubrey lived long and happy lives would be to say the least of it. They prospered as people who love each other and have learned from their past mistakes so often do. What they could not forget, and did not want to forget, was that each had come to know the other with a knowledge and admiration that perhaps only living through much suffering and many vicissitudes can bring. The strange outcome of such contentment was that Emmaline’s poetic inspiration left her, and no amount of encouragement from her husband would bring it back. Emmaline herself harboured no regrets, seeing her verses as a part of her past that she no longer wished to visit, and recognising that however beautiful a description of a waving daffodil might be, it could never really better the flower itself.

  THE END

  About the Author

  Charlotte Bingham comes from a literary family – her father sold a story to H.G Wells when he was only seventeen – and Charlotte wrote her autobiography, Coronet Among the Weeds, at the age of nineteen. Since then, she has written comedy and drama series, films and plays for both England and America with her husband, the actor and playwright Terence Brady. Her most recent novels include the highly acclaimed The White Marriage, Goodnight Sweetheart and The Enchanted.

  For more information on Charlotte Bingham and her books, see her website at www.charlottebingham.com

  Also by Charlotte Bingham

  CORONET AMONG THE WEEDS

  LUCINDA

  CORONET AMONG THE GRASS

  BELGRAVIA

  COUNTRY LIFE

  AT HOME

  BY INVITATION

  TO HEAR A NIGHTINGALE

  THE BUSINESS

  IN SUNSHINE OR IN SHADOW

  STARDUST

  NANNY

  CHANGE OF HEART

  DEBUTANTES

  THE NIGHTINGALE SINGS

  GRAND AFFAIR

  LOVE SONG

  THE KISSING GARDEN

  THE LOVE KNOT

  THE BLUE NOTE

  THE SEASON

  SUMMERTIME

  DISTANT MUSIC

  THE CHESTNUT TREE

  THE WIND OFF THE SEA

  THE MOON AT MIDNIGHT

  DAUGHTERS OF EDEN

  THE HOUSE OF FLOWERS

  THE MAGIC HOUR

  FRIDAY’S GIRL

  OUT OF THE BLUE

  IN DISTANT FIELDS

  THE WHITE MARRIAGE

  GOODNIGHT SWEETHEART

  THE ENCHANTED

  THE DAISY CLUB

  Novels with Terence Brady:

  VICTORIA

  VICTORIA AND COMPANY

  ROSE’S STORY

  YES HONESTLY

  Television Drama Series with Terence Brady:

  TAKE THREE GIRLS

  UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS

  THOMAS AND SARAH

  NANNY

  FOREVER GREEN

  Television Comedy Series with Terence Brady:

  NO HONESTLY

  YES HONESTLY

  PIG IN THE MIDDLE

  OH MADELINE! (USA)

  FATHER MATTHEW’S DAUGHTER

  Television Plays with Terence Brady:

  MAKING THE PLAY

  SUCH A SMALL WORLD

  ONE OF THE FAMILY

  Films with Terence Brady:

  LOVE WITH A PERFECT STRANGER

  MAGIC MOMENTS

  Stage Plays with Terence Brady:

  I WISH I WISH

  BELOW STAIRS

  THE SHELL SEEKERS

  (adaptation from the novel by Rosamunde Pilcher)

  TRANSWORLD PUBLISHERS

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  www.transworldbooks.co.uk

  THE LAND OF SUMMER

  A BANTAM BOOK: 9780553819793

  Version 1.0 Epub ISBN 9781407034287

  First published in Great Britain

  in 2008 by Bantam Press

  a division of Transworld Publishers

  Bantam edition published 2009

  Copyright © Charlotte Bingham 2008

  Charlotte Bingham has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

  This ebook is a work of fiction and, except in the case of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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