Authors Interviewing Characters: Emma Orchard 

Authors Interviewing Characters: Emma Orchard 

THE SECOND LADY SILVERWOOD

It is 1814 and she is the talk of the town …

Sir Benedict Silverwood needs a new wife.

Kate Moreton, an impoverished spinster and Italian teacher, is an outlandish suggestion, but one that grows on Benedict, alongside his attraction to Kate.

Kate has been hopelessly in love with him for years, so the idea of marriage when he doesn’t reciprocate her feelings is appalling, but so very tempting at the same time.

Sparks fly and passion flares after the wedding, but it becomes clear that incendiary secrets threaten Kate and Benedict’s fragile new life together. The question is, will he be able to love and trust the second Lady Silverwood?

Emma Orchard is interviewing Kate, Lady Silverwood, and her mother-in-law Charlotte.

EO: Lady Silverwood – oh, I’m sorry, that’s both of you. It’s confusing. Could I possibly call you Kate?

Kate: Of course you may. I haven’t got used to it yet, the title. “Lady Silverwood” doesn’t sound like me yet. I’m quite happy to be called Kate.

EO: Thank you. And congratulations on your marriage.

Kate (blushing): Thank you. What did you want to ask?

EO: I wondered if it has been hard, adjusting to your new life? It must have been an enormous alteration for you, suddenly going from being an Italian teacher to a baronet’s wife.

Charlotte: (Charlotte is laughing – she has a surprisingly dirty laugh for a little old lady who looks so respectable.) Yes, tell us, Kate dear, did you find it hard? I’m sure everyone would be fascinated to know.

Kate: I dare say you’re wondering if you’re imagining the indecent implication in my mother-in-law’s words – well, let me set you straight. You aren’t. 

EO: Is she always like this?

Kate: Yes. And her son’s the same. Worse! I’ve had to get used to being constantly embarrassed.

Charlotte: Nonsense. You modern young people are far too easily shocked. And you haven’t answered the question, have you, dear?

Kate: I suppose I haven’t. You distracted me. Yes, it has been a big adjustment – ignore her, please. I’d not expected to marry at this point in my life. I’ve been looking after my grandfather, who is extremely ill, and…and eventually, I thought I’d probably go and live with my grandmother in Italy. I have family there. But everything has changed now.

EO: Good changes, I hope.

Kate: Oh yes. Good changes. It makes my head spin, sometimes, that’s all.

EO: I understand you knew Sir Benedict years ago, when you first came out into society. You danced with him at many of the most glamorous balls and parties – is that true?

Kate: Yes. Yes, I did. But that was seven years ago. A lifetime, really. That was my one season in London. I went back to Yorkshire after that.

EO: You don’t have any family in England, apart from your grandfather?

Charlotte: She does now. You do, my dear girl. She has a very annoying mother-in-law, as you can see, and a sister-in-law, my daughter Maria, and any number of nephews and nieces. But most importantly of all, she has a handsome husband – of course I would say that, I’m his mother – and a precious little daughter who’s only six years old. I don’t say stepdaughter. Kate is the only mother Lucy has ever known.

EO: Your son’s first wife Vanessa died when her daughter was just a baby? I’m sorry to have brought it up. That must have been very hard for all of you.

Charlotte: It was. We’ve known some difficult times. And you didn’t bring it up, I did. That’s all behind us now. We can’t forget the people we’ve lost, but we can move on with life, have hope for the future. 

Kate: We have to do that, everyone does. There’s no point dwelling on the past. It’s done with.

Charlotte: I hope it is. No, I’m sure you’re right. You must be.

Don’t miss out on your chance to be introduced to Kate, Benedict, and not forgetting Charlotte, the incorrigible Dowager Lady Silverwood, in The Second Lady Silverwood, out 20th April. 

BUY HERE

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Emma Orchard was born in Salford. She studied English Literature at the Universities of Edinburgh and York, before working behind the scenes in publishing and television for many years. Her first job was at Mills & Boon, where she met her husband in a classic enemies-to-lovers romance. She now lives in North London.

Praise:

“An exciting and thoroughly enjoyable new talent has exploded onto the market.  I absolutely loved it!” – Katie Fforde

“Hot stuff. I loved it!” – Fern Britton

“A delicious Regency romp” – Alan Titchmarsh

“D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S is the only word for The Second Lady Silverwood. An absolutely glorious Regency romance. I love love loved it.” – Sophie Irwin

“Heyer with spice! I adored it.” – Liz Fenwick, author of The River Between Us

“Sensual and exciting! I loved it!” – Heidi Swain, author of The Cherry Tree Cafe

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: Interviews, On Writing