Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Scandalous
    Scandalous
    Scandalous
    Ebook71 pages56 minutes

    Scandalous

    By James Carter

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Belinda is the most beautiful damsel in all of aristocratic England, and as she heads to an afternoon tea party she feels confident that every man she encounters will worship the ground she walks on. What this fluffy belle cannot foresee is that one gent’s desire for her will turn into a scandalous obsession destined to keep gossipmongers talking for years. Nor can she predict the full scale war that will break out between her army of guardian fairies and a gnome who is hell bent on destroying her esteemed reputation.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJames Carter
    Release dateJun 9, 2012
    ISBN9781476420097
    Scandalous
    Author

    James Carter

    James Carter is an award-winning children's poet, non-fiction writer and musician. He has visited 1500+ schools in the UK and abroad in the last two decades and performed at such festivals as Edinburgh, Hay, Bath and Cheltenham. His buzzy, high energy poetry days/ Zooms are ultimately all about encouraging young writers.

    Read more from James Carter

    Related to Scandalous

    Related ebooks

    Satire For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Frost FAIR

      Jan 18, 2023

      Frost FAIR
      11 min read

    • Article

      The Parting Shot

      May 8, 2020

      The Parting Shot
      5 min read

    • Article

      A Little Trip

      Aug 2, 2021

      As the first morning light peeked through the gap in the curtains, Alice left her new husband in bed. She wrapped her silk kimono around her; a present from Jeremy, it reminded her yet again just how generous he’d been since their wedding. Even this

      5 min read

    • Article

      ABATH For All SEASONS

      Jul 4, 2019

      ABATH For All SEASONS
      7 min read

    • Article

      Four Of A Kind

      May 3, 2023

      Four Of A Kind
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Governess

      Dec 30, 2020

      The Governess
      10 min read

    • Article

      The Governess

      Dec 27, 2020

      The Governess
      10 min read

    • Article

      The Bad Housekeeper

      Jul 17, 2020

      The Bad Housekeeper
      5 min read

    • Article

      Magnets: Carried through time, lovers seek their purpose.

      Feb 6, 2014

      Moon Colony B, 2213 Former Ponzi-schemer Mary Pillar digs through a trashcan. It smells like rotten eggs and milk. She is elderly and homeless, living in an alley between two eco-efficient skyscrapers. Dust particles dance around her. She has lost ev

      11 min read

    • Article

      Towns Like Ours

      May 3, 2018

      Towns Like Ours
      9 min read

    • Article

      Books THAT CHANGED MY LIFE

      Mar 14, 2023

      Who is the wit who joked that we wouldn’t like to think Jane Austen disapprovedof us? In the painfully tender novelPersuasion, Anne Eliot is the lovely daughter of a foolish baronet who hasn’t the decency to live within his means. Their home must be

      1 min read

    • Article

      Up and AWAY

      Jan 26, 2022

      Up and AWAY
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Turn Of The Tide

      Sep 24, 2020

      The Turn Of The Tide
      4 min read

    • Article

      Cast Out

      Jul 10, 2021

      Verity pushed back the quilts, rolled off her straw mattress onto the floor, felt for the poker, and stirred the ashes. The embers glowed. She wouldn’t have to go fire-borrowing again. Her chilled hands were clumsy. One glowing bit of wood rolled fro

      21 min read

    • Article

      Panto!

      Dec 20, 2022

      Panto!
      6 min read

    • Article

      Panto

      Dec 22, 2021

      Panto
      6 min read

    • Article

      Where TWO RIVERS MEET

      Apr 3, 2024

      Where TWO RIVERS MEET
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Traveler

      Oct 1, 2020

      The Traveler
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Man Behind Edna

      May 17, 2023

      The Man Behind Edna
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Girl on THE MOON

      Mar 10, 2021

      The Girl on THE MOON
      8 min read

    • Article

      My Dinner with Denis Johnson

      Jun 25, 2018

      My Dinner with Denis Johnson
      13 min read

    • Article

      Tomorrows

      Mar 15, 2022

      The night, as most nights, was like a dream. At ten, once I’d fed the dog the last scraps off the stove. Once I’d cursed the cat for scratching up my mama’s antique furniture, then welcomed him back into my arms. Once I’d slicked my hair into a ponyt

      26 min read

    • Article

      Climbing Mount Cameroon

      Nov 18, 2019

      In 1895 Mary Kingsley became the first woman to climb Mount Cameroon. Her apparel was unlikely: long black trailing skirt, tight waist, high collar, a small fur cap, lace-up shoes and a parasol. In every respect she was unusual. With no formal school

      4 min read

    • Article

      Lady with A LUTE

      Aug 3, 2022

      Lady with A LUTE
      9 min read

    • Article

      All Atsea!

      Nov 23, 2021

      All Atsea!
      6 min read

    • Article

      April’s BOOK CLUB

      Mar 1, 2024

      Diva by Daisy Goodwin (£20, HB, Bloomsbury) Hailed as one of the greatest opera singers of all time, Maria Callas’ life was as dramatic and fascinating as her vocal range. In this fictionalised historical story, Goodwin delves into the Greek soprano’

      5 min read

    • Article

      Laura Kelly Is A Demon

      Jul 17, 2023

      It’s a damp November night, and in the bowels of an abandoned industrial building somewhere outside Shotts something strange is happening. The gates of hell have opened and demons are stalking Scotland. Clad mostly in black, they’re a ragtag bunch of

      2 min read

    • Article

      Beyond the Mangrove Trees

      Aug 6, 2020

      No one expects their house to float away. Ethel certainly hadn’t. Our story begins in the sleepy village of Greenwood, where Ethel had spent her entire life. It was an overcast Sunday afternoon and Ethel watched the rain lash against the window from

      7 min read

    • Article

      ‘Death? I Can’t Wait For The Adventure!’ Most Haunted’s Yvette Fielding On Ghosts, Sceptics And The Afterlife

      Oct 4, 2022

      The First Lady of the Paranormal, also known as the Queen of the Night, is waiting for me at Crewe railway station in a bright red vintage Mini. I just about fold myself into the front seat. She cackles, performs a miraculous U-turn and puts her foot

      8 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Scandalous

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Scandalous - James Carter

      Scandalous

      James Carter

      Cover and Text Copyright held by Robert Henning and James Carter -- 2012

      All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, photographic including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from the author.

      Smashwords edition.

      Inspired by Alexander Pope’s Rape of the Lock.

      Beauty can be such a curse. I sometimes think there’s nothing worse.

      Chapter 1

      The air was a joyous celebration of life: a whisper touched by the moistness of dew and warmed by golden rays from a dazzling yellow sun. Twittering birds filled the heavens with a chorus, and an invisible orchestra of angels played Mozart up in the clouds. This was a morning like no other: the perfect start to a day where there would be no rain, no blustery wind and no dismal fog. A day for smelling flowers and taking long walks: for painting outdoors and catching butterflies.

      At Chiswick Court Betty tiptoed into Belinda’s room as quietly as she could. It was very important not to interrupt the damsel’s sleep in a harsh manner, for the young lady had a terrible habit of waking on the wrong side of the bed.

      Resplendent in her black and white uniform, the dumpling of a maid moved through the pink light that filled the sleeping chamber. Her first port of call was the four-poster bed, where God’s gift to mankind lay wrapped up in satin sheets. The blond belle was away with her dreams, and only stirred lightly in her slumber as Betty ran a critical eye over the scene. Next came the heavy pink curtains, which Betty deliberately opened slowly. Sunlight cascaded into the goddess’ realm, revealing marble floors, polished oak chairs and cushions crafted from China’s priciest silk.

      The warmth that suddenly filled the room was enough to wake Shock, and the lapdog jumped onto all fours with a fluster and a shake. Betty scowled at the pampered darling as she made her way to the exit with light footsteps. The English maid was duly followed by Belinda’s sacred pet, for this was an English household and both were accustomed to a formal routine:

      Open the curtains;

      Release the hound onto the lawn;

      Allow madam to awake gracefully;

      Present breakfast;

      Dress madam;

      See madam to her carriage;

      Clean madam’s quarters.

      Betty’s work was never done, and as she shut the door on her slumbering mistress she pondered a lifetime spent in the service of others. Such thoughts were enough to induce mild depression.

      Stillness descended over Belinda’s domain, and the sound of a ticking clock was all that could be heard by her guardian fairy. He fluttered about the room with the grace and flair of a fast moving soap bubble: one moment translucent, the next exploding with color.

      Ariel…

      Chief protector of England’s finest rose…

      Invisible chaperone for the kingdom’s most sought after crumpet…

      The magical being landed on Belinda’s sprawling bed, then changed his fickle mind and decided to hover over the belle’s porcelain face. Her beauty was so flawless that even he felt a pang of longing inside his fairy heart. Such love, such devotion… no other human was more adored by the sylphs and elves of this world.

      Ariel could not linger for long. Astute fairy that he was, he felt compelled to deliver an important message to his mistress. It was vital that he let her know about the dangers that lay ahead: the unseen traps, the slippery surfaces, the encounters that might promote gossip. Attending an English tea party was no laughing matter, and precautions were required if one hoped to survive such as arduous social engagement.

      With his determination never stronger, Ariel fluttered into Belinda’s left ear and set about spinning a dream for her sleepy mind to consider.

      The vision starts with a masquerade of beaus and damsels at play in expensive clothes and carefully applied makeup. There is dancing, music, and laughter!

      Then something more sinister appears; an image of a man kissing a woman beneath the moonlight…

      A lie!

      I love you.

      The ultimate lie!

      The two run through a marble hall, giggling and teasing one another, and soon they arrive in a room with a four-poster bed covered in silk and satin.

      Oh no!

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1