"What Ought to Have Been" by MJ Stratton ~ Blog Tour, Excerpt, & Giveaway!

Hello, my friends! Today, the lovely MJ Stratton is visiting with us! She is sharing an excerpt and is giving away a copy of her new book, What Ought to Have Been! 

Details for the giveaway are at the bottom of the page.

What Ought to Have Been

A Sense and Sensibility Variation

by MJ Stratton

Book Blurb

Retribution belongs to God, and I am ill-equipped to carry it out in His place. ~Elinor Dashwood 

     Before leaving Norland forever, Elinor Dashwood forms an attachment to Edward Ferrars. Her tender regard remains constant when the four Dashwood ladies remove to Devonshire, taking up residence at Barton Cottage. Elinor’s hopes for the future are shattered when she unwillingly becomes the confidante of Lucy Steele, learning that Lucy has been betrothed to Edward for four years.

     However, Lucy fails to secure Elinor’s vow of secrecy. When Marianne finds Elinor in her misery, the sisters share confidences, leading Marianne to compare Edward’s honorable conduct with that of John Willoughby. Her musings lead to some startling revelations, igniting a spark of defiance within her. 

     Determined to right the wrongs done to her and her beloved family, Marianne takes matters into her own hands. While Elinor may be ill-equipped to exact God’s retribution, Marianne is not. Armed with determination and resolve, Marianne Dashwood sets out to achieve her aims by any means necessary. But can she complete her journey without losing herself in the process? 

     Told from both Marianne and Elinor’s points of view, What Ought to Have Been is a Sense and Sensibility variation that ensures all the story’s villains receive their just desserts.

 

Excerpt: Poor Elinor! After learning of Edward’s engagement, she seeks privacy to grieve.

Elinor sat on the bed and pulled open the drawer of the small bedside table. She pulled out a thick sheaf of papers that were carefully stored inside an oiled cloth. She had sewn pockets into the pouch to keep her drawings from being damaged. Opening it, she leafed through the sketches until she found the one she sought.

 

Edward’s face smiled up at her, and her heart fluttered. She cherished this picture, for it captured his expressive eyes and the true character that hid beneath his usual reserve. Yet now, Elinor wanted to tear it up and burn the pieces, so intense was the anguish that now overwhelmed her. Typically not prone to overt displays of emotion, she longed to scream out the injustice that had been done to her. 

She understood that Mrs. Ferrars held stringent expectations for her son's choice of a wife—expectations that Elinor markedly did not meet. And yet, she had dared to hope that someday he would be free to claim her hand if he resolved to make his own way in the world. Now that hope was gone; even if Edward were free of his mother’s requirements, he would still not be able to marry her. Yes, he was even more out of reach than she had realized.

Tears began to fall, and Elinor did nothing to stop them. She buried her face in her pillow, weeping quietly, the picture of Edward clutched tightly in her fist. When her tears finally subsided, she sat up and smoothed the wrinkled paper. She then slid the sketch back into the pouch, placing it behind all the others where she would not readily come across it, and then returned the pouch to the drawer. 

Her room was bitterly cold, as the fire would not be lit until closer to bedtime to save fuel. Elinor welcomed the frigid air, allowing it to seep into her bones, willing it to numb the pain. When her mother called her for dinner, she felt more composed and joined her family directly.

       Marianne sat silently at the table, as had been her habit since John Willoughby had departed Devonshire. Though her sister had not spoken of it, Elinor assumed that she and the gentleman had formed an understanding before his departure. Charlotte Palmer, Mrs. Jennings’s daughter, had brought news from London that it was being said around Town an engagement was indeed in place; Marianne had not confirmed it was so, at least not to Elinor.

Elinor’s relationship with Marianne had been strained since their father’s death. The sisters were very different in manner and temperament. Where Elinor was quiet and strived to maintain propriety in all circumstances, Marianne was not as circumspect; her passion and zeal for life often overrode good sense, and she had some strange ideas about love. Marianne’s heart was good, though, and she did not love by halves.

 

Elinor’s sister had been pale and quiet for some time. After Mr. Willoughby’s departure, she had wept for days, inconsolable by anything or anyone. Now, her grief was melancholic; she stared through the window at nothing for hours or played sad songs on the Middleton’s pianoforte. Marianne took long, solitary walks and came back looking wind-chapped and ill. Elinor thought she looked frail, and her dresses hung on her frame, a testament to her depressed spirits.

Elinor had disdained her sister’s overt behavior these last weeks, but now after her own trying afternoon, she thought she understood Marianne better. It took all her will to keep her emotions tightly contained, and she wished she could let herself be more like Marianne—that she might cry and wail, and wander about morosely in her heartbreak. But no, she was the reasonable, responsible sister, and falling to pieces before her family would do nothing to aid in her heartache.

After dinner, the family gathered in the small parlor just off the hall. A large fireplace warmed the room, and they settled around it, reading books, mending, or working on their embroidery. Marianne stared listlessly into the blaze, her hands idle in her lap, and Elinor felt irrational anger rising in her chest at her sister’s behavior. No such luxury would be given to Elinor! But was it truly anger, or was it jealousy? She was uncertain.

 

       She forcefully stabbed the needle into the handkerchief she was embroidering, yelping as the point pricked her finger. She stuck the wounded finger into her mouth. Mrs. Dashwood eyed her curiously, but Elinor ignored her, returning her attention to the fabric in her hand. Blessedly, her mother did not remark on Elinor’s uncharacteristic carelessness and simply returned to helping Margaret with the stitch she was learning.

Elinor glanced down at the fabric and was relieved that no blood had stained the white cloth. It was sure to be a lovely handkerchief when it was finished, but Elinor suddenly found herself too restless to focus on the fancy work. She set it aside and pulled a novel out of her workbasket. Opening it, she attempted to read.

She was grateful when it was finally time to retire. Marianne followed her up the stairs like a wraith—silent and slow. Their bedchamber was warmer than it had been earlier, but barely so. The coals in the fireplace burned low, a reminder of their limited resources. Elinor knew that she and Marianne would have to manage with what little they had, for their funds were in short supply and fuel was deemed a luxury.

They readied for bed in haste; the numbness of a broken heart did not shield from the cold. With woolen socks on their feet and dressing gowns worn over their night clothes, she and Marianne huddled under their covers, waiting for their shared body heat to warm them.

Marianne drifted off quickly, leaving Elinor alone in the dark, staring into the blackness and reliving the terrible recitation of Miss Lucy from earlier that day. The equanimity she had strived for earlier shattered, and tears once began to fall onto her pillow once more.

 

She began to better understand Marianne’s despondency at being separated from Mr. Willoughby. How fortunate her sister was to have secured her lasting happiness! Oh, how Elinor envied her.

About the Author

MJ Stratton is a long-time lover of Jane Austen and her works, having been introduced to Pride and Prejudice by a much-beloved aunt at the age of sixteen. The subsequent discovery of Austenesque fiction sealed her fate. After beta reading and editing for others for nearly a decade, MJ started publishing her own work in 2022. MJ balances being a wife and mother with writing, gardening, sewing, and many other favorite pastimes. She lives with her husband and four children in the small, rural town where she grew up.

Purchase Links

Amazon (paid link)

Add to Goodreads.

FTC Disclaimer: Link to Amazon. I am an Amazon Associate. I will receive a small commission if you purchase a book through the link provided. Thanks!

* * * GIVEAWAY * * *

It's giveaway time! As part of this book tour, MJ Stratton is giving away an eCopy of the book What Ought to Have Been! Enter through the Rafflecopter below! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

Many thanks to MJ Stratton for stopping by today!

Oh my, poor Elinor! But I'm so glad that Elinor isn't sworn to secrecy to Lucy and can confide in Marianne in this variation. I'm so curious how this will play out! How about you? What do you think? Let me know in the comments below!