The Wood Nymph

Rating:
Summary: Rustic encounters, mistaken identity and love versus a crush
Review: William Mainwaring is trying to escape from the mess his life has become over the past year, in which he fell in love with the (then) estranged wife of his best friend. So he retreats to Graystone, in the north of England, intending to try to forget Elizabeth and avoid polite society. However, he reckons without the inhabitants of the local town, who are determined to include him in their activities; after all, while he may not have a title, he is certainly one of the wealthiest single gentlemen around at the moment, which makes him extremely eligible and desirable.

Lady Helen Wade, youngest daughter of the Earl of Claymore, hates the sort of 'proper' behaviour required of a young lady of the ton, and she avoids any kind of interaction with Society as much as she can, simply by slipping out and running to her favourite place, in the woods by a stream on Graystone land. Although she's almost twenty, she does her best to pretend that she won't have to secure a suitable marriage some day; in fact, it's clear that Helen hasn't really grown up yet.

One day, William Mainwaring comes upon a young woman sitting by the river on his land, 'learning water', as she tells him. She's wearing a faded dress which is unfashionable and far too short for her; unsurprisingly, he takes her for a village girl. Helen, realising his mistake and the impropriety of her presence in his land and in his company, allows him to carry on believing that she's a simple country girl, and tells him that her name is Nell.

'Nell' and William become friends, actually seeking each other out as escape from their mundane and unwelcome daily lives; they discuss poetry and landscapes and nature, and find themselves becoming drawn to each other. Attracted to each other. Until the inevitable happens...

William thinks that Nell is a village girl. So it never occurs to him that, since he realises he needs to marry and he's actually considering one of her sisters as a potential wife, that he could marry Nell instead. And anyway, he's not in love with her, is he? He still loves Elizabeth! Nell knows that she needs to tell William the truth; after all, she's spent time with him under false pretences. But good intentions go their usual way, and very soon it's too late. William has left, and Nell is... well, Nell has to grow up very quickly in a very short space of time.

This represents the early part of The Wood Nymph; the remainder of the book is set mostly in London, and readers will need to read it for themselves to find out what happens. All I can say is that this book satisfies my desire for closure for William Mainwaring completely. A wonderful book, and well worth the 'collectible' price I paid for it.