To start things off, I have to confess that I got quite a bit of flack from my muse and inner critic: Jason Thornton. It would appear that when writing Embers of Christmas Past, France 1907 http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/48204/embers-christmas..., I applied some contemporary Political Correctness to both Mary Cassatt and Rowan Atwell, which wasn't in the actual letters I'd received from Mr. Thornton.

"You removed all their 'God-Damn Yankee Pragmatism.'" was how he put it, and he's right. It's like editing the 'N' Word out of Mark Twain, as you lose the context of the era it represents when you do. History is not suppose to make us feel comfortable, it suppose to help us learn and improve - even revisit older positive values which we so desperate need today. But I'm lecturing again, and that's not the point.

Anywho, the corrected view of Rowan's reaction to her daughter's relationship with Giselle is that she was NOT supportive of their friendship, and sent a wire to her friend Mary to terminate it at once. That smug remark I wrote about Giselle's family & their politics was better applied to Rowan's take on the whole affair. As for Mary herself, she was not the grand idealist I made her out to be, but that's another story.

This does not assign any wrongdoing to anyone, as all actions were done with the best intentions. Still, Mina was well into her adult years before she figured out her own feelings and how to best express them. But during some turbulent times, our young lady proved herself more than capable, all of which we hope to examine further in later entries.