The Invitation — Regina Kammer

In Victorian London, a lovelorn fifty-three-year-old widow discovers she is the muse for a young artist.Widowed, middle-class, and past her prime, Leonora Aldbury is unwelcome amongst Victorian England's upper crust and denied the opportunities society can bring — including romantic attachments. She aches for sensual fulfillment, and fantasizes about a young artist who sketches in London's National Gallery. At a chance meeting, the artist offers Leonora an intriguing invitation. Will she risk respectability for a chance at love?The Invitation is a short story of 3,946 words.The Invitation is set in the same Victorian world as Regina's Art & Discipline series. The characters in The Invitation, Leonora Aldbury and the artist Jasper Dawson, will be integrated into future Art & Discipline books.Art & DisciplineBeneath prim and proper Victorian society lies a world of unconventional artistic endeavors and sensual pursuits.Book 1: The Westerman AffairShort story: The Invitation