But first, Personal Commentary from Author:

The excerpt below shows the heart and soul of the story's main character, Elsa Thompson. In the same way a little girl will spend hours dressing and fashioning her Barbie doll with dazzling outfits that resonates with Barbie's persona, I too, spent many hours-weeks actually-forming and fashioning Elsa's character.

Barbie's fashion and flare sets her in the center of our modern society. She's a metropolitan girl. But Elsa's persona and apparel was carefully formed and neatly tailored according to the fashions that were upheld by the upper crust of society's influential. She's a daughter of a wealthy banker during the era of 1915; and she's ready to step onto the stage for her audience.

Elsa is distant and reclusive. She's melancholy in nature. And she's a pianist. She finds herself constantly pondering upon her future. Though America's Industrial Revolution was going forward with great intensity, Elsa didn't give it a second thought. And regarding courtship, she doesn't give that a second thought either. Elsa is very focused with her agendas.

She's determined to reach her personal goals by herself. And she endeavors to avoid conflict, the kind of conflict that would come from courtship. And I quickly discovered that my audience fell in love with her. But later on in the story, Elsa meets a charming young man in which she tries to convince herself that she has no feelings for him.

Story Excerpt

May, 1915

Stupid machines, frivolous ideas … some engineers need to exercise better thinking! These were the criticisms of old-fashioned folk. Elsa Thompson often heard their disputing and was swayed into believing them. But, at the same time, she really hadn't debated the issue-nor did she have any interest in inventions or machines in the first place. Established in her world of determined agendas, the talented young lady had no interest in a beau. Music, writing, and reflecting on personal goals dominated her time.

May 19, 1915
I do not object to men; they are handsome and delightful-quite pleasant at times. It is courtship that troubles me. Courtship and machines are alike. They both need time, attention, and much troubleshooting. A woman in courtship conveys her feelings through a sophisticated language of expressions-even messages women convey in words men fail to understand. Courting men become easily flustered when they cannot tell what causes their young ladies to be moved to tears. If a man chooses to know me, he must learn the language of my heart. I would never speak of my feelings to a man plainly. How would a man know the language that a woman speaks? Men have difficulty with that, I think.

A recently published article in a women's magazine Elsa had stumbled across reaffirmed her thoughts about avoiding courting:

In our modern age of 1915, brilliant men boast that they've navigated their mighty steamships across the oceans, they've explored jungles on dangerous expeditions, and they've mapped the stars of the heavens through avenues of science. But sadly, the geographic terrain of a woman's heart and soul remain uncharted. The places within-where their voices, their aspirations, dreams, and ambitions reside-remain unexplored. Though men have sought to understand their womanly counterparts, only a few have successfully journeyed their way to her.
~
Kingston, New York, was home to Elsa Thompson. Her neat and orderly world reflected the tidy customs that had trickled over from the Victorian culture-a culture that most people remembered as being old-fashioned. But it was a fashion that her father had fought to keep alive-at least in his home. At nearly twenty-one, she had gracefully matured. Her long, wavy, dark brown hair normally reached her waist. But raised in etiquette's formalities and disciplined to her father's structure, the young lady wore her hair up, elegantly sculptured in a stylish bun-a fashion that still exists for all women.

Her attire-ornate dresses with lace and embroidery-remained a lavish protocol of her affluent upbringing. Though Elsa's outward appearance marked her as a member of society's influential-as her father so established her to be-her appearance and un-boastful ways reflected her poetic and sophisticated nature.

Her father managed the affairs of the local bank as its executive officer, and her mother occupied her days as an active member of the Kingston Ladies' Guild. Music had been an obligation for many post-Victorian girls, but, for Elsa, music became a part of her being. At four, Victorian protocol introduced her to the musical arts. As the years progressed, her talent matured. She brilliantly rendered the classics of Bach, Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart, and Chopin from her piano. Like the great composers, Elsa mastered the instrument, knowing the language of music from her soul.

With little effort, the Kingston student's reputation grew throughout her community.

At the conclusion of Elsa's second year at the University of Kingston, she and another music student, a dear friend who was more self-ruling and less enslaved by the formalities of the wealthy class, were asked to display their talents at an upcoming event away from home.

The overly protective banker objected to his daughter traveling without an adult escort. But, as she was considered of adult age, he reluctantly lowered his guard and allowed her to go. However, when Elsa returned home, her father would encounter troubling news-as the strict banker soon realized, he had made a mistake by allowing her to travel un-chaperoned.

(Excerpt from The Silent Note reprinted with permission from the author, Patrick Davis).

(Originally published at GoArticles and reprinted with permission from the author, Patrick Davis).