Happy Saturday! I am currently writing a novella about a woman who is quite, quite literal. I thought I’d share the opening bit here (keep in mind this is the first draft!)

I will be finishing the first draft this weekend–fingers crossed–then moving on to outlining the second book in the Dukes Behaving Badly series. Hope everyone’s weekend is glorious!

“While it’s not precisely true that nobody is here, because I am, in fact, here, the truth is that there is no-one here who can accommodate the request.”

The man standing in the main area of the Quality Employment Agency didn’t leave. She’d have to keep on, then.

“If I weren’t here, then it would be even more in question, since you wouldn’t know the answer to the question one way or the other, would you? So I am here, but I am not the proper person for what you need.”

The man fidgeted with the hat he held in his hand. But still did not take her hint. She would have to persevere. 

“I suggest you leave the information and we will endeavor to fill the position when there is someone here who is not me.” Annabelle gave a short nod of her head as she finished speaking, knowing she had been absolutely clear in what she’d said. If repetitive. So it was a surprise that the man to whom she was speaking was staring back at her, his mouth slightly opened, his eyes blinking behind his owlish spectacles. His hat now held very tightly in his hand.

Perhaps she should speak more slowly. “We do not have a housekeeper for hire,” she said, pausing between each word.

Now the man’s mouth had closed, but it still seemed as though he did not understand. “I do not understand,” he said, confirming her very suspicion. “This is an employment agency, and I have an employer who wishes to find an employee. And if I do not find a suitable person within,”–and at this he withdrew a pocket watch from his waistcoat and frowned at it, as though it was its fault it was already past tea time, and goodness wasn’t she hungry and had Caroline left any milk in the jug, because if not, well,–“twenty-four hours, my employer, the Earl of Selkirk, will be most displeased, and we will ensure your agency will no longer receive our patronage.”

That last part drew her attention away from the issue of the milk, and whether or not there was any. “The Earl of…?” she said, feeling that flutter in her stomach that signaled there was nobility present, or being mentioned, or she wished there were, at least. Rather like the milk, actually.

“Selkirk,” the man replied in a firm tone. He had no comment on the milk. And why would he, he didn’t even know that it was a possibility that they didn’t have any, and if she did have to serve him tea, what would she say? Besides which, she had no clue of the man’s name, even, he had just come in and been all brusque and demanded a housekeeper when there were none.

“Selkirk,” Annabelle repeated, her mind rifling through all the nobles she’d ever heard mentioned.

“A Scottish earl,” the man said. 

Annabelle beamed and clapped her hands. “Oh, Scottish! Small wonder I did not recognize the title, I’ve only ever been in London and once to the seaside when I was five years old, but I wouldn’t have known if that was Scotland, but I am fairly certain it was not because it would have been cold and it was quite warm in the water. Unless the weather was unseasonable, I can safely say I have never been to Scotland, nor do I know of any Scottish earls.”

Megan

This week I saw the movie Belle. Have you had a chance to see it? Although it predates our Regency period (set in the 1780’s), it is a visual delight, from the costumes to the elegant estate settings to the docksides of London. There’s even a scene set at Vauxhall Gardens. Inspired by a portrait and a fascinating true historical footnote, it is about two young women, one white, one mulatto, who were raised together at Kenwood House by their uncle, Lord William Murray, the Earl of Mansfield, who happened to be the Lord Chief Justice of England at the time. It includes a love story, but it also is a tale about racial prejudice, an important court case, and the beginnings of the anti-slavery movement in England. It made me think (among many things) about all the matters our elegant Regency characters were expected to ignore, or at the very least, not discuss in polite company!

We know the rules of society were strict and multitudinous. Among them was the idea that conversation in polite company should always be “cheerful and uplifting”. It was never to include politics, or religion, or –heaven forbid!– vulgar acknowledgments of the less-than-perfect world outside the magic cloud of wealth and privilege that the highest classes lived in. Never anything that might cause distress or discomfort. As a line in the movie says, “as if by ignorance we might escape it.”

The movie beautifully portrays Lord Mansfield’s belief in the value and purpose of “the rules” that maintained social order, and also Belle’s awakening to her own limitations, her hunger to learn more, and her frustration at having her questions turned aside. Slavery and racial prejudice were not topics to be discussed at the table! Her direct attempts to ask questions at breakfast clearly break the social rules, and the movie uses three breakfast scenes to show her attempts to comply and her gradual transition to other methods of pursuing the truth.

In the movie, the extreme complications of social status and jockeying for position are illustrated in dozens of nicely nuanced ways. Belle’s life is defined by both her birth into a noble family, and the color of her skin. She is made an heiress, while her cousin Elizabeth is dowerless. Belle is illegitimate, but her father loved and claimed her. Elizabeth’s birth was legitimate, but her father has abandoned her. Which elements trump which? Even the young women, raised as sisters, argue about it –but only in the privacy of their chamber, of course.

Is it any wonder that thick tomes of social guidelines were published? From Lord Chesterfield’s 18^th century Letters to his son and similar publications, to The Mirror of Graces (1811) and on, the rules could cover the proper way to carry your hat if you removed it, and might even dictate when Belle could and could not join her family for dinner. But even those revered resources probably did not cover the untenable situation of Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay –both the movie version and the real woman we know so little about. As her character says in the movie, “I don’t feel as though I fit anywhere!”

The real Dido Belle did marry, and apparently had two sons. Her life, while far more comfortable than most of her counterparts in that period, still could not have been easy. I like thinking that she faced it with the same courage as her movie character does. If you haven’t had a chance, try to catch the movie! There’s also a book by Paula Byrne –has anyone read it? With all the social freedom we have today, do you think we still sometimes duck issues by falling into that mindset of ignoring them? Do we have any topics left that are still taboo in polite company today?

Happy Tuesday, everyone!  Though I almost forgot what day it was, since I am trying to finish a book due (gulp!) next Monday, and I have a cold.  But I also have some happy news!  Yesterday we saw Risky Diane’s Regency wedding gown, and I am currently planning a wedding of my own.  The gown I picked isn’t particularly Regency-esque, but since we are thinking of a smallish wedding at my parents’ house, the wedding itself might be….

In the Regency, marriage itself was, of course, a Big Deal (especially for the bride!), the wedding wasn’t.  There were no wedding planners or Vera Wang salons, no Wedding Industry to tell you if you don’t have ice swans and 3 cakes you are doing it wrong.  Most weddings were small, private, family affairs, taking place in the parish church of one or both of the parties, before noon, after the reading of the banns.  (Hence the “wedding breakfast,” where there would probably be some kind of cake, and which could actually go on all day if everyone was so inclined…)

“I publish the Banns of marriage between [Groom’s Name] of [his local parish] and [Bride’s Name] of [her local parish]. If any of you know cause or just impediment why these two persons should not be joined together in Holy matrimony, ye are to declare it. This is the first [second, third] time of asking.”

There were some white wedding gowns, of course, since white was all the rage for young ladies, and most brides wore their best gowns (or bought a new gown, which then became their best), but it wasn’t the most common color.  We can thank Queen Victoria for that.  There might be a small veil, or a nice bonnet (perhaps with a veil attached), or a wreath of flowers, a small bouquet, maybe an attendant or two.  There might or might not have been an engagement ring, probably not diamonds.

There were exceptions to this, of course.  Princess Charlotte had a rather more splashy affair when she married Prince Leopold, and it was the subject of much interest at the time.  Some people eloped to Gretna Green in Scotland, where the laws were more lenient.

Her dress was silver lama [lamé] on net, over a silver tissue slip, embroidered at the bottom with silver lama in shells and flowers. Body and sleeves to correspond, elegantly trimmed with point Brussels lace. The manteau was of silver tissue lined with white satin, with a border of embroidery to answer that on the dress, and fastened in front with a splendid diamond ornament. Such was the bridal dress … (from La Belle Assemblee, of the royal wedding gown)

A Common or Ordinary License could be obtained for about 10 shillings from any bishop or archbishop, which would allow the marriage to go forward without calling the banns.  All other requirements were in place, though (parish church, before noon, etc).  A Special License, so common in romance novels, were expensive (4 or 5 pounds approximately), and had to be obtained from the Archbishop of Canterbury, but it would allow the wedding at any time or place convenient.

Here is a look at my own ring!  (He knows what a big Princess Di/Duchess of Cambridge fan I am…)

And one of the dresses I tried on!  (though this is not THE dress…)

What was your own wedding like??  How would you plan a Regency wedding?