A Regent’s ransom

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Angelyn

George IV "Prinny" by Sir Thomas Lawrence (1822)

Her mother raised a dark eyebrow. “I believe Lady Diana is something of a hoyden. And the earl of Northam is a member of the Carlton House set, an intimate of the Regent.” A mere man who kept very bad company.

The worst, in fact.

Mrs. Montgomery had never sought to hide her disdain for the Regent. He symbolized everything deplorable to the Camden family and their wool business. Profligate spending. Irresponsible government.

“I was not aware,” Vivien replied, dismissively. Lord Russell had cut the connection between her and Diana. She would never see either of them again. “What does it signify? We’re talking about a chance meeting in the park.”

“A chance meeting?” Her mother shook her head, hair as dark as Vivien’s own. “My dear daughter, there are two calling cards on the foyer tray. Belonging to Lady Diana and Northam’s mother, Lady Nellie. Dansby took them this morning.”

Vivien jerked upright. “They were here, in Knightsbridge?” The heiress and her grandmother might as well have visited the moon.

Vivien’s mother in Notorious Vow is not alone in her opinon that Lord Northam is an intimate of the Prince Regent. Prinny counts the wealthy peer as one of his friends, having great admiration for the earl’s famous racing stud Calumet. Russell does not consider himself a member of the Carlton set, steering well clear of the Regent’s foibles that marred his reputation otherwise distinguished as a patron of the arts. The prince might have been better remembered as an effective monarch had he availed himself of Russell’s sound advice.

The Carlton Set was named for the Regent’s opulent house in Pall Mall which he eventually demolished upon moving to Buckingham Palace.

When Notorious Vow opens, the Regent’s debts had reached extraordinary levels. They amounted to almost fifty million pounds sterling in today’s money. Russell is tempted to employ his vast wealth as Marquess of Wimberley to redeem a large portion of his sovereign’s debt, in desperate exchange for a favor from the Crown.

A favor that will win him the woman he loves.

A House Overlooking Hyde Park

Posted on March 21, 2011 by Angelyn

She went to the broad window and looked out. As she suspected, it had an excellent view of the exact place where Russell had first warned her to stay away.

“You were about to give me a masterful setdown then, were you not?” he asked, coming to stand behind her at the window.

“I’m glad I didn’t have the opportunity to do so,” she murmured in pleasure. He had not left after all, and she was delighted, hardly caring that a small crowd of gawkers gathered in the street below. Already there were those who hoped to catch a glimpse of London’s most scandalous couple.

In Notorious Vow, the villa featured in the above passage was inspired by Chandos House in Queen Anne Street. You might know it from the superior Ang Lee-directed movie, Sense and Sensibility, which highlighted the bright interior of Mrs. Jennings’ London home.

In my novel, Vivien was particularly enchanted that the villa was a stand-alone house, a rarity in London. Its Georgian brick had been refaced with a creamy stucco exterior. The bow windows on each floor gave an unhindered view of Hyde Park, ornamented on either side by beautifully carved pilasters. The staircase (view to the right) from Buckingham House (demolished in 1908) played a notable part in the novel.

Rotten Row

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Angelyn

I had always thought Rotten Row was a corruption of Route du Roi. But it turns out that this name for the main bridle path in Hyde Park prominently featured in Notorious Vow is in fact a common street name throughout Britain. It can refer to a row of decrepit cottages infested with rats to the roundabout one often encounters in and out of London.

Rotten Row in Hyde Park by Thomas Blinks (1900)

My heroine has several alarming encounters along Rotten Row which her horsemanship saves her in all but one, toward the end of the book. Her encounter with the Earl of Northam along this deserted track is one of my favorites:

Russell was convinced Vivien had a grasping desire to be taken up by a viscountess who was a leading figure of the ton. And this belief was soon rewarded as he spotted her trotting up the path. Yet he remained rooted where he was, in the trees, admiring her lovely grace as she urged the gray toward him. His mother’s reference to his last mistress came unbidden, and he considered what it might be like to have Miss Montgomery installed in his Piccadilly love nest.

“Dash it!” It was almost too late by the time he had roused himself from staring at his quarry. He goosed his horse onto the path, a scrambling business that in retrospect was comical if it had not been so deadly serious.

Vivien came up Rotten Row with much of the happy anticipation she experienced before the terrible disappointment two days before. So she cautioned herself. Diana may have had second thoughts about meeting her.

Thor seemed to sense her doubt, flicking his ears back and forth. Vivien leaned forward to stroke his smooth coat. He needed exercise. And she was persistent, urging him into a canter.

Without warning, Thor gathered himself in mid-stride, ears pricked forward as if to catch the sound of something ahead. Vivien smiled and urged him forward, expecting to see Garnet and her rider ahead on the broad gravel path.

She was dismayed to see instead a familiar dark bay horse abruptly emerge from the trees.

“You needn’t look so surprised, Miss Montgomery,” the earl said, ranging his mount across the path. Blocking her way.

Dull dowager? Never!

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Angelyn

I love the role dowagers play in Regency romance. They are often free to intervene in matters when society’s rules constrain others. You see, marriage might bring a girl some measure of independence, but in Regency times, there is less need to retire to the dower house upon becoming a widow. Particularly if one enjoys a handsome jointure.

In Notorious Vow, Russell’s mother is Lady Nellie, dowager countess of Northam. She married the Earl after his first wife died, and raised the son he already had, Diana’s father, along with her own. When tragedy struck and Russell succeeded to the title, he entrusted the orphaned Diana to his mother, even as she rebelled against her son’s unnatural guilt.

Lady Nellie invites Vivien to a turtle breakfast, where the heroine discovers the dowager is all indulgence where Diana is concerned. For her part, Russell’s mother rejoices when Vivien arrives on the scene,. Diana’s new companion not only steadies the hoyden viscountess, but she also offers an escape from the earl’s notorious vow.

One of my favorite dowagers in Regency romance is Lady Ingham from Georgette Heyer’s hilarious and fast-paced Sylvester. The grandmother of the heroine Phoebe, this lady proves to be rather formidable despite Sylvester’s irritation when her granddaughter is pushed upon him as a prospective wife. Phoebe confounds both of them when her Gothic novel is released to the sensation of the ton, who recognizes Sylvester as the model for villain Count Ugolino.

Book Cover from 1970 UK Edition

“Don’t talk to me of Sylvester!” said the Dowager, with loathing. “If I hadn’t set my heart on his marrying Phoebe I should be in transports over her book! For she hit him off to the life, Georgie! If he ain’t smarting still I don’t know him! Oh, drat the boy! He might have spared a thought for me before he provoked my granddaughter to enact a Cheltenham tragedy in the middle of a ballroom!”

The dowager decides that she shall take Phoebe to Paris to escape the scandal and prevails upon Tom Orde, a young man, to be their escort.

“Let me tell you, Tom, that foreign travel is a necessary part of every young man’s education!” said the Dowager severely.

“Yes, ma’am,” said Tom. He added more hopefully: “Only I daresay my father would not wish me to go!”

“Nonsense! Your father is a sensible man, and he told me he thought it time you got a little town bronze. Depend upon it, he can very well spare you for a week or two. I shall write him a letter, and you may take it to him. Now, boy, don’t be tiresome! If you don’t care to go on your own account you may do so on Phoebe’s.”