My girls and where they go

 When the author likes travelling, she takes her girls along

London

Kitty travels from Cheshire down to London most unwillingly. Who wants to stay with a great-aunt they've never met? But London turns out to be exciting and dangerous. And the great-aunt has a trick or two up her sleeve. And Grosvenor Square is an impressive place to stay in.

The Wild Card

Bath

Sarah stays in Bath with her friend Lizzie, whose uncle has gout. In fact most of the people in this story are invalids of various sorts, but all miraculously cured by the end of it [except for the evil villain, of course.]

                                                    

In All Honour

Brighton

Anna ends up in Brighton, finds a group of friends and enjoys all the pleasures of a seaside holiday. There are some rather unsavoury undercurrents but in the end all turns out splendidly. 

           The Rake's Challenge

SOME OF THE GIRLS GO FURTHER AFIELD

Constantinople [now Istanbul]

Olivia, too scandalous to remain in polite society, joins her brother in Constantinople. She falls in love with the place and the way of life there, but, as always, where Olivia goes, trouble soon follows.

    

Scandalous Lady

[There are similarities between Prinny's Brighton Pavilion and the Sultan's summer palace...]

   

   

Ax-les-Thermes - London - Hartwell House, Buckinghamshire

Louise gets drawn into a quest that takes her from London to the Pyrenees, back home then to the French King in exile at Hartwell House, and back to France, pursued all the way by Napoleon's ruthless agents.

The Rake and His Honour 

                                             

                                     Thermal Baths, Ax-les-Thermes

   London - Constantinople [now Istanbul]

Rose is NOT really keen on travel and adventure, but she makes the best of matters. Getting drawn into a highly dangerous plot is hard enough, but when the Sultan's powerful chief minister falls for her, however will she extricate herself from this oh so delicate situation....?

April and May         

                                           

                                            Toilette in the harem by Osman Hamdi Bey

How my virtue was saved

    Anna explains:  My virtue was only saved thanks to the Language of the Fan

           

                                                                                                   Marine Parade,   Brighton, 
                                                                                                         31st August 1814                                                                                                                                                                                            Dearest   Emily,

             Today I shall not be present at Donaldson’s for the teatime meeting. It is a great pity when the weather is so mild and the sea is calm. However, Lady Fording is fatigued and so we must remain quietly at home. She won quite a large sum at cards last night, and continued playing longer than usual, encouraged by her success. I do love her for being such a sprightly old lady. And she is very kind to me, but even so, I cannot tell her anything about the Events of last night, even though it is thanks to her that I had the means to escape a Horrid Fate.

           Emily, you swore you would keep anything I told you a Secret and so I will share what happened with you. Let me begin from the moment when that odious Mrs Chetwynd interrupted our little gathering at the Castle Tavern last night. By the by, did you see how low cut her gown was? If she had so much as sneezed…! She took me into the other salon, into an alcove and [I shudder as I write his name] that horrible roué, Sir Bilton Kelly, was there, with his dissipated face and oily manner. Between the pair of them, they thought they had me trapped, so that I would submit to being taken to the Prince Regent’s private party, which they kept insisting I must do.

The Castle Tavern, [digital image owned by the Society of Brighton Print Collectors]

             My dear Lord Longwood had warned me repeatedly against accepting any such invitation, and indeed, I was very Angry, but could not push my way out of that narrow alcove with Mrs Chetwynd blocking the way. It was most humiliating to see that many people in the room were watching, some more discreetly than others. And, oh, thankfully, at the far end of the room was Lord Longwood. He noted the general silence and turned in my direction. Lady Fording has been instructing me in the language of the fan, and so, even though my hands were shaking [with anger, not fright, you understand], I hastily took mine in my hand, waved it, then snapped it shut, laying a finger on the top of the sticks. That signals ‘I wish to speak with you’, and Lord Longwood understood.

At once, he made his way over toward me. Mrs Chetwynd was angry and tried to distract him, but he ignored her. When Sir Bilton Kelly blustered, he stared at him through his eyeglass in a truly Terrifying manner. Then he offered me his arm and so I made my escape. Once we reached the hallway, my knees began to shake. You know how Lord Longwood’s face goes dark when he scowls, and his black hair falls over his forehead. He assured me he was not angry with me and suggested we should take a turn along the path up towards the Pavilion and back, so I might compose myself.

In his company I soon felt calmer. But then he announced that he would be leaving Brighton today to return to London. That made my heart sink into my boots, for he is always so kind and helpful towards me and, as you have suspected, I do love him with all my heart. On an impulse I begged him to kiss me goodbye. But I asked for a proper kiss. He was shocked and then, his face changed, those wonderful green eyes glowed and he did, indeed kiss me. In those moments, I went to heaven. But now I am Wretched, for I want more of those sensations. Oh, Emily, I depend on you to support me through the next days as I struggle to appear calm. At least, until we can meet for a conversation, I have my copy of Lord Byron’s Corsair, to divert my mind from its sorrows. Truly, Emily, I cannot decide if being in love is a blessing or a curse.

                                                                             Your friend,                                                                                                                         Anna

     

                                                           The Rake's Challenge

Summer in Brighton, 1814

The Rake's Challenge is set mainly in Brighton in summer 1814, after the grand Peace Celebrations in London, to mark the defeat of Napoleon and the restoration of the Bourbon king, Louis XVIII to the French throne.

In Brighton, the mood is relaxed - the long years of war are over and people want entertainment. There were visits to the races, to the theatre, sea bathing, promenades along the Steyne, card parties, and for the lucky ones, [or not always so lucky] an invitation to an evening at the Prince Regent's Pavilion.

 Below are some of the places visited by Anna during her seaside holiday.

The Steine in 1805

The Castle Tavern

               [ digital image owned by the Society of Brighton Print Collectors.]

THE BRIGHTON THEATRE

As it appeared 1814-19

 


[ http://www.mayhum.net/hcobb_theatre.htm ]

Anna does try sea bathing but she ends up in hot water with Giles.

and in one of her dashing new gowns


[from Ackermann's Repository series 1]

A visit to Brighton, Prinny included in : - "The Rake's Challenge"

Do you know how there are those authors you buy no matter what? Those authors who you love and get so excited when I new book comes out. Well that is what Beth Elliott is to me! She is an amazing writer and a fantastic person! I even got to meet her on a trip to England and we had a lovely high tea together. If you have not read Beth, please do! Her books are reasonably priced, things I read over and over again, filled with new words for my vocabulary, and she has written one of my all time favorite heroes. His name is Greg, and yes, it's serious.  Rachel Joyce


I am deeply touched by this kind tribute from Rachel, herself an academic and writer and a keen fan of Regency England and stories thereof, as well as loving Wales, where she spent a year. 

             Rachel, I put a Welshman in this story [although in a very minor role].

                                            
                                         

                          https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B077K221F4


Another day, another duel for Giles Maltravers, Earl of Longwood. London’s worst rake lives up to his scandalous reputation, but begins to find it’s all getting wearisome. When his father, the duke, orders him to reform and marry. Giles responds by driving out of town in search of fresh adventures. On his way he sees a young lady being molested by a couple of drunken young bloods, and rescues her.
Shaken by her narrow escape, Annabelle Lawrence reluctantly allows Giles to drive her to her destination. She declares she is setting off on a life of adventure and he recognises a kindred spirit. A month later, they meet again in Brighton. But the agreeable summer holiday nearly goes horribly wrong when the Prince Regent is the target of a sinister plot, involving Anna. Giles has to rescue her yet again. He comes to realise that looking after her makes life more worthwhile, but of course, the path of true love does not run smooth.

Prinny and his Pavilion #MarinePavilion

On 12th August, 1783, George Augustus Frederick, Prince of Wales, celebrated his 21st birthday.

Shortly after this date he arrived in Brighton for an eleven day visit to his uncle, the infamous Duke of Cumberland. The pair threw themselves into an endless round of entertainment, all spiced with lavish amounts of food and spirits.

The Prince liked Brighton so much that he returned again and again. In Brighton his lifestyle consisted of gambling, boxing, riding, horse racing, cricket, balls, theatre visits, banquets and love affairs. At first he rented a farmhouse and eventually bought it. This building was situated at the end of the main road from London to Brighton, ideally placed to create a stunning impression on all visitors to the town.

It became known as the Marine Pavilion. Initially, the Prince added to his new home in the French Neo-Classical style.


     

As with all his interests, however, he constantly changed his tastes. Thus, the Pavilion underwent further enlargements and modifications. By 1802 there was a new banqueting room and a confectionery room. [The Prince kept three confectioners on his domestic staff!]

In 1801 the prince received a gift of some oriental wallpaper. From that point he had the Pavilion redecorated in a range of oriental styles, featuring Indian and Chinese elements. This was accompanied by further remodelling of the exterior to the highly exotic appearance it has today.



By the time the Pavilion looked like this, 

George IV looked like this...

                          

The Prince Regent and his Pavilion feature in The Rake's Challenge, 

the story of a seaside holiday that nearly went horribly wrong.

The Rake's Challenge

Regency Brighton

Brighton is another town with a great many Georgian style buildings. Its popularity in the early nineteenth century meant that a huge building programme was undertaken. This has given the town a rather grand and harmonious appearance. It is also useful as research material for a new Regency tale.

The small streets with their tiny cottages, the maze of medieval alleys, even the House of Correction, give the impression of a small town. Around this nucleus a new town grew all the way from Marine Parade to Brunswick Town. There are many fine examples of elegant villas and sweeping terraces of tall, colonnaded buildings so beloved by Regency architects.

Set at the end of the main road from London to Brighton and calculated to catch the visitor's eye as he arrived, was the Prince Regent's Pavilion. It is so incredible that normal criticism or comments cannot apply. The Prince loved his summer palace and was a generous and kind host to his guests. I have to confess that I would have loved to dine with him in that awe-inspiring dining room, under the massive chandelier with its mirror palm leaves glittering and twinkling above the candles. No doubt the other ornaments and decorations reflected the lights in fascinating ways also. And then I would have loved the Prince to take me on one of his tours of the kitchens, where fantasy gave way to practicality and he could demonstrate his pride in all the up-to-date gadgets he had installed there.

Just a dream.... but in my story, perhaps some of my characters can live the dream for me.