Guest Post: The Gilded Shroud by Elizabeth Bailey

Please join me in welcoming Elizabeth Bailey to Let Them Read Books! Elizabeth's historical mystery The Gilded Shroud is being republished by Sapere Books, and she's here today with a guest post about the noble intentions behind societal restrictions on Regency women and how she circumvented them in her books.

1789, London

When Emily Fanshawe, Marchioness of Polbrook, is found strangled in her bedchamber, suspicion immediately falls on those residing in the grand house in Hanover Square.

Emily’s husband - Randal Fanshawe, Lord Polbrook - fled in the night and is chief suspect – much to the dismay of his family.

Ottilia Draycott is brought in as the new lady’s companion to Sybilla, Dowager Marchioness and soon finds herself assisting younger son, Lord Francis Fanshawe in his investigations.

Can Ottilia help clear the family name? Does the killer still reside in the house?

Or could there be more to the mystery than meets the eye…?

The Gilded Shroud is the first book in the Lady Fan Mystery series: historical romance murder mysteries set in eighteenth-century London.

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You can’t go there or do that if you’re a lady

by Elizabeth Bailey

Contrary to our ideas of what is acceptable, restrictions on Regency ladies were, on the whole, for their protection. We consider crowds safer these days, but at that time a country walk in a peaceful village environment held far fewer terrors than the capital. London was a dangerous place.

Pickpockets abounded, but they were small fry compared to the plethora of thieves, beggars and vagabonds as well as tradesmen going about their legitimate business. A woman alone, especially if young and pretty, was a target for any marauding male, of whatever class. Alone, she was vulnerable to unwanted gallantries and suggestive talk.

Even in the more genteel parts of town, like Mayfair and its environs, a lady would not walk out without her maid in tow, or preferably a footman. Even two or three ladies walking together in Hyde Park would have a footman following at a respectful distance. This, along with the quality of her dress, demonstrated her class and that she was protected. Better still, a male relative or known family friend would accompany her.

To be seen out without adequate protection therefore put a lady at risk of her reputation. She was expected to adhere to the rules. She flouted them at her peril. The prohibitions extended beyond walking out alone, however.

All the haunts of men were taboo. Public rooms at inns were off limits unless accompanied. This also applied to coffee or chocolate houses, eating establishments, public masquerades and assemblies, pleasure gardens—in fact anywhere except engagements in private houses. Even there, no lady would attend an event hosted by a single gentleman, unless he had a genteel female acting as his hostess.

This applied to travel as well. Necessarily, since highwaymen were a curse. A lady did not ride the stagecoach (unless she had descended the social ladder to become a governess or companion). At least a maid or older female must travel with her. The groom was armed, and ladies might hire outriders for further protection.

It is probably fair to say that the custom creating these shibboleths was built around the necessity for purity of line. Women were the child-bearers, therefore the source of heirs to titles and property. Purity of line demanded purity of womanhood. A girl must marry with her maidenhead intact and no hint of past scandal.

Scandal was not only to do with sexual encounters either. A lady would never be seen fraternising with women of ill repute—courtesans or fallen women. She was expected to pretend to know nothing about that side of a gentleman’s life.

All this presents an enigma to the novelist with a female Regency sleuth. How is to investigate if she is restricted as to where she can go? The solution proved simple. Provide her with a male protector, one she can rely on to help her do what she needs to do despite his disapproval.

The male sidekick is also able to do a little sleuthing on her behalf, for he can go where she cannot. Although my heroine Ottilia rapidly becomes adept at cajoling Lord Francis Fanshawe into allowing her to go where no woman has gone before!

About the Author:

An avid reader from an early age, Elizabeth Bailey discovered her true métier as a writer in her thirties, when she fulfilled an early addiction to Georgette Heyer by launching into historical romance. Eight years and eight books later, Elizabeth joined the Harlequin Mills & Boon stable, fuelling her writing with a secondary career teaching and directing drama, and writing plays into the bargain.

With 18 historicals published, she began to concentrate on the mainstream and in 2005, Elizabeth’s novel Fly the Wild Echoes was released in both the UK and the US simultaneously by Unlimited Publishing. The novel was a contender in the Booker list for that year. A mystery – a whodunit of the mind, as one reader has it – the book explores the interwoven lives of three women and investigates the possibility of past lives.

Now retired from teaching, Elizabeth directs for a local theatre group where she lives in West Sussex. Recently, however, even this foray into drama has had to take a back seat as she changed direction to enter the world of crime.

Still thoroughly involved in her favourite historical period, Elizabeth placed her female sleuth in the late Georgian world of intrigue, elegance, aristocrats and rogues, where privilege rubbed shoulders with the harsh realities of making ends meet. While Ottilia moves into the upper echelon, she is thoroughly at ease in the lower, which allows Elizabeth to cross boundaries with impunity.

http://www.elizabethbailey.co.uk/