A work of art

 

Thanks to author Loretta Chase for posting this charming dress on her Facebook page.

To see the exquisite embroidery in more detail, visit 

                             Evening dress in Classical style, 1800-1810

 

on the V&A website.

From the V&A website: "This evening ensemble characterises Neo-classical dress of the early 19th century. The high-waisted style with short sleeves imitated the forms of Greek and Roman dress seen in surviving sculpture. The white muslin fabrics used for these gowns were either imported from India or, in the case of this example, made in Europe to imitate Indian materials. A design of acorns and vine tendrils has been worked in down the front and around the hem of the gown.

A scarf of knitted silk has been printed in a pattern similar to those of the popular Indian cashmere shawls.⁠

Evening dress of white muslin, embroidered all over in white cotton. The embroidery is worked in a pattern of French knots, with the collars, skirt border, and centre stripe embroidered in chain stitch. The design links vine tendrils and acorns. The dress has a low square neck adjusted with a draw-cord, and 'stomacher' front closing over inner lining flaps. The waist is high and the skirt cut straight and gathered at the centre of the back, fastening with a tape tie. It extends into a long oval train. The sleeves are short and have a 'vandyke' trimming."⁠

©Victoria and Albert Museum, London⁠

And many thanks to Loretta Chase for her wonderful novels.

We await the third Difficult Duke's story eagerly.

Easter memories of Wales

Easter always meant a visit to Wales 

                     and time with the Welsh side of our family 

                      Some memories from the hills and valleys of wild Wales

Happy Easter  - Pasg Hapus

Mount Eryrii / Yr Wyddfa

   

Bore da / Hello

Elan Valley dams

Old Market Hall, Llanidloes.

Take a trip to Brighton with Anna and friends

 On FREE OFFER this week,

THE RAKE'S CHALLENGE

The Rake's Challenge

Lord Giles Maltravers, the Earl of Longwood, is weary of society life, duels and even his mistress.

Miss Anna Lawrence, inspired by Lord Byron’s poems, is determined to seek a life of travel and adventure.

Both decide to flee society. They meet fleetingly in unusual circumstances, and then again in Brighton, where life takes more unusual turns for both.

The King's Arms Inn. Prinny's favourite drinking hole in Brighton.

Thanks to Lady Catherine - A few useful Regency related sites

 A teaparty with Lady Catherine 

 is an excellent way to make new friends and have fun,  also to exchange ideas,
 learn about authors we haven't discovered before,    
and find useful websites dealing with Regency related topics.

                 

https://paulcouchman.co.uk/     For recipes and articles that take you back in time.

https://www.pinterest.com/CeruleanHMC/regency-portraits-of-men-1795-1830/

Regency portraits of women

          and a bit of Georgian Bling to  gladden the eye

                                                                  

Tea with Lady Catherine [ for those who know]

 

 You are most welcome to join me for 

tea with Lady Catherine

each day in the week beginning Monday, 26th February

  

'My River' - memories of childhood

MY RIVER

Remembering happy summer holidays in wild Wales

 

Enjoy a few minutes of nostalgia as I recall those times in 'My River'

on Wake Up Leo 15th February on BBC Radio Berkshire

(And across quite a few counties)

A variety of chats, stories and music.

[whisper - 'My River' starts at 40 minutes in ]

- Upload at 6-8pm on 95.4 FM, 104.1 FM, on Digital, BBC Sounds and :

https://bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0805r6w…

Repeated from 6pm on Saturday 17th February

https://t.co/EVHPzW0D75

"Persuasion" - The awakening of Frederick Wentworth

 

'Persuasion' - Jane Austen's tale about the stiflingly dull life of Anne Elliot, who at nineteen gave up her engagement to satisfy the strict and snobbish ideas of her class-obsessed father.

Eight years later, faded and quiet, what future does she have?

The pain of what might have been is made worse when Captain Wentworth returns and she has to see him apparently falling in love with a much younger girl.

But events make Frederick Wenworth realise how much he still values and admires Anne, and suddenly, he realises he still loves her. Only - is it now too late for him?

He pours out his feelings in a hastily scribbled letter, often considered the most romantic letter in all English literature.

“I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant. You alone have brought me to Bath. For you alone, I think and plan. Have you not seen this? Can you fail to have understood my wishes? I had not waited even these ten days, could I have read your feelings, as I think you must have penetrated mine. I can hardly write. I am every instant hearing something which overpowers me. You sink your voice, but I can distinguish the tones of that voice when they would be lost on others. Too good, too excellent creature! You do us justice, indeed. You do believe that there is true attachment and constancy among men. Believe it to be most fervent, most undeviating, in F. W.

I must go, uncertain of my fate; but I shall return hither, or follow your party, as soon as possible. A word, a look, will be enough to decide whether I enter your father's house this evening or never.”

― Jane Austen,   Persuasion