Jennifer Kloester Read online

  DUELLING

  There were a number of fencing academies in London during the Regency but probably the most famous of these was the school which had been established in the previous century by the famous master of the sword, Dominico Angelo. Angelo was an elegant, athletic man, who had cultivated every physical attribute and been esteemed by his friends and pupils alike for his extraordinary skill and dedication to his work. During the Regency his famous Bond Street school (next door to Jackson’s Boxing Saloon) was run by his son Henry who, like his father before him, was considered by the ton to be a master in the art of the fence. Well-bred gentlemen like Gervase Frant in The Quiet Gentleman became extremely skilled with a sword and sometimes attended the school to take lessons from the master, and Angelo’s subscription list included some of the noblest names in England.

  Going to a moneylender was usually a last resort for those who found themselves deep in debt.

  Although a small number of duels were still fought with swords during the Regency, the growing popularity of guns and game shooting, coupled with improvements in firearm design and manufacture, increasingly saw pistols as the weapon of choice in settling an argument. There were three main reasons for challenging a man to a duel: taking liberties with a female relative; accusations of cheating, defamation or dishonourable behaviour; and attacking someone physically. A set of strict rules known as the Code of Honour governed the behaviour of any man involved in a duel and it was always the injured party’s prerogative to call out the offender and to choose the type of weapons to be used in an engagement. Once a challenge had been accepted the two parties—known as principals—would name their seconds, usually close and trusted friends, to act on their behalf. The Code of Honour decreed that a combatant place his honour in the hands of his seconds and it was their responsibility to see that protocols were adhered to and an equal contest was arranged. As both Ferdy Fakenham and Gil Ringwood in Friday’s Child knew only too well, the first duty of the seconds was to try and prevent the duel taking place while maintaining the honour of the principals. There was no dishonour in offering an apology or admitting error unless a blow had been struck (in which case no apology could be received) and the seconds would always try for an amicable settlement before arranging an engagement—a task which proved extremely challenging for Mr Warboys in The Quiet Gentleman.

  Peregrine Taverner was forced into a duel in Regency Buck.

  A duel had to be fought within forty-eight hours of a challenge and at a time and place mutually agreed upon by the parties. Early morning was considered the best time for an engagement and most duels were held at locations just outside of town. It was the seconds’ duty to check the weapons, load each gun and mark out the firing distance—usually one of between ten and fourteen paces (a pace was about a yard). The distance selected by the seconds usually depended on the abilities of their principals, with a longer range for an expert marksman and a shorter distance for an indifferent shot. Lord George Wrotham held out for a distance of twenty-five yards in Friday’s Child which his friends considered most unfair given that he was a crack shot. Combatants saluted each other before ‘leeching’ or stepping up to their marks, saluted again, turned sideways with their arm extended and the pistol cocked, and waited for the signal to fire. Once they were in position a handkerchief was raised by a third party and the seconds, servants and surgeons moved at least thirty yards away, with the surgeons turning their backs until they heard the shots. At the drop of the handkerchief both combatants fired at each other or into the air if they wished to admit fault by deloping as both Sherry and George did in Friday’s Child. Each party was required to stay on his mark until both pistols had been fired and it was considered wise not to lower one’s arm, even after firing, until the other shot had been taken. In the event of a combatant being wounded before he had fired he was still at liberty to shoot, provided he did so within two minutes of his opponent’s shot. If a gun missed fire or failed for any reason no second shot was allowed. At the end of the duel both parties (if they were able) saluted, expressed their regret and left the field.

  The Duke of Sale purchased a superb pair of Mantons

  duelling pistols in The Foundling.

  A pocket pistol of the type used by Sophy on her visit to the moneylender,

  Mr Goldhanger, in The Grand Sophy.

  A duelling pistol was an elegant weapon, usually with a ten-inch barrel and a finely worked flint- or percussion-lock above a curved handle, and the guns were often finished in silver or decorated with delicate filigree work. The finest duelling pistols had a hair-trigger as part of the lock; this finely worked piece of craftsmanship, although an advantage, could be dangerous. The hair-trigger had to be treated with the utmost caution as, once set, it could go off at any moment. Combatants were always advised to keep their pistol pointed at the ground once it was made ready to fire. During the Regency, the most sought-after guns were those made by Joseph Manton, the most famous gun maker of the day. Named after their maker, these superbly balanced pistols were considered to be among the finest weapons then available, with an exquisite ‘feel’ that gave the shooter the sense that the gun was part of his hand. Although many men aspired to own a brace of Mantons, at fifty to sixty guineas for a pair of duelling pistols, only the very wealthy could afford them. In The Foundling, the Duke of Sale took delivery of an elegant pair of Mantons before setting out on his adventures. Joseph Manton also ran a shooting gallery in London’s Davies Street where sporting men could practise their marksmanship by shooting at rows of paper wafers attached to three-foot-wide, circular cast-iron targets. A man who could hit or ‘culp’ more than twelve wafers over a distance of fifteen yards in under six minutes (and reload his guns between each shot) was considered proficient. A man who could better such an accomplishment, and did so in the presence of spectators at Manton’s, would be termed a marksman and enjoyed the advantage of being unlikely ever to be called out for a duel. Although some women were competent with firearms, they were precluded from visiting Manton’s, something Charles Rivenhall in The Grand Sophy regretted when he discovered that his cousin Sophy was proficient with a pistol.

  13

  Business and the Military

  THE POSTAL SERVICE

  Letter-writing was an important part of Regency life although the cost could be prohibitive. Postage was calculated according to the distance travelled to deliver it—with the charge borne by the recipient rather than the sender. It cost two pence for delivery within London, increasing to a shilling to send a letter 400 miles, and charges were doubled if the writer enclosed anything in the letter or used an additional sheet of paper. The need to restrict letters to a single page often caused letter writers such as Arabella to cross her lines by writing the letter in the usual way and then turning the page sideways and writing at right angles over the top of the existing words. This could make correspondence very hard to read as Nell Cardross discovered in April Lady when she tried to decipher a letter in which her mama had crossed and recrossed her lines—Lady Pevensey had written horizontally, vertically and diagonally across the page. There were no envelopes in the modern sense and so letters were folded in a particular way and sealed with either a blob of melted sealing wax or a wafer (a small thin disc made of gum and flour which, when dampened, could be affixed to the letter). Members of the peerage and of both Houses of Parliament were entitled to have their mail delivered free of charge using a system known as ‘franking’, according to which an MP or peer had to sign his name and write his address on the outside of the letter to avoid the charge.

  Arabella wrote a long letter to her family ‘in a fine,

  small hand, and on very thin paper, crossing her lines’.

  THE CITY

  The financial heart of London was the ancient City of London, originally recognised by charter in 1070 when William the Conqueror, deciding it would be prudent to treat London as a separate city, guaranteed the citizens their property, privileges and protection from aggresso