Another writer complained recently that 'Regency heroines only have music and embroidery as hobbies'.
So of course, my girls want to speak up in their own defence.
Kitty from Cheshire. 'Mama insisted I learn to play the pianoforte and to sing. I enjoy sewing, and I ride but my main interest is helping in the local hospital. Poor folk deserve help when they are ill.'
Sarah from Wiltshire. 'I was taught to play and I can sing reasonably well. It takes most of my time to run the estate for my brother, but he gambles all the money away. Whenever possible, I enjoy reading novels.'
SarahRose from Berkshire. 'I went to the Abbey School in Reading. My main talent is drawing, and it helps me earn enough to be independent. Unfortunately, it also drew me into a highly dangerous plot.'
Anna from Hampshire. 'When dearest papa died, mama remarried. Then I was sent to school in Bath until I was past 19 years of age. I can play the pianoforte and I have a good reading voice. My friends and I have sworn to live a life of adventure like Lord Byron's Childe Harold. So I am setting off to fulfill my first quest NOW.'
Olivia from Gloucestershire. 'Well, I can play the pianoforte if I have to. I prefer to listen to other people's playing. I draw well enough for my brother to want my sketches of the ancient buildings he loves to explore, and I can run an estate. I adore riding and I am a crack shot. Most of all I want to travel to exotic lands.'
Louise from London. 'My family are Huguenots. We work as silversmiths and I design jewellery. I used to enjoy riding before we moved into town. Of course I can sew, mending garments and making new ones is an essential skill, like it or not.'
LouiseAnd then there's Nell, but her father has locked her in her room so she can't run away....
and what about Sonya, desperate to lead a raid against the Turkish scouts invading Hungary?
Yet they can sew and play an instrument, among other skills and interests.
I don't know about Lucinda yet, she hasn't told me so far.
