When
hardened gamester Marcus Revington wins Horngate Manor in a card game, he is
delighted to finally own property. Even discovering he must marry the heiress
of the estate doesn’t deter him. The heiress, Penny Montgomery, is happy with
her life raising horses at Horngate and has no desire to wed anyone. When she
learns about her guardian’s Wicked Wager,
she schemes to convince Marcus she’s unsuitable as a wife so he’ll forget his
plan to marry her. Who will win this battle of wits and wills? Or will they both
discover the name of the game is love?
Clothes Make the Heroine
At the opening of my latest book, Wicked Wager, the heroine, Penny
Montgomery, doesn’t care anything about clothes or fashion. She’s too busy
raising and training horses on her family estate to even think of how she
looks. But when she learns London
gamester Marcus Revington has won the estate in a card game and plans to marry
her in order to take possession of the property, she discovers that the right
clothing can be very useful.
To convince Marcus she would never
make a suitable wife, she first presents herself in men’s garments: a shirt,
worn trousers and tall boots. Later, as they’re about to set out for London, she
appears in a dowdy daydress that even he recognizes as ten years out of fashion
and very unflattering. When they arrive in London , Penny comes up with another scheme.
She persuades Marcus she needs a new wardrobe, intending to run up an
extravagant bill so that Marcus, who is careful with money, will realize having
her as a wife will be too expensive to make it worthwhile. Later, when another
wager shifts the dynamics between them, and Penny alters her plan from
repelling Marcus to seducing him, she asks the modiste (dressmaker) to fashion garments
for her that will help her entice her fiance.
Unlike Penny, I really enjoy
fashion and clothing, so I had a delightful time writing the scenes at the
modiste and imagining the garments that Penny wears throughout the book. Wicked Wager is my fourth romance set in
the Regency era, so I had already done quite a bit of research on the fashions
of the era.
The first thing that probably
springs to mind when we think of women’s clothing for this time period is the
raised, or empire, waistline. (My mother-in-law, who took fashion design in
college, told me that in fashion, the word is pronounced “um-peer” rather than “em pyre”.)
We may also think of low necklines that displayed a significant amount of
cleavage. For most women, this was probably a style they only wore to
fashionable evening events. Day dresses were normally more modest. But the
extremely low-cut style does end up facilitating Penny’s plan of seduction!
The inspiration for much of the
clothing of the time was the classical era (think of Greek statues of
goddesses) so the clothing was meant to reveal the form of the woman wearing
it, and the fabrics were often very light and sheer. Garments for women were
often also light in color, too, making them almost transparent. Due to the
classical influence, shades of white and pastel colors were most popular,
although slightly brighter hues such as jonquil (a sunny yellow), apple green,
primrose (a lighter yellow) and puce (a purplish pink) were also used. For daytime,
delicate flowered patterns were favored, often of cotton, imported from India and America , which
had become the new luxury fabric. Cotton came in many weights and weaves, such lawn,
which was nearly transparent, cambric, muslin and calico, which was of a
heavier weight and often patterned.
Besides dresses, there were outer
garments like the pelisse, which was a kind of combination coat and cloak and often
had a collar or hood, and shawls, often of cashmere, known then as Kashmir . On their feet, women wore slippers or ankle-length,
laced-up shoes known as half-boots. All this was accessorized with hats of many
variations, gloves and silk stockings. Bras as we know them had not yet been
invented, and women wore zonas, basically a strip of fabric around the breasts
to hold them in place and provide some modesty. Although if modesty wasn’t the
goal, women went braless. Undergarments included pantaloons, which was kind of
a body stocking, often in a nude hue, covering from neckline to thigh, or
pantalettes, which were made up of two leg sections that tied together and
covered the area from waist to thigh. When given a choice between pantaloons
and pantalettes, Penny chooses latter, which I can imagine was much more
convenient for intimate encounters such as in the scene below (which I have
abbreviated to keep it PG):
Penny took a
deep breath, trying to quell the anxiety building inside her. Revington hadn’t
said a word since she’d encountered him in the hallway. Although obviously furious,
he quickly regained control. He’d led her back to the ballroom and said goodbye
to their host, then escorted her out to the waiting carriage. Now he sat across
from her in the vehicle. Although she couldn’t see his expression clearly in
the faint light filtering in through the coach windows, his rigid posture
suggested he was still beside himself with anger.
She wasn’t
certain what she should do, whether she should try to explain or hope his anger
would cool. Somehow it didn’t seem right not to make some comment. She didn’t want
him to think she’d defied him out of spite. Nor did she want him to believe
that anything had happened between her and Lambson. She had to make that clear.
But what could
she say? How could she explain things in a way that would ease his anger? She
could hardly reveal that she’d hoped to make him jealous. Or could she? Not
only was it a logical explanation, but it would indicate to him that she cared
what he thought about her.
Clearing her
throat she began, “I’m certain you’re angry with me, and I can’t really blame
you, but you should know that I—”
She had no
chance to finish as Revington leaned across the coach and pressed his mouth to
hers in a savage kiss.
Her body seemed
to explode with delight, as if to say, Yes! Yes! This was what you were
waiting for! This is the man you desire!
She wrapped her arms around his
neck, giving in completely. Their lips and tongues mated and danced. Eventually
he drew away so they could both catch their breath. He moved to sit beside her
and pulled her onto his lap. His lips were warm against her neck, licking and
nuzzling, making her shiver and sigh. He tore the pelisse away and…
Wicked Wager is available at:
Mary Gillgannon is the author of
fifteen novels, mostly set in the dark age, medieval and English Regency time
periods. She’s married and has two children. Now that they’re grown, she
indulges her nurturing tendencies on four very spoiled cats and a moderately
spoiled dog. When not writing or working—she’s been employed at the local
public library for twenty-five years—she enjoys gardening, reading and travel.
Website: http://marygillgannon.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaryGillgannon
Also, Mary is offering two give-aways:
One is for a gorgeous shamrock solar lantern. Contest ends
May 31st.
The other, in conjunction with several other authors, is for
a $500 gift certificate and ends June 21st.
