A couple of months ago, after having read so many reader and reviewer comments about the “vividness” of my stories, I was struck with the idea of incorporating illustrations into my work. After finding an artist who I believed shared my vision, I began my experiment with the first book in my “Devilish Vignettes,” a proposed quartet of 10-20K word stories that I am using to build the foundation for my future DeVere books.
Devil in the Making is a prequel to my award winning Devil DeVere Seriesthat serves to provide added backstory on DeVere and to introduce brand new characters who will be appearing in future books. This book is a riotous romp with gorgeous digitially rendered depictions of key scenes in every chapter.
In addition to this first illustration experiment, I have created a dedicated Devil DeVere Fan site where I am posting extended excerpts and sneak peeks as well as showcasing the fabulous illustrations of my digital artist extraordinarire, Polina Ipatova. Here are some samples purely for your visual pleasure.
What happens when a struggling actress and a grieving widower come together in a night of unbridled debauchery orchestrated by a bored and machinating rake?With the devil in charge, there will be hell to pay…
She’s a lonely lady down on her luck…Phoebe Scott, alias Kitty Willis, is a struggling Covent Garden actress with a bruised heart and a closely guarded secret.
He’s steadfast and eminently respectable…Sir Edward Chambers, Ned to his intimates, is guilt-ridden over his beloved wife’s death and has avowed to live out a rustic and mundane life…of celibacy.
Devil-in-disguise Viscount Ludovic DeVere is determined to return his best friend, Ned, to the land of the living. His meddling machinations result in a night of mind-blowing passion after which “Dull Dog Ned” awakes to find himself in the King of England’s bed! A Wild Night’s Bride, a sexy, rollicking Georgian romp!
Ok, first off, I’m going to only write ONE review in favor of all four parts for The Devil DeVere series because they all link together, and must be read chronologically. Also, each section is a tight serial, novellas under 150 pages, which is one of the points that kept me from giving the entire series a five star rating.
Now, let’s move on to the star of the series and all around bad boy who is a force of nature in between the pages and the sheets.
Imagine meeting a good-looking, rakehell aristo who’s an interesting combo of modern day rock star and Lucifer’s bastard offspring, whose lawful name is Viscount Ludovic DeVere; yet, is known to all and sundry as “the Devil DeVere”. Now place this larger than life character in a series that features him as the catalyst to a variety of kooky, romantic, and lusty scenarios, and what we have is Victoria Vane’s The Devil DeVere series, parts 1-4.
DeVere’s supporting role held me captive for a stint of two and half days of steady reading. Thankfully, there will be more to come. It was interesting to see what happened to this wicked, debauched man, who had enough love, loyalty, and honor to make you question why he was ever called, “Devil”.
Ahem, well no, I take that back. Once you see him in action, there is NO question about it, and yet, he’s all the more amusing and lovable. After all, DeVere is a product of his time, heritage, and status. The fact that he’s capable of true feeling is what sold me from the start.
DeVere’s character brings to mind Dangerous Liaisons’ Valmont crossed with George Gordon, Lord Byron, mixed with a liberal dash of John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester. He is introduced in Victoria Vane’s first novella, A Wild Night’s Bride, which has him gallivanting around Regency England with his respectable best friend, Sir Edward Chambers, widower and father to 18-year-old Vesta.
Edward, or “Ned” as he is called, is in town on business and has been celibate for three long years, grieving for his wife. DeVere is appalled at Ned’s self-imposed, monkish behavior and bulldozes him into going to an infamous brothel. Ned encounters desperate, soon-to-be unemployed actress, Phoebe Scott aka Kitty Willis, who is shopping for a protector. With DeVere involved, an uneventful night escalades into a fiasco bordering on treason. What I appreciated most was when all the revelations started tumbling out of the paneling.
Phoebe and Ned are darling, sweet, and passionately carnal without aid, yet DeVere’s presence, along with his uninhibited self-absorption, keep things lively and humorous. For some reason, Ned reminded me of Tim Tebow and Phoebe was Jessica Simpson. Hey, don’t look at me. It works for the comedic element that Ms. Vane skillfully wields throughout the plot, and the entire night is inventive and original. This author knows and loves her subject matter in terms of delving into the historical research, from the setting to the social mores of the ton, which made A Wild Night’s Bride most endearing from page one. The additional notes were just icing on this saucy series.
Pros: What made this series awesome was: the insightful characterization, excellent historical research and effective, non-fussy details, bold, witty dialogue and the fun- loving plot. Oh, whatever! Ludovic DeVere is who makes this series rawk!! Along with the clean, crisp writing and ingenuity, Ms. Vane can do no wrong with Devil DeVere on the scene.
Cons: In A Wild Night’s Bride, I wanted Phoebe to gain closure for what happened to her in the past. I wasn’t pleased with the outcome, and yes, it was realistic, yet, still felt like a betrayal to me and the character. Although Phoebe is rewarded with a big, well-deserved HEA, my back was up at how she was left hanging. The true villain should have gotten a little stab through the gut—or something, if symbolically. *shrug* Well, at least I know what lies in the future of the cad. This dissatisfaction was the second reason why A Wild Night’s Bride got four stars from me.
Verily, I would have to say my favorites are the stories (THE DEVIL YOU KNOW and THE DEVIL’S MATCH) that directly involve DeVere and the special lady of his past, the beautiful Baroness Diana Palmerston-Wriothesley, who is —looks only, not personality—an auburn-haired Kate Winslet, January Jones, or Ava Gardner physical type when I visualize her. I’m still working on DeVere, who I keep picturing as Stuart Townsend –I know, I know, visions of Lestat/Dorian Gray—or a dark version of Tom Hiddleston. Shades of Avengers’ Loki, go figure!
This is a series you don’t want to miss. It’s deliciously spontaneous, elegantly stylish with loads of lust, brass and sass from an author who knows what she’s doing and loves her characters while she’s getting it all done. Especially DeVere; there’s a shipload of adoration for this Byronic rogue. I guarantee when you take on The Devil DeVere series, Ms. Vane’s passion will consume you.
I’ve been reviewing online, on and off, for over three years, and was first introduced to historical romance by an older schoolmate. Ever since then, I’ve been sinking my eyeballs into ye auld bodice rippers (Susan Johnson, Kathleen E. Woodwiss, Bertrice Small), Regency Classics (Georgette Heyer, Gayle Buck), Golden Authors, such as my favorite, Jane Austen, and current authors (Lisa Kleypas, Lesley-Anne McLeod, Victoria Vane). The historical periods I enjoy most are: Regency, Restoration and Renaissance England, “ancient” Europe, Asia, the Americas and Africa.
Paranormal, dark fantasy, sci-fi and urban thrillers are always on my reading shelves. Tanith Lee, Michelle Marquis/Lindsey Bayer, Anne Bishop, Ilona Andrews and Nalini Singh are favorites of these genres. Nonfiction reading involves self-improvement, multiculturalism, fashion, art history, and biographies.
Quality time is spent with family/friends, studying languages/cultures, exercising, traveling, cooking, and shopping. Music taste is eclectic; movies are foreign and stuff like The Avengers. Work keeps me busy, so I’m a spa junkie.
Life is love and books. Lots and lots of both equate happiness.
Although I was asked to write about five things not commonly known about Georgian England, I have decided to narrow it down to five obscure facts you probably didn’t realize were true from THE DEVIL DEVERE SERIES.
#1 The Otaheitian Feast of Venus
FACT: Charlotte Hayes was one of the leading brothel keepers of her day and her establishment at King’s Place was one of the premier pleasure houses. In the twilight of her long career Mrs. Hayes did indeed sponsor such an event in which three and twenty guest comprising “the first of nobility in addition to some baronets and but five commoners.” The formal invitations read:
Mrs. Hayes presents her most respectful compliments to Lord —
and takes liberty to acquaint him that tomorrow evening precisely at seven, a dozen beautiful nymphs, unsullied and untainted, and who breath health and nature will perform he celebrated rites of Venus, as practiced at Otaheite, under the instruction and tuition of Queen Oberea in which character Mrs. Hayes will appear on this occasion.
In A WILD NIGHT’S BRIDE, DeVere accepts this invitation thinking it the ideal opportunity to bring his grieving and celibate best friend Ned back to “the land of the living.”
#2 The Prince of Wales’ affair with actress Mary Robinson
18-year-oldPrince George (later Georve IV) truly did have an affair with actress Mary Robinson after seeing her perform as Perdita. According to Mary Robinson’s memoirs:
The prince offered Mary a bond of 20,000 pounds (to be paid upon his majority) after which she became his mistress. The affair lasted for about a year but the bond was never paid. Abandoned by her lover with no provision and with her reputation in tatters, Mary threatened to publish his love letters. Wishing to avoid a scandal, the king himself offered her a quiet settlement to the tune of about 5,000 pounds. The deal was negotiated by her then lover, Charles James Fox. This bit of gossip is exchanged between Phoebe and Peg, the Covent Garden wardrobe mistress, in A WILD NIGHT’S BRIDE.
#3 Prinny’s (later George IV) habit of collecting locks of hair from all of his lovers.
Throughout his life, George IV had many mistresses, and is said to have cut a lock of hair from each one, placing it in an envelope with her name on it. Supporting the rumor, an astonishing 1000 such envelopes were discovered upon his death. In A WILD NIGHT’S BRIDE, Phoebe holds the dubious distinction of having donated the first lock of hair.
#4 General John Burgoyne as a popular playwright
Although Burgoyne was a career soldier and politician, had he not played a prominent role in the American War of Independence, Burgoyne would most likely be remembered today as a leading Georgian dramatist.
Best known for his role in the American War of Independence in which he suffered defeat at Saratoga, he was never truly enamored of either politics or the military. Referred to by his contemporaries as “Gentleman Johnny,” he was very much a man of fashion who enjoyed the theatre world. Upon his retirement he wrote a number of plays.The most notable were The Maid of the Oaks (1783) and The Heiressand may have co-authored The Camp with Richard Brinsley Sheridan, as well as writing the libretti for William Jackson’s only successful opera, The Lord of the Manor. He also wrote a highly successful version of Richard Coeur de Lion for the Drury Lane Theatre. In THE VIRGIN HUNTRESS Lord DeVere offers Vesta and Diana his box at the Drury Lane for a performance of Burgoyne’s Maid of The Oaks.
#5 The ignoble Baron Baltimore
The story of Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore as relayed by DeVere in THE DEVIL YOU KNOW, is largely factual. Baltimore was a profligate nobleman whose life was rife with scandal. He indeed travelled to the east and acquired a private harem. He was suspected of murdering his wife, although never formally accused. He was indeed tried for the abduction and rape of a young Quaker woman named Sarah Woodcock, who kept a milliner’s shop at Tower Hill. Although acquitted, the scandal forced him to go abroad where he died in Italy at the age of 39.
Mary Robinson (nee Darby) was born in 1758, the third of five children. When Mary was seven, her father Captain Darby went to Labrador to try to establish a whaling station, leaving his wife and family in Bristol while taking his mistress with him. Captain Darby provided scanty support for his wife and children, forcing them to fend largely for themselves. Although she received a sporadic education, while in Bristol Mary attended a school run by the sisters of playwright Hannah More and later attended the seminary of Meribah Lorrington in Chelsea, but the schoolmistress had a predilection for drink which eventually forced the school to close. In desperation to support her family, Mary’s mother started her own school at which fourteen-year-old Mary taught English, however, Captain Darby was opposed to the notion and during one of his brief sojourns at home, closed the school, which was his right by law. According to English law (See Caroline Norton, English Laws for Women) any property or business under his wife’s control was legally his to do with it as he chose.
Somehow Mary contrived to attend a finishing school run by a Mrs. Hervey who brought Mary to the attention of David Garrick, actor and manager of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Although she was only fifteen, Garrick was so impressed with Mary’s talents that he proposed to put her on stage.
“Garrick was delighted with everything I did. He would sometimes dance a minuet with me, sometimes request me to sing the favourite ballads of the day; but the circumstance which most pleased him was my tone of voice, which he frequently told me closely resembled that of his favourite Cibber.”
Never shall I forget the enchanting hours which I passed in Mr. Garrick’s society; he appeared to me as one who possessed more power, both to awe and to attract, than any man I ever met with. His smile was fascinating, but he had at times a restless peevishness of tone which excessively affected hishearers; at least it affected me so that I never shall forget it. ” (Mary Darby Robinson,The Memoirs of Mary Robinson, pp.37-38.)
Mary was now being courted by a young man named Thomas Robinson who presented himself as a law clerk of respectable family, but insisted on a secret marriage that took place on April 12, 1774. Unfortunate for Mary, Robinson had sadly misrepresented both his family background and his prospects for he was in truth a bastard son with no expectations.
“Opposite to the house in which I resided lived John Vernon, Esq., an eminent solicitor. I observed a young inmate of his habitation frequently watching me with more than ordinary attention. He was handsome in person, and his countenance was overcast by a sort of langour, the effect of sickness, which rendered it peculiarly interesting. … During the remainder of the evening, Mr Wayman expatiated on the many good qualities of his friend, Mr. Robinson: spoke of his future expectations from a rich old uncle; of his probably advancement in his profession; and, more than all, of his enthusiastic admiration of me.” (Mary Darby Robinson, The Memoirs of Mary Robinson, pp. 38-39)
The Robinsons, however took on an extravagant lifestyle that by far exceeded their means. Mary insisted on being seen in all the modish places and dressed in the height of fashion while Robinson gambled with his set of fast-living, hard-drinking friends and took on a mistress while allowing his friends to openly pursue his wife.Eventually the creditors caught up with them resulting in Thomas, Mary and the baby lived in King’s Bench prison for over a year where Mary earned a little money by copying legal documents and penned a volume of poetry which she sent to Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire. Mary dedicated Captivity, A Poem: and Celadon and Lydia, A Tale (1777) to the Duchess of Devonshire.
Following 15 months in prison, Mary returned to the theatre in 1776, appearing as Juliet at Drury Lane to great critical acclaim, but her most infamous role was that of Perdita in A Winter’s Tale which led to a command performance for the royal family. Included in the audience was the 17-year-old Prince of Wales (later King George IV) who was bedazzled by her.
According to her memoirs, Mary had already received offers of “protection” from the Duke of Rutland, one of the royal dukes, and an unnamed marquess, but had refused them all to maintain her “good name.” The prince, however, was most determined to make her his mistress and sent his friend Lord Malden to negotiate on his behalf.He delivered to Mary a letter addressed to “Perdita” and signed “Florizel” but Mary was dubious about the authenticity of the letter. According to Mary, the Prince requested that she attend the Oratorio where he would prove he was the author of the letter.
An entertainment in Vauxhall Gardens in c.1779 by Thomas Rowlandson. Elizabeth Billington is singing from the balcony. The two women in the centre are Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire and her sister Lady Duncannon. The man seated at the table on the left is Samuel Johnson, with James Boswell to his left and Oliver Goldsmith to his right. To the right the actress and author Mary Darby Robinson stands next to the Prince of Wales, later George IV
The exchange between the actress and the prince was reported the next day:
From this point onward Florizel and Perdita carried out an amorous and not-so-secret correspondence with Lord Malden still acting as intermediary.
According to Mary:”There was a beautiful ingenuousness in his language, a warm and enthusiastic adoration expressed in every letter ” which interested and charmed her.
Nevertheless, Mary did not immediately jump into an affair which only seemed to fan the flames of his ardor. Prince George sent her his portrait in miniature (surrounded by diamonds) and accompanied by a small paper heart upon which he had written Je Ne change qu’en mourant on one side and “Unalterable to my Perdita through life” on the other and proposed that she come to his apartments disguised in male clothing. Mary once more refused. Their correspondence still continued but now in addition to his letters vowing eternal affection, the prince sent a bond of £20,000, to be paid when he came of age. Shortly after this event, Mary succumbed to the Prince’s wishes to become his mistress, an event the paparazzi followed with glee:
“The writer has paid the highest compliments to the young lady in question, who could make a conquest in the heart of a young and illustrious personage, at the very moment when he is surrounded by all the beauties of the British Court, vying with each other to capture and ensnare him.” (anonymous, Morning Post, July 22, 1780).
“Fortune has again smiled on Perdita; on Sunday she sported an entire new phaeton, drawn by four chestnut-coloured ponies, with a postillion and servant in blue and silver liveries. The lady dashed into town through Hyde Park turnpike at four o’clock, dressed in blue great coat prettily trimmed in silver; a plume of feathers graced her hat, which even Alexander the Great might have prided himself in.” (Morning Herald, June 12, 1781).
The affair, however, lasted less than a year with the Prince’s defection leaving Mary deeply in debt, the price having made no financial provision for his ex-mistress and even refused to honor the 20,000 pound note he had previously given her. With her reputation already in shreds, Mary resorted to extortion by demanding £25,000 for the return of the prince’s letters but settled for £5,000, paid by George III “to get my son out of this shameful scrape.” Mary later obtained a further £500 annuity in return for the surrender of the Prince’s bond.
Caricature of Mary Robinson and Charles James Fox
Lord Malden, the Prince’s original emissary, was now Mary’s most frequent companion, and her lover. Rumor suggests she was mistress to Charles James Fox, who negotiated the annuity for her.
The great Love of Mary’s life, however, turned out to be a half-pay cavalry officer named Banastre Tarleton who joined the Prince’s circle upon his return from the American war in 1782. The affair ironically began when Lord Malden bet 1000 guineas that Mary would be true to him if Tarleton tried to seduce her. Several weeks later, Tarleton won both the bet and Mary’s affections. Although she was furious when she later learned of the wager, her relationship with Tarleton continued for the next 15 years.
Always the darling of the broadsheets, Mary’s subsequent affair was satirized:
Caricature of Lord Malden, Colonel Tarleton and Mary Robinson
“Yesterday, a messenger arrived in town, with the very interesting and pleasing intelligence of the Tarleton, armed ship, having, after a chace of some months, captured the Perdita frigate, and brought her safe into Egham port. The Perdita is a prodigious fine clean bottomed vessel, and had taken many prizes during her cruize, particularly the Florizel, a most valuable ship belonging to the Crown, but which was immediately released, after taking out the cargo. The Perdita was captured some time ago by the Fox, but was, afterwards, retaken by the Malden, and had a sumptuous suit of new rigging, when she fell in with the Tarleton. Her manoeuvering to escape was admirable; but the Tarleton, fully determined to take her, or perish, would not give up the chace; and at length, coming alongside the Perdita, fully determined to board her, sword in hand, she instantly surrendered at discretion. ” (Morning Post, September 21, 1782).
Incapacitated by illness, Mary Robinson spent the rest of her short life in a successful literary career. She died at age forty-two.
Mary Robinson’s ill-fated affair with the Prince of Wales served to inspire a similar incident between my fictional actress Phoebe Scott and Prince George in my erotic romantic comedy A WILD NIGHT’S BRIDE written as Victoria Vane.
As a dyed-in-the-wool history geek, I am always looking to history for inspiration in the belief that using real events and people gives my stories added depth and dimension. This is even the case in my erotic romances. When I set out to write A WILD NIGHT’S BRIDE, I was intrigued by a number of salacious tidbits I had read about the bawdiness of the Georgian era. Often described as a golden age of prostitution, there are several nonfiction books dedicated to this subject (THE COVENT GARDEN LADIES by Hallie Rubenhold and LONDON’S SINFUL SECRET by Dan Cruishanks are two examples that sit on my research shelf.) Both of these volumes dedicate a significant number of pages to a notorious Georgian era bawd named Charlotte Hayes.
Once a famed courtesan in her own right, and ironically known for her genteel demeanor, Mrs. Hayes was also a shrewd business woman who came to own a number of high-end London brothels. The most famous of these was her house at King’s Place, St. James, established in the late 1760′s. Given her great success, by 1779, virtually every house on this street had become a house of pleasure. Competing for the aristocratic patrons were fellow madams Harriet Lewis who specialized in exotics, and Sarah Prendergast, Sarah Dubery, and Catherine Windsor who constantly endeavored to outdo one another by hosting lewd events.
Not to be outdone, Mrs. Hayes conceived of her own subscription-only affair, inspired by the recent voyages of Captain Cook to the Antipodes. Calling it the Otaheitian Feast of Venus, she claimed to reenact the (Tahitian) islanders’ fertility rites as recorded by eye-witnesses from Cook’s HMB Endeavor.
The event was described in Nocturnal Revels (1769):
The decor had been arranged to highlight the lewd ‘Aretinian Postures’ adopted by the participants. A dozen well-endowed athletic youths faced twelve ‘nymphs’ whose beauty could not be doubted although their virginity might be suspect. Each youth presented his nymph with a dildo-shapeed object about a foot long, wreathed in flowers. The couple would then copulate with great passion and considerable dexterity since some of the Aretinian rites demanded a gymnastic suppleness which of a certain could never be achieved by most of the onlookers. All this was accompanied by suitable music until the spectators had lashed themselves into such a state of lasciviousness that they invaded the floor, clutched the nymphs and tried to emulate the examples which had been shown.”
Hayes’s story is told in detail in Hallie Rubenhold‘s The Covent Garden Ladies (2005), as well as in Nicholas Clee’s Eclipse: the Story of the Rogue, the Madam and the Horse That Changed Racing (2009). It is also discussed in Fergus Linnane’s, London, the Wicked City, as well as in several books by E. J. Burford.
A racy, rollicking Georgian Romance Series by Victoria Vane
The cast (in order of appearance)
Viscount Ludovic ”the Devil” DeVere
Devious and machinating rakehell, brother to Hew, godfather to Vesta
Sir Edward Chambers
Respectable and celibate widower with a powerful right hook, father to Vesta, best friend to DeVere
Phoebe Scott “alias Kitty Willis”
Struggling actress with a past, in need of a protector
Lady Vesta Chambers
18-year-old daughter of Sir Edward, spoiled, passionate, willful
Captain Hewett DeVere
War hero younger brother to the viscount, his opposite in every way
Baroness Diana Palmerston-Wriothesley
Godmother to Vesta, beautiful but embittered widow with several closely guarded secrets
Book I A WILD NIGHT’S BRIDE
With the Devil in Charge, there will be Hell to pay…
What happens when a struggling actress and a grieving widower come together in a night of unbridled debauchery orchestratedby a bored and machinating rake?
***
She’s a lonely lady down on her luck : Phoebe Scott, alias Kitty Willis, is a struggling Covent Garden actress with a bruised heart and a closely guarded secret.
He’s steadfast and eminently respectable: Sir Edward Chambers, Ned to his intimates, is guilt-ridden over his beloved wife’s death and avowed to live out a rustic and mundane life … of celibacy.
A Devil in disguise.. Viscount Ludovic DeVere, is determined to return his best friend, Ned, to the land of the living. His meddling machinations result in a night of mind blowing passion after which “dull dog Ned” awakes to find himself in the King of England’s bed!
Lady Vesta Chambers is accustomed to getting what she wants, but when the object of her passion has eyes for another, it’s time to take matters in hand!
***
Lady Vesta Chambers is accustomed to getting what she wants…and what she wants is Captain Hewett DeVere…Coddled and pampered, since her mother’s death, Lady Vesta Chambers is beside herself when her father goes to London to prepare for her come-out and returns with a young bride of his own. With her world turned upside down, Vesta accompanies her godmother, Diana, to town, where she is smitten the moment she lays eyes on a certain captain of the Seventeenth Light Dragoons.
But when the object of her passion has eyes for another… Captain Hewett DeVere, younger brother and heir to Viscount Ludovic ”The Devil” DeVere, has returned from the American war scarred, disillusioned, and looking forward to settling down to a quiet and respectable life. But when the handsome and straight-laced captain turns his eyes toward the widowed Diana, Vesta is prepared to take devilish measures to prove just how wrong he is.
When dealing with the devil it’s easy to be burned…especially when passion ignites the flames…
***
Who can find a virtuous woman…Beautiful, respectable, and dutiful, Lady Diana Palmerston-Wriothesley has long resigned herself to her twelve-year loveless and childless marriage to a feckless husband…until his gambling pushes them to the brink of financial ruin.
Sometimes the devil is in disguise…as a gentleman… Viscount Ludovic, “The Devil DeVere”, is a man accustomed to taking what he wants according to his whim and heedless of the cost…until he encounters a woman who won’t be had at any price.
Once burned twice shy…but when old flames come together…passion reignites
***
When burned once … Arriving in London as her goddaughter’s chaperone, Baroness Diana Palmerston-Wriothesley wants to avoid her erstwhile lover at all costs. Once nearly consumed by passion, four years has reduced the former inferno to bitterness and ashes.
By an old flame… A world-weary master of seduction, Ludovic ”The Devil” DeVere is bored with his chosen life of debauchery. When Diana’s charge disappears, she is forced to seek help from the devil’s lair, and their mutual desire reignites with undeniable ferocity.
An entertainment in Vauxhall Gardens in c.1779 by Thomas Rowlandson. Elizabeth Billington is singing from the balcony. The two women in the centre are Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire and her sister Lady Duncannon. The man seated at the table on the left is Samuel Johnson, with James Boswell to his left and Oliver Goldsmith to his right. To the right the actress and author Mary Darby Robinson stands next to the Prince of Wales, later George IV
From this point onward Florizel and Perdita carried out an amorous and not-so-secret correspondence with Lord Malden still acting as intermediary.
Caricature of Mary Robinson and Charles James Fox
Caricature of Lord Malden, Colonel Tarleton and Mary Robinson
-1630s.jpg)
