WITH WHAT RING?

Engagement rings really HAVE been around forever.
Men have probably been offering a woman a ring in exchange for a promise to marry for thousands of years (we know the Ancient Egyptians did a version of it) but historians agree that the first documented engagement ring was given in 850.
By the Renaissance, a big sparkly jewel was an expected part of a betrothal in the upper classes, and like other trends, the idea slowly filtered down through the social strata. Couples who couldn’t afford the rocks and minerals often went with simple “posy rings” with a poetic inscription, or interlocking “gimmel rings.”
Those rings, though, did not have to be engagement rings.
A man and woman could wear them as simple love tokens, rather than a sign of any impending nuptials.
Remember, until at least the nineteenth century, an engagement was essentially a property matter. A father (or other male protector) was exchanging a valuable asset – a daughter – in exchange for something. Property rights, diplomatic or military ties, consideration in some kind of dispute – any and all of these things might be the motive for a marriage.
And much of the time, the daughter wasn’t nearly as important as the property – or her own dowry. Marriage was far more a matter of property and practicality than of love and feeling…and an engagement ring was a formal sign of a contract.
Well, until the Romantics and Victorians came along, anyhow!
By the Victorian Era, a love marriage was no longer a wanton mistake but an ideal. So the signs to mark and celebrate it reflected that hope and happiness.
It was still the man giving the woman a ring as a sign that she would soon be his – but now with at least a coating of real feeling and respect, as opposed to an exchange of livestock. Rings became romantic and fanciful – spelling out various feelings in the names or colors of the stones.
And of course, the snakes.
Queen Victoria’s adored Albert gave her a snake ring for their engagement, and that set the trend. Snake rings don’t sound like much of a compliment to a modern observer, but serpents were seen as symbols of wisdom and commitment – not a comment that you expected your beloved to turn into a cheating snake.
Times change!
Diamonds, by the way, were a possibility, but not the only stone. They were popular by the Edwardian Era, but didn’t become THE jewel until the late 1930s and beyond. A Victorian groom was just as likely to give his bride her birthstone, or several different stones in some meaningful combination.
With all of that in the air, you’d think the Duke might have something at the ready when he proposes to Ella Shane in A FATAL OVERTURE. (It’s no spoiler – they spend most of the book engaged and arguing over the marriage contract!)
But no.
The proposal is a bit of a surprise, and the ring is definitely one.
Ella ends up with a beautiful ring that actually fits very well in the Victorian tradition of a lovely piece with colored stones and high sentimental value…entirely by accident. No snake, though!
You’ll have to read the book to find out how that happens!

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