OUT FOR A STROLL
Summer walk season is upon us (despite allergies) with all the freedom and fun it brings…and we’re not the first people to make the most of warm and pretty days.
Courting and potentially courting, couples in the 19th century, for example, got plenty of mileage out of those leaf-lined paths.
In a world where young men and women, never mind single adults, lead independent and lightly-chaperoned lives, it’s hard to imagine why walking in the park was such a popular courtship option. Yes, walking and talking are fun, and scenery, of the natural and human variety are always good things…but…meh.
Not meh, though, in 1899, when a nice young lady would never have been alone with a man who was not her blood relative. And even her fiancé would have counted himself lucky to be allowed a chaste kiss in the foyer with a protective parent spying through the pocket door!
For people who had very few chances to get to know each other as humans, never mind potential partners, a walk in the park was a great way to start.
A lady could take her swain’s arm in full propriety and converse about all manner of things without some interfering relative making sure they kept topics to improving books, classical music and recent sermons. Her escort might actually express, and defend, interesting opinions he would not dare offer under watchful eyes in her parlor. Not to mention, she might stumble on an uneven paving stone and require a hand to hold – or even, perhaps, an arm around the waist, though that would not be permitted for more than a fleeting instant.
And all of it without the least danger to her reputation – or her gentleman’s standing with her family – because of course, they were simply walking in a public place.
The very public nature of such an outing also served as a bit of a declaration as well. Consenting to be seen walking-out with someone meant that you considered them at least a potential suitor. And the neighbors would make assumptions if they saw you more than once or twice with the same person, whatever your intent.
All of that is in play whenever Ella Shane and her Duke go walking in Washington Square Park. It starts the very first time, in A FATAL FINALE, when they’re allegedly just acquaintances working a case. Ella, if not a celebrity by modern standards, is certainly known in the City, and when she’s seen with this dapper British fellow, the gossips immediately wonder if there’s a courtship underway.
Soon enough, there is.
While Ella and Gil have some unusual habits for courting couples – they fence together! – those walks are the main sign of their public courtship. We see them strolling and talking frequently, often about the case at hand, but just as often about each other.
Everyone else sees them, too, providing that public declaration of intent implied by frequent walks.
And, just in case you’re wondering, there are many more walks ahead…some of them in the days before their marriage. (It’s not a spoiler – A FATAL RECEPTION is the wedding book, coming April 2024 from Level Best Books!)
Got a #ThrowbackThursday idea? Drop it in the comments.
Courting and potentially courting, couples in the 19th century, for example, got plenty of mileage out of those leaf-lined paths.
In a world where young men and women, never mind single adults, lead independent and lightly-chaperoned lives, it’s hard to imagine why walking in the park was such a popular courtship option. Yes, walking and talking are fun, and scenery, of the natural and human variety are always good things…but…meh.
Not meh, though, in 1899, when a nice young lady would never have been alone with a man who was not her blood relative. And even her fiancé would have counted himself lucky to be allowed a chaste kiss in the foyer with a protective parent spying through the pocket door!
For people who had very few chances to get to know each other as humans, never mind potential partners, a walk in the park was a great way to start.
A lady could take her swain’s arm in full propriety and converse about all manner of things without some interfering relative making sure they kept topics to improving books, classical music and recent sermons. Her escort might actually express, and defend, interesting opinions he would not dare offer under watchful eyes in her parlor. Not to mention, she might stumble on an uneven paving stone and require a hand to hold – or even, perhaps, an arm around the waist, though that would not be permitted for more than a fleeting instant.
And all of it without the least danger to her reputation – or her gentleman’s standing with her family – because of course, they were simply walking in a public place.
The very public nature of such an outing also served as a bit of a declaration as well. Consenting to be seen walking-out with someone meant that you considered them at least a potential suitor. And the neighbors would make assumptions if they saw you more than once or twice with the same person, whatever your intent.
All of that is in play whenever Ella Shane and her Duke go walking in Washington Square Park. It starts the very first time, in A FATAL FINALE, when they’re allegedly just acquaintances working a case. Ella, if not a celebrity by modern standards, is certainly known in the City, and when she’s seen with this dapper British fellow, the gossips immediately wonder if there’s a courtship underway.
Soon enough, there is.
While Ella and Gil have some unusual habits for courting couples – they fence together! – those walks are the main sign of their public courtship. We see them strolling and talking frequently, often about the case at hand, but just as often about each other.
Everyone else sees them, too, providing that public declaration of intent implied by frequent walks.
And, just in case you’re wondering, there are many more walks ahead…some of them in the days before their marriage. (It’s not a spoiler – A FATAL RECEPTION is the wedding book, coming April 2024 from Level Best Books!)
Got a #ThrowbackThursday idea? Drop it in the comments.
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I am glad to hear there is another book coming?
I know I'll get a lot of flack for this.