Artemisia Quotes

“But I beg you remember,’ said her ladyship, turning back to Artemisia, ‘not to walk down St James’s Street.’ ‘Yes, I know: it would be a moral hazard to my reputation,’ said Artemisia, reciting what she had been taught. ‘Though why people should make such a fuss over a lady being ogled by the gentlemen in St James’s Street is beyond me. Debutantes are paraded in front of those very same gentlemen to be ogled at in every other setting and no one has any objections to that practice! Rather than having to go through a whole Season to catch a husband, it would be far quicker if each girl was walked up and down St James’s, whirled around so she could be seen from all angles and auctioned off to the highest bidder. Why, St James’s could become the Tattersall’s of the marriage mart!’ Lady Lubriot choked on what sounded suspiciously like a laugh, and then tried to recover the situation by looking stern. ‘Chérie!’ she exclaimed. ‘You must never – never! – voice that particular notion of yours in public.’ ‘Tattersall’s?’ repeated Aunt Ophelia with incredulity. ‘Did the child just compare the Season to a horse auction?”
― D.G. Rampton, Artemisia