To Marry an English Lord or, How Anglomania Really Got Started Quotes

“When out driving with his mistress, a gentleman places her at his left hand so that everyone he meets will know she is not his wife.”
― Carol McD. Wallace, To Marry an English Lord

“Being perfectly turned out, from kid slippers to lace parasol, including pearl-embroidered petticoats and the third new pair of gloves that day, was the exclusive province of the American woman. More, it was her patriotic duty. The daughters of dukes could indulge in loose-waisted “pre-Raphaelite” dresses, but Americans had to look like aristocrats.”
― Carol McD. Wallace, To Marry an English Lord

“Any aspirant who deviated from the standards laid down by Mrs. Astor and Ward McAllister was doomed. A big house, tasteful parties, fine horses, a reasonably presentable husband guaranteed nothing. If Mrs. Astor refused to know you, you might as well be living in Cleveland.”
― Carol McD. Wallace, To Marry an English Lord

“But the strict rules of precedence produced much odder situations: fathers taking their daughters in to dinner since the girls were the highest-ranking women there; young boys called down from the schoolroom to sit at the head of the table; a general yielding place to his aide-de-camp because the latter was a lord.”
― Carol McD. Wallace, To Marry an English Lord

“York,”
― Carol McD. Wallace, To Marry an English Lord

“sometimes given as little as twenty-four”
― Carol McD. Wallace, To Marry an English Lord

“The chef at Blenheim, whenever he wanted to show his displeasure with Consuelo, would serve ortolans to her guests for breakfast because he knew she considered this mortifyingly nouveau riche.”
― Carol McD. Wallace, To Marry an English Lord

“The women took their social life very seriously; it was, after all, their fiefdom, and they could be implacable. At Newport you were In, in which case you went to the Casino and Bailey’s Beach and to Beechwood and The Breakers; or you were Out, in which case you could drive on Bellevue Avenue and see Mrs. Astor and Mrs. Mills and Mrs. Goelet (you could also be sure they knew exactly who you were and were probably betting on how long you’d last) but be ignored.”
― Carol McD. Wallace, To Marry an English Lord