Today I’m delighted to be sharing an excerpt from Catherine Kullmann’s newly released novel The Husband Criteria as part of a blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club. The Husband Criteria is a Regency romance set during the 1817 London Season and is the third book in Catherine’s series, The Lorings.

Blurb

London 1817

The primary aim of every young lady embarking on the Spring frenzy that is the Season must be to make a good match. Or must it? And what is a good match? For cousins Cynthia, Chloe and Ann, well aware that the society preux chevalier may prove to be a domestic tyrant, these are vital questions. How can they discover their suitors’ true character when all their encounters must be confined to the highly ritualised round of balls, parties and drives in the park?

As they define and refine their Husband Criteria, Cynthia finds herself unwillingly attracted to aloof Rafe Marfield, heir to an earldom, while Chloe is pleased to find that Thomas Musgrave, the vicar’s son from home, is also in London. And Ann must decide what is more important to her, music or marriage.

And what of the gentlemen who consider the marriage mart to be their hunting grounds? How will they react if they realise how rigorously they are being assessed?

A light-hearted, entertaining look behind the scenes of a Season that takes a different course with unexpected consequences for all concerned.

Excerpt

Swanmere House, London, February 1817

It is the undisputed ambition of every mother to see her daughters and, to a lesser extent (for a daughter-in-law may well one day supplant her) her sons, suitably married. The eligibility of potential matches is determined by an arcane logarithm setting his station, wealth, and personability against her beauty, fortune, and station. Although there is no Euclidean exposition to assist in the application of this tool, matrons of all classes are expert in evaluating a man’s worth, and the likelihood of their daughter successfully attracting his attention.

There are, of course, exceptions to the rule. Some two years previously, Miss Rosa Fancourt, a governess of modest fortune who laid no claim to beauty, had captured the heart of Sir Julian Loring, heir not only to his father, Sir Edward, but also to his maternal grandfather, Lord Swanmere, and had in due course been presented to her Majesty as Lady Swann-Loring, Sir Julian having marked his marriage by combining his paternal and maternal surnames. Now Lady Swann-Loring was about to launch her sister-in-law, Chloe Loring and her husband’s cousin, Ann Overton, into the ton.

“Although it might as well be the blind leading the lame, for all the knowledge I have of the beau monde,” she said candidly to Sir Julian who lounged in a chair in her dressing-room, enjoying the spectacle of his wife being arrayed in full court dress, hoops, feathers, lappers, and diamonds. “We must be grateful to Chloe’s mother for the FitzCharles connection. I am sure Lord Stephen will be able to advise us, and you must keep your ear to the ground for any hint of unsavoury habits—women or gambling—you know what I mean.”

“Not from personal experience.”

The twinkle in his eye belied this solemn profession and she shook her head at him. “Julian, you must take this seriously.”

“I do, I promise you.” He leaned over to kiss her, careful of her finery. “Good luck, my love. I look forward to hearing all about it.”

In the hall of Swanmere House, the three ladies gathered their trains over one arm and stood patiently while maids swathed their finery in wide, black cloaks, carefully drawing the capacious hoods over their plumed headdresses.

“In your dominos you are more suitably attired for a masquerade than a drawing-room,” the dowager Lady Loring remarked. “Only the loo masks are wanting.”

“Apart from protecting us from smuts and soot, they will keep us warm while we wait our turn to be admitted,” her granddaughter-in-law Rosa, Lady Swann-Loring answered. “We’ll leave them in the carriage, of course.”

“And they will be useful if we are invited to any masquerades,” Chloe Loring pointed out.

“I should like to see you dance an entire evening with that over your gown,” said Lord Swanmere, a gentleman who, like her grandmother, would not see eighty again, and in his youth had made the grand tour. “Dominos for masquerades and ridotti were made of much lighter stuff—silk or taffeta.”

“Hmm. You could have a coloured one, to match your gown,” Chloe said. “Maybe we should have a masquerade instead of a ball, Rosa.”

“Not this Season,” Chloe’s brother, Sir Julian Swann-Loring, said firmly. “How much longer do you intend to stand here in the hall?”

“What was it the gladiators used say?” Rosa asked.

“Morituri te salutant—those who are about to die salute you,” her husband supplied. “It will not be so bad, I hope.”

“Just a dead bore,” Rosa said, “but it must be done, I suppose. Come, girls.”

Chloe and Julian’s cousin, Ann Overton, obediently followed her out to the new barouche-landau. Lady Loring had insisted on making Rosa a present of it, saying there was no suitable carriage for a lady of fashion at Swanmere House and that if Rosa was to be put to the trouble of bringing out her sister-in-law and Julian’s cousin, she should at least be properly turned out when driving in the Park and on other outings. “These things make all the difference, my dear,” she had said, “and you will allow me this small pleasure.”

The twin carriage hoods enclosed the occupants of the carriage in a dim cocoon. The day had never brightened, the gloom increased by the tendrils of fog that crept from the river through the streets and across St James’s Park, blending the smoke and soot from thousands of chimneys into a malodorous, thick vapour that irritated the eyes, nose, and back of the throat and left a black deposit everywhere.

“Will it really be so tedious, Rosa?” Ann asked as they moved away.

“It depends. The first time is more interesting, I suppose, just being in the Queen’s House and so close to the royal family. But there is a lot of waiting, first a very slow procession until our carriage reaches the entrance, then we must make our way up the stairs, and then wait our turn in the throne room, one behind the other. It all depends on how many presentations there are, for they delay matters; other ladies simply pass the throne with a curtsey.”

The Husband Criteria is available at
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Catherine Kullmann

Catherine Kullmann was born and educated in Dublin. Following a three-year courtship conducted mostly by letter, she moved to Germany where she lived for twenty-five years before returning to Ireland. She has worked in the Irish and New Zealand public services and in the private sector. Widowed, she has three adult sons and two grandchildren.

Catherine has always been interested in the extended Regency period, a time when the foundations of our modern world were laid. She loves writing and is particularly interested in what happens after the first happy end—how life goes on for the protagonists and sometimes catches up with them. Her books are set against a background of the offstage, Napoleonic wars and consider in particular the situation of women trapped in a patriarchal society.

She is the author of The Murmur of Masks, Perception & Illusion, A Suggestion of Scandal, The Duke’s Regret, The Potential for Love, A Comfortable Alliance and Lady Loring’s Dilemma.

Catherine also blogs about historical facts and trivia related to this era. You can find out more about her books and read her blog (My Scrap Album) at her website. You can contact her via her Facebook page or on Twitter.

For more information about Catherine and her books click on the links below
Website • Twitter • Facebook • BookBub
AmazonAuthorPage • Goodreads

More information on the Coffee Pot Book Club and other works of quality historical fiction can be found on Twitter and Instagram.

Book Title: The Husband Criteria
Series: The Lorings, Book #3
Author: Catherine Kullmann
Publication Date: 24 August 2023
Publisher: Willow Books
Page Length: 297
Genre: Historical Romance/Regency Romance