Miss Pickworth is all astonishment at such queries! Do allow her to address and advise... Gentle readers from the United States will recall that their valiant forebears fought for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness against the British “Redcoats” and their ruler, King George III. Poor George lost the war and, eventually, his sanity. With the king locked away in Windsor Castle, Parliament named his son ruler, or “Regent,” of the kingdom.

The “Regency” lasted from 1811-1820, a mere nine years, before George III passed away and the Regent, George IV, took his place on the throne. During the Regency period, countless fascinating things occurred. Those pesky Americans began the War of 1812 against England and Canada, machinery-smashing Luddites incited riots across the countryside, Louis XVIII attempted to claim the French throne, British forces burned down the White House (sorry, but it’s true), and Napoleon was exiled, then he escaped, and finally he was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo. But you need pay scant attention to such trivia, nor take heed of the fact that John Keats, William Wordsworth, Charles Lamb, and Sir Walter Scott were all busily scribbling away during the Regency. Do not even trouble yourself with the knowledge that Mary Shelley penned Frankenstein during this time. For our hearts, dear reader, are tuned only to one gentle soul, and that can be none other than our beloved JANE AUSTEN.

As for that dreary Queen Victoria, she did not come along until 1837, after both George IV and William IV had enjoyed the throne. During Victoria’s reign, England was known for sooty cities, the industrial revolution, orphans, and all sorts of other depressing things about which Charles Dickens wrote but Jane Austen would never even have considered!