George Brummell, or Beau Brummell, as he was called, was the leader of fashionable life in Regency England. He was born into rather humble circumstances, with an unconventional mother who openly and rather scandalously lived with Brummell’s father before they married. His father, a valet, rose in rank to serve as private secretary to the prime minister, Lord North, and the Brummell family lived for a short time at 10 Downing Street, which is now the residence of all English prime ministers. His father then managed to procure himself a baronetcy and so his children, George, William, and Maria, became part of genteel society. Through a dazzling combination of good looks, easy charm, impeccable taste, and quick wit, George Brummell rose to become the king of fashionable society. He was best friends with the Prince Regent and could make or break anyone’s social standing with a lift of a quizzical eyebrow. His individual way of dressing for the times—in sober colors and fine, clean tailoring—has influenced men’s fashions in such a profound way that we still feel it in the concept of the suit today. Like his friend the Prince Regent, he liked the company of older women and was the confidant of some of the Regency’s greatest hostesses. He reigned supreme in society until he overstepped his own power at a ball he was hosting by making an insulting comment to the Prince Regent. Famously, when the Prince Regent approached him, Brummell asked Lord Alvanley, “Who is your fat friend?” While that actual comment might be apocryphal, whatever he said resulted in his being cut from royal favor, and his power waned until debt drove him from England. He died of syphilis in an asylum in France in 1840. He is perhaps the character with whom I have taken the most poetic license—there is no evidence that he was an agent or operative of any kind, although he did maintain a great deal of mystery about himself, leaving some tantalizing gaps for a writer to weave her story around him.

Lord Alvanley

William Arden—Lord Alvanley—was one of the leaders of society alongside his good friend George Brummell. Alvanley was considered to be the wittiest man of his time and also a man of perfect good nature, with a slight lisp that only added “zest and appeal” to his conversation (according to Captain Gronow in his memoir, Regency Recollections). In his younger years, Alvanley was a renowned athlete, and after his education he joined the Coldstream Guards, where he acquitted himself with distinction. Upon inheriting his wealth and title, he embraced the lifestyle of the Regency dandy and spent his days pursuing pleasure.

The Berry Sisters and Their Famous Salons