Chapter 1
1818
Extract from Oriana Harmony Brightmore’s Journal
Oriana Harmony Brightmore’s Inventory of Favourable Qualities One Should Expect in One’s Husband
1. Although largely unimportant, my husband must be at least somewhat pleasing to the eye.
2. He must be agreeable and openly engaging with me and others around him.
3. He must love Shakespeare, Chaucer, and Wordsworth.
4. His intelligence, candour and wit must be unquestionable and yet refined with subtle humility.
5. He must be well-groomed, always. I could not abide a malodorous man. My brothers have cured me of any affinity for such a thing.
6. He must always be conscientious. My husband should be willing and able to practise a healthy marriage by making concerted efforts to win my favour.
7. He must win my favour.
8. He should be reluctantly romantic. A superfluous and exaggerated braggart of romance would not suit me in the least. Rather, my husband should endeavour to woo me in seclusion with thoughtful gestures and melodious words.
9. He must be kind, especially towards small animals and children.
10. He must certainly, most definitely, not associate with a faster set than I, nor should he want to.
