I love London. Yeah, yeah. Romance writers sometimes use the term love loosely, but I assure you, I’m not. I have a deep and abiding passion for the city.

In fact, if I had seen one of those I Love New York-style t-shirts…but for London, I would have bought it in a heartbeat and worn it shamelessly all over England. Even for tea with the queen (not that QE2 would ever consider having tea with me, but you get my point.)

I’ve been lucky to have visited London several times during my lifetime. My last trip was in 2002, though I will be visiting again in March 2004…for research of course. (Stop laughing. It’s true, I tell you!) Every time I cross the pond I learn something new, see something I haven’t seen before. Inspiration abounds.

A Walk Through London

Two characters from my debut novel, Rules of Engagement, who seem to particularly capture the hearts of readers are the elderly spinster aunts, Letitia and Viola Featherton. I thought it might be fun to give you a peek between the lines of Rules of Engagement and take you on a short tour of the Featherton sisters' favorite London locales.

St. James’s Palace
St. James’s Palace is best known today for being the long time home of Prince Charles and his sons, but during the Regency, the palace was used primarily for purposes of state (King George III and Queen Charlotte lived in the Queen’s Palace, aka Buckingham House).

Lavish drawing rooms were held within its brick walls, where high-born or notable subjects were presented to the royals in the famed Presence Chamber.

Hyde Park, Rotten Row and the Serpentine
On a Sunday, from the fashionable hours of two until five in the afternoon, horses, carriages and riders littered Hyde Park’s gravel roads. It was the daytime place to see and be seen.

Flanking Hyde Park is a soft earthen road (or horse track) called Rotten Row. Rotten Row is the bastardization of the French term 'Route de Roi', meaning the king's way. The name of the place was so amusing that I just had to set a pivotal scene there in Rules of Engagement. Here Hyde Park’s great natural beauty is heightened by the Serpentine, a wide canal (looks like a lake to me) formed in 1730 by enlarging a stream running through the park on its way to the Thames.

Many scenes in Rules of Engagement are set at the Featherton sisters’ posh home at 17 Hanover Square, Mayfair. During the Regency, like today, the centerpiece of the square was a lovely verdant park framed by grand homes of the well to do.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this brief tour of London as depicted in Rules of Engagement. Stay tuned for more of my Between the Lines tour of England. Coming soon: Bath, the location of my upcoming connected novel (The Featherton sisters return!) Lady in Waiting, coming January 2005 from Warner Books.