Jude Knight brings us facts about 19th century travel with no internet banking and no American Express!
Most of my stories are set in the Regency, and my people tend to zip around the country, and even the world, quite a lot. So I’ve had to get my head around something we in our century give hardly any thought to.
If I’m in a strange town, or even in a strange country, how do I pay for things? Accommodation. A meal. A change of clothes. A ticket to the next town. A bribe to a would-be kidnapper. You know. Normal travel expenses.
In Regency times, the answer was… It’s complicated.
You wouldn’t want to carry much money with you—that would make you a target for robbers. But with more than 800 banks in England alone, most of them only serving a small local district, you couldn’t just walk into the nearest bank and take money out of your account.
The answer was twofold.
First, a lot of the bigger banks honored letters of credit, even internationally. In any major city, a traveller could take a letter of credit to their bank’s partner bank and have it cashed.
Second, a wise traveler made sure to carry items they could readily sell for local cash. In the Duke’s Price, I’ve given my incredibly wealthy duke, who is travelling through Spain and France, a pouch of uncut gems, small items of jewellery, and other easily hidden, easily transportable, easily sold, items.
The Duke’s Price
As a governess, Ruth Henwood has always put her pupils first, sometimes sacrificing her own interest. The choice facing her now could become the highest sacrifice of them all.
Two men want her as their mistress. The Spanish war hero, the Duque de la Sombras, plans to wed the Princesa Isabella, Ruth’s fourteen-year-old pupil, but promises not consummate the marriage if Ruth will come willingly to his bed. The English rake, the Duke of Richport promises help her and Bella to escape Isabella’s tiny Pyrenean kingdom, but his price is the same.
Ruth’s decision must be guided by what is best for Bella. No matter that one man repels her, and one man is a risk to her heart.
Richport lost his heart to his wife when he was seventeen, and had it broken and trampled on. He has managed very well without a heart in the twenty-six years since, gaining the nickname Duke of Depravity. His offer to Ruth is a heartless joke—he always intended to help her and her charge. But if she takes him up on the offer, he will be happy to school the governess in the ways of the flesh.
Little does Richport realise that his heart is back on the line once more.
But love is not their worst risk. The duque is in hot pursuit, and is determined to take back what he believes to be his own.
Meet Jude Knight
Jude always wanted to be a novelist. She started in her teens, but life kept getting in the way. Years passed, and with them dozens of unfinished manuscripts. She had a successful career in commercial writing, but the fear grew. What if she tried, failed, and lost the dream forever? The years since 2014 have seen more than a score of novels, twice as many novellas, 5 volumes of short stories, 3 awards, and thousands of positive reviews. The dream is alive.