Pamela Pounce: A tale of tempestuous petticoats

WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR
THE INCOMPARABLE BELLAIRS JOHN SENESCHAL’S MARGARET THE PRIDE OF JENNICO, Etc.
HODDER AND STOUGHTON LIMITED
PAMELA POUNCE
A TALE OF TEMPESTUOUS PETTICOATS
BY AGNES & EGERTON CASTLE
HODDER AND STOUGHTON LTD. TORONTO LONDON NEW YORK ST. PAUL’S HOUSE WARWICK SQUARE E.C.4
There can be no doubt that shedding her petticoats a woman has shed much, if not all, of her femininity, till she is now merely a person of an opposite sex. She is a female; for nothing will ever make her a man, but Woman (with a capital W), Woman with her charm, her elusiveness, her mystery, her reserves, her virginal withdrawals, her exquisite yieldings; she is that no longer.
How much of her queenship has she not given up with her petticoats?
At no time was Woman more thoroughly feminine, more absolutely mistress of her own fascinations and of the hearts of men, than in the eighteenth century; preferably the latter half.
That was a time when it may be said that no woman could look ugly; that beauty became irresistible. Take the period consecrated by the art of Sir Joshua Reynolds, and of Romney; take the picture of the Parson’s Daughter, by the latter artist; that little face, so piquante, innocent, fresh, sly, mischievous, is nothing at all without its cloud of powdered curls but a very ordinary visage; almost common indeed! With its distinctive coiffure, framing, softening, etherealising, giving depth to the eyes and allurement to the smile; how irresistibly delicious! How irresistibly delicious, too, is the mode which exposes the young throat so modestly between the soft folds of the muslin kerchief.
Youth then, even without much beauty, is served to perfection by the taste of the period. What of beauty itself? Look at the portrait of the Duchess of Devonshire, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, the famous one with the big hat, where she is holding the dancing baby. There is an answer more eloquent than any words can give.