Free Devil's Food Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke Page B

night.”
    “Oh. Well…another time then. I have work to do anyway. The outline on my next Regency romance is due in two weeks.”
    “Do you know the title yet?”
    “I’m not sure, but it has to be alliterative. My titles are always alliterative. Do you have any ideas?”
    Hannah thought about that. Her mother’s first book had been titled A Match for Melissa, and the book she was launching next week was A Season for Samantha. “How about A Boyfriend for Bettina?”
    “It’s too modern, dear. They didn’t use the word boyfriend in Regency times.”
    “Okay. How about…A Husband for Holly?”
    Delores mulled it over for a moment, and then she smiled. “I like that. Holly can be a commoner and the man she marries at the end of the book can be a titled gentleman. Some gentlemen did marry beneath their station, you know. And that elevated their brides to their station.”
    “If you marry a duke, you’re a duchess?”
    “Exactly right.”
    “What happens if a titled woman marries beneath her station? Does her new husband get elevated in status?”
    “No, dear. It doesn’t work the other way around. As a matter of fact, when a duke died, his duchess could no longer own their land or their homes. Her oldest son became the duke, and his wife became the new duchess. She was demoted to dowager duchess status.”
    “What status is that?”
    “It’s a steep step down, dear. A dowager duchess had to live in a small cottage called the dower house, a distance away from the duke’s castle. She had to give up all her jewelry and money, because they were an asset of the estate. Everything she had belonged to the new duke. And she depended totally on her son’s largess for any monies she needed to live.”
    “That’s not fair!”
    “Of course it’s not, but that’s the way it was then.”
    “Maybe she would have been better off not marrying at all,” Hannah speculated.
    “No, dear. Unmarried women were treated worse than pariahs. You see, all the eligible young ladies were trotted out in fine clothing for the Season in London.”
    “Season?”
    “That’s what they called it, dear. It was held right after the gentlemen finished hunting on their country estates and before Parliament was called back into session. The eligible young ladies were presented to the queen, and feted at balls and parties. It was arranged so that the unmarried men could take their pick of the debutants. A young lady was expected to receive at least one proposal of marriage.”
    “What happened to the young ladies who didn’t receive proposals?”
    “That’s the sad thing, dear. If a young woman went through more than one Season, she was considered to be on the shelf. She was often ridiculed and given uncomplimentary names like ape-leader.”
    “That’s horrible!”
    “Yes it is. Things are a lot better now. Look at you, dear. You’re over thirty and you’re not married. That would make you a spinster in Regency England. To make matters worse, you’re in trade. That was something a woman didn’t do unless it was to help in a shop owned by her husband.”
    “So I would have been totally unsuitable?”
    “Oh, my yes!” Delores glanced up at the clock on the wall. “I’m late, dear. I really have to rush.”
    Once her mother had left, Hannah sat down to wait for her cakes to come out of the oven. Regency England didn’t sound like a very good place to live if you were an independent woman. Every time she thought the current political climate was intolerable, she’d remember what happened to women then and thank her lucky stars she hadn’t been born back in Regency times.
    RED DEVIL’S FOOD CAKE
    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
    1 cup water
    3/4 cup (1 and 1/2 sticks, 6 ounces) salted butter
    1/2 cup brown sugar
    1/2 cup white (granulated) sugar
    1-ounce square unsweetened chocolate (I used Baker’s)
    1 teaspoon instant espresso coffee powder
    1 and 1/2 cups white (granulated) sugar
    1/2