Page 82 of Countess So Shameless (Scandal in London 1)

Cendrillon (F) – Cinderella

Cochon (F) – Pig

Corna (I) – A hand sign thought to ward against the evil eye

Décolletage/Décolleté (F) – The female chest area or cleavage

Deshabillé (F) – A state of undress

Fête champêtre (F) – Outdoor party/country feast

Fichu (F) – A lace neckerchief worn to cover the low décolleté, more for modesty than for warmth, usually tucked into the bodice or held with a clasp in front

Fin (F) – The end

In flagrante delicto (I) – In the act

Jamais! (F) – Never!

Je ne suis pas aveugle, Maman! (F) – I am not blind, Mama.

Jover (E) – A London manufacturer of fine dueling pistols

Jupe (F) – Skirt

Kensington House (Kensington Palace) (E) – A royal residence set in Kensington Gardens in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has been a residence of the British Royal Family since the seventeenth century. The last reigning monarch to use Kensington Palace was King George II.

La marque de la coeur (F) – The heart brand, or mark of the heart

Le Renard (F) – The fox

Les engageantes (F) – Long lace flounces at the lower end of the sleeve

Mais, Louis a insisté (F) – But Louis insisted

Malocchio (I) – The evil eye

Manteau/Mantua (F) – Generic term for the coat-like, open-fronted female garment worn from the late seventeenth century until the French Revolution. The front of the bodice was worn wide open to reveal a richly embroidered stomacher. From the short sleeves protruded those of the chemise, decorated with lace.

Merde (F) – Excrement

Mes amies, préparez à jouer la valse maintenant (F) – My friends, prepare to play a waltz immediately

Minuet (F) – A social dance of French origin for two persons, usually in 3/4 time

Molto bene (I) – Very good

Panniers (F) – The hoop skirt typical of the eighteenth century involving two baskets, one over each hip, to dramatically exaggerate the flare of the hips, allowing for wide lengths of cloth to be displayed

Paste (E) – Simulated gemstone made from rock crystal or glass. Often used to decorate clothes or as a substitute in jewelry.

Primero (E) – A popular sixteenth-century gambling card game

Quadrille (F) – A French square dance in a lively duple time, popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, danced by four or more couples

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sp; Rotten Row (E) – A broad track running along the south side of Hyde Park in London, leading from Hyde Park Corner to the west, it was established by William III at the end of the seventeenth century. Having moved court to Kensington Palace, William wanted a safer way to travel to the previous St. James’s Palace. He created the broad avenue through Hyde Park, lit with three hundred oil lamps in 1690—the first artificially lit highway in Britain. In its heyday in the eighteenth century, Rotten Row was a fashionable place for upper-class Londoners to be seen.

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