I’ve been spending an enjoyable time investigating breeches (for research purposes, honest) and learned that neither gentlemen nor ladies tended to wear underwear during the Regency period. It sounds rather uncomfortable to me, but it does make for smoother sex scenes!
I’ve also been reading a fascinating book on the history of duelling (Pistols at Dawn by Richard Hopton) and was surprised to find that ladies engaged in duels. Some ladies, in fact, fought gentlemen in duels and won.
One of the most widely reported duels between female protagonists (though denied by one of the alleged participants and not mentioned by Hopton) was in 1892 between Princess Pauline von Metternich and Countess Anastasia Kielmannsegg. They are said to have fought one another with rapiers over flower arrangements. I can’t quite imagine what insult one could offer a flower arrangement that would be unforgivable, but that’s probably why I’ve never called anyone out.
They fought with rapiers. The medical attendant, Baroness Medinska, who had a degree in medicine, had seen the horrific infections caused by war wounds and insisted the principals fight topless. It is still in dispute as to who won (though thankfully not disputed enough to cause further duels). The princess received a cut to the nose and the countess an injury to her arm.
I can see why a story with such potential to titillate spread far and wide, even if it isn’t true. And perhaps it is.
Duel Metternich–Kielmansegg by Paul Balluriau
MM romance novels 