24 April 2007

Up the Down Staircase

Today I am asking a question. It occurred to me there are a whole bunch of historical experts on here, so I will pick your brains--eyewww, not really. I hate that phrase. I always imagine someone with an ice pick, and...

In the Victorian age, when a man and woman ascended a staircase, who went first? Someone told me the man preceded a lady up a staircase, but if she's going down, he'd follow behind her. However, he could offer an elbow and they could ascend together, giving her the rail.

I suppose I can see that. If he lets her ascend first, he has an opportunity to leer at her butt, and we couldn't have that. Although of course that's what I was hoping for in my WIP. And in the age of hoops, some staircases wouldn't be wide enough for them to go abreast.

On a more fun note, here's my new book cover. I love it. It's a pirate book set in Madagascar in 1828. No one can figure out what's in his hand, though!

Karen Mercury
http://www.karenmercury.com