The Husband Hunters by Anne de Courcy

Author:Anne de Courcy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

CHAPTER 10

The Call of Europe

Many of the ‘buccaneers’ wound up as the brides of European noblemen, if only for the reason that Americans were naturally drawn towards Europe. Some were either immigrant or only a generation or two away from immigrant, with families or relations there; and, living in a continent where great distances were a part of life, travel seemed normal. The wealthy among the old New York families, very conscious of their Dutch or British ancestry, frequently visited Europe to renew links and enjoy its culture and horizons.

Then there were the buildings: a few decades earlier, Washington Irving’s tales and travel narratives induced the first of many generations of American sightseers to visit the great aristocratic houses and castles of the Old World. Later, the impact these had on the rich of New York and Newport was reflected in the building of vast French châteaux along Fifth Avenue or Newport’s Ochre Point.

Despite the fear of absence – out of sight was out of mind in the new model of New York high society – many Americans travelled to Europe to spend a few out-of-season months there. Europe was believed to impart polish and knowledge of culture: in 1866, according to the American fashion bible, Godey’s Lady’s Book, 50,000 Americans travelled to Europe. They went in clipper ships, often with livestock aboard, and steamers, and all of them suffered horribly from seasickness, not helped by engine fumes, the vibration of the screw and poor ventilation.

Although these newly wealthy were firmly republican in outlook, they were fascinated by the traditions, the sense of centuries behind various established customs, the sophistication of people who knew exactly who they were and how to behave in any given set of circumstances. With the War of Independence now far enough away in time to be overlooked, their own society had taken its lead from that of England: Ward McAllister, its self-appointed arbiter, had largely shaped the Patriarchs’ Balls on the model of Almack’s Assembly Rooms in London’s King Street, and English fashions (for men), customs and etiquette were the model for New York. Besides, several summers in Europe meant an excellent education for their daughters, who would learn to speak good French and possibly Italian or German as well, and become familiar with artistic and musical masterpieces, all of which would make them more desirable brides – many to the young aristocrats impoverished by the fall of the Second Empire, who flocked round them like hungry sharks.

* * *

Although travel was so often undertaken, there was little of the relaxation usually associated with sea voyages. Even on the ocean, etiquette ruled. No woman, whatever her age or station in life, would venture on crossing the Atlantic without placing herself in the captain’s special charge, or under the escort of some male passenger. Such precautions even extended to the mundane business of tidying the cabin: if a woman were married, or with some male relation, she could be waited on by a male steward, otherwise not.

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