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Which Regency era criminal are you? 
Answer the following questions and note if your answers are mostly A, B, C or D.
1. Lady Catherine's groom rides his horse in front of yours and cuts you off. How ungentlemanly! Do you:
A. Stop and confront him.
B. Keep riding. You're late for the races.
C. Find out where he bought that excellent horse. Perhaps he'll get you one half-price!
D. Draw your pistol and force him to stop.
B. Keep riding. You're late for the races.
C. Find out where he bought that excellent horse. Perhaps he'll get you one half-price!
D. Draw your pistol and force him to stop.
2. Mrs. Long's pug digs up your flower-beds. Do you:
A. Make a drawing of him and use the picture for target practice.
B. Find another pug and see which can dig the biggest hole.
C. Hide the dog in your bag and see if you can get a good price for him.
D. Teach him to bark loudly and frighten the passengers in the stagecoach.
B. Find another pug and see which can dig the biggest hole.
C. Hide the dog in your bag and see if you can get a good price for him.
D. Teach him to bark loudly and frighten the passengers in the stagecoach.
3. Mr. Collins claims the chimneypiece at Rosings cost £800. You know it only cost £500. Do you:
A. Argue with him and fiercely defend your position.
B. Set a wager on the correct amount.
C. Conceal a bottle of whisky in the chimney to sell later at a good price.
D. Order him to give you his watch and you'll say no more about the chimneypiece.
B. Set a wager on the correct amount.
C. Conceal a bottle of whisky in the chimney to sell later at a good price.
D. Order him to give you his watch and you'll say no more about the chimneypiece.
4. You want to dance with Lydia Bennet, but she's flirting with an officer. Do you:
A. Threaten him with a sword.
B. Shrug your shoulders and lay bets on how many officers she will flirt with tonight.
C. Offer her some lace that fell off the back of a cart.
D. Follow the officer when he leaves and rob him in a dark alley.
B. Shrug your shoulders and lay bets on how many officers she will flirt with tonight.
C. Offer her some lace that fell off the back of a cart.
D. Follow the officer when he leaves and rob him in a dark alley.
5. You are playing cards with Mr. Wickham and you stand to lose a lot of money. Do you:
A. Finish the game and pay your debts.
B. Keep playing all night in the hope you'll win eventually.
C. Hide your best card up your sleeve to use later in the game.
D. Stop him on the road afterwards and make him return your money.
B. Keep playing all night in the hope you'll win eventually.
C. Hide your best card up your sleeve to use later in the game.
D. Stop him on the road afterwards and make him return your money.
6. You encounter Mr. Darcy emerging dripping wet from the lake at Pemberley. Do you:
A. Offer him a cloak to preserve his dignity.
B. Offer him the dry shirt off your back.
C. Offer him a choice of imported silk shirts.
D. Strip him of his wet shirt to use yourself—it could set a new trend in romantic clothing.
B. Offer him the dry shirt off your back.
C. Offer him a choice of imported silk shirts.
D. Strip him of his wet shirt to use yourself—it could set a new trend in romantic clothing.
7. Caroline Bingley is making sarcastic comments about your friend Elizabeth Bennet. Do you:
A. Hotly defend Lizzy.
B. Lay odds on Darcy marrying Lizzy rather than Miss Bingley.
C. Change the subject by offering to find her some French lace at a good price.
D. Look her sternly in the eye and demand she give you her diamond necklace.
B. Lay odds on Darcy marrying Lizzy rather than Miss Bingley.
C. Change the subject by offering to find her some French lace at a good price.
D. Look her sternly in the eye and demand she give you her diamond necklace.
8. Mr Bingley asks you to get him some quality French wine. Do you:
A. Buy a bottle of top quality Champagne.
B. Wager that you will find the best available.
C. Dig up a bottle of excellent claret you had hidden in your garden.
D. Hide your face in your cloak and persuade a purveyor of fine wines to give you a bottle—at gunpoint.
B. Wager that you will find the best available.
C. Dig up a bottle of excellent claret you had hidden in your garden.
D. Hide your face in your cloak and persuade a purveyor of fine wines to give you a bottle—at gunpoint.
9. Mrs. Bennet is terrified Mr. Bennet will challenge Wickham to a duel. Do you:
A. Offer to act as a second if Mr. Bennet fights Wickham.
B. Organise a sweepstake over who will win.
C. Give Mr. Bennet a choice of some new duelling pistols your friend has imported.
D. Offer Mr. Bennet your best pistol.
B. Organise a sweepstake over who will win.
C. Give Mr. Bennet a choice of some new duelling pistols your friend has imported.
D. Offer Mr. Bennet your best pistol.
10. Your partner at Sir William Lucas's dance keeps treading on your toes. Do you:
A. Refuse to dance again until you have a better partner.
B. Calculate the odds of finding anyone better and decide to stick with your hopeless partner.
C. Take them aside and offer them a course of dancing lessons at a reduced price.
D. Put on a mask so no one will recognise you.
B. Calculate the odds of finding anyone better and decide to stick with your hopeless partner.
C. Take them aside and offer them a course of dancing lessons at a reduced price.
D. Put on a mask so no one will recognise you.
Mostly A. Honour and dignity are very important to you, and you would fight anyone who challenges you. Your Regency era crime is Duelling.
When Lydia tries to elope with Mr. Wickham, Mrs. Bennet is terrified Mr. Bennet will challenge him to a duel:
"And now here’s Mr. Bennet gone away, and I know he will fight Wickham, wherever he meets him, and then he will be killed, and what is to become of us all?"
In fact, duelling was illegal in England in Jane Austen's time. If one of the participants was killed, the victor was liable to the death penalty. This did not stop duels being fought, with the last duel taking place in the mid-nineteenth century.
If you'd been challenged to a duel, you and your opponent could have taken the honourable way out and each fired into the air.
Mostly B. You love to weigh up the odds and get the best possible deals. Your Regency era crime is Gaming.
Jane Bennet is horrified to hear that Wickham owes more than a thousand pounds.
“A gamester!” she cried. “This is wholly unexpected; I had not an idea of it.”
Huge fortunes were lost at the gaming tables in Regency England. The politician Charles Fox owed £140,000 in gambling debts. That's around £31 million today.
Although gambling was largely illegal, the Old Bailey records between 1800 and 1830 do not show any prosecutions for gambling. Fraud, however, was a crime, and a gambler might be arrested for cheating.
The moral of the story is—stick to playing with matchsticks!
Mostly C. You always know where to find the best deals, even if they're not quite legal. Your Regency era crime is Smuggling.
“Oh, my dear,” continued Mrs. Bennet, “I am quite delighted with him. He is so excessively handsome! and his sisters are charming women. I never in my life saw anything more elegant than their dresses. I dare say the lace upon Mrs. Hurst’s gown——”
What she didn't say was that the lace may well have been smuggled into England. Lace, tea, coffee, wine . . . The list was endless, and when smugglers were arrested it was hard to find a local jury to convict them, since many people bought smuggled goods themselves.
If you had been a smuggler, what would you have 'imported'?
Mostly D. You like the thrill and romance of disguise, and you want to acquire things without paying for them. Your Regency era crime is Highway Robbery."I cannot bear the idea of two young women travelling post by themselves," said Lady Catherine.
She was right to be concerned. Travelling by road was a dangerous business. Despite the romantic stereotype of the handsome highwayman, wearing a mask and cloak and bowing to the ladies, many highway robbers were violent and unscrupulous.
Although most highwaymen were men, women were sometimes involved too.
If you had been a highwayman/woman, you would no doubt have been the romantic, non-violent type!
Read Julia L. Miller's humorous story collection Crime and Prejudice to discover how Jane Austen's characters might have turned to crime themselves. Here are two free stories, one about Georgiana Darcy and the other about Mr. Bingley, to give you a clue!
