Bewitched is #16 in the Bantam series of illustrations that Francis Marshall painted for Barbara Cartland. The UK cover was published by Corgi.Both covers show a very different picture of the couple. The Bantam one shows a gentleman helping a gypsy girl named Saviya after she has been knocked over by a curricle in a driveway. Luckily, she is only stunned. The Corgi cover shows a gypsy wedding of our couple at evening with celebrations in the background.
The plot of this book is that the Marquis of Ruckley is bet that he can't pass off a common girl as a lady of quality.
During the regency time in England, gypsies were considered by most to be thieves and outcasts.They were not considered citizens and had no rights under the law. Some landowners allowed them onto their property, but most didn't. Actually, Barbara Cartland did much to improve the lot of gypsies during the 1960's and 1970's in England! She was able to have laws changed so that the gypsies could settle down in one location and their children could attend school. They even named a camp for her called Barbaraville.
I remember liking this story. Can you say what the name of the girl was in this one? I'm trying to compile a list of all her heroine's names. I love that they all end in the letter "a" like Barbara's name - I always wondered when she came up with that idea.
ReplyDeleteHer name is Saviya.
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