Truce: The Historic Neighbor from Hell

Truce Glossary

Orangery: Building where orange trees are housed and kept warm.

Ton: Fashionable people, the nobles, etc.

Special license: A license bought in order to forgo the requirement of reading the banns before marriage. It allowed the buyer to get married quickly.

Governess: Home teacher.

Footman: Liveried servant.

Coach: Horse drawn carriage.

Season: A traditional part of the year when noble families came to London for balls, activities, etc. with the hopes of marriage, catching up on the latest gossip and spending time with friends.

Betrothed: Promised, engaged.

Pudding: A sweet dessert.

Suitor: A male with the intentions of marriage.

Alms: Charitable contribution.

“Heir and the spare”: Term used to describe the heir and the second male child who will inherit and continue the line if the first born male fails to do his duty or dies.

Bedchamber: Bedroom.

“Break fast”: Breaking their fast, fast meaning since the night before. First meal.

Fortune hunter: A man or woman seeking marriage with the sole purpose of obtaining a fortune.

Stone (as in weight): It’s a unit of weight.

Carriage: Horse drawn vehicle.

Society: Group of nobles, their rules, expectations, customs, etc.

Sheath: Condom.

Minx: Can be an insulting term, but in this book it’s a term of endearment for a woman turning her nose up at propriety.

Parchment: Paper.

Spinster: An unmarried woman past her prime.

“Cut Direct”: Ignored, pushed out of social circle, the ultimate snub.

Parlor: Sitting room.

Magistrate: Local law enforcement.

Chamber pot: Container used as a toilet.

Mistress: A woman given comforts, money, gifts as part of an agreement to be available for the attentions of a man as part of a business agreement. No emotions, no promises, just intimacy.

Bedlam: Psychiatric hospital.

Reticule: A woman’s purse.