Turning over a NEW LEAF
Drumlanrig Castle, Scottish Borders, July 1870
The sun was shining in the cloudless morning sky as Charlotte, Duchess of Buccleuch, stepped out onto the terrace at Drumlanrig Castle to admire the view of her beloved gardens. Below her, the parterres were pleasingly symmetrical, laid out like the panes of a stained-glass window.
‘I thought I would find you out here,’ Julia, Lady Powerscourt, said, joining her. ‘It is such a wonderful prospect you have created, it’s given me several ideas for our own gardens at Powerscourt.’
The younger woman was tastefully dressed in a morning gown in the polonaise style. At 26, Julia’s slim figure suited the tightly laced waist and fashionable frills and flounces that festooned the rear of her gown over the flat-fronted crinoline.
Approaching 60, with a figure that was fast becoming as frumpy as Queen Victoria’s, Charlotte adopted a plainer style.
‘We have had sunshine for three days in a row,’ she said. ‘Here in Scotland, that counts as an extended summer.’
Julia laughed. ‘In County Wicklow,
