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performing this service! When he is finished, arrange your skirt, which might be slightly longer and fuller on the left side to modestly cover your legs and feet.
    6. Take up the reins. Place one in each hand, weaving them under your little finger, over the next two fingers, and under your forefinger. Hold your riding crop loosely in your right hand, angled back to touch the horse’s side.
    7. Pull back
gently
on the reins. Do not yank them or you will hurt and annoy the horse. The horse will pull forward on the bit, gently if she is well-trained. Once you have established contact, loosen the reins a bit.
    8. Communicate to the horse with signals. To get the horse to walk, press your left leg against the horse’s side while pressing into its right side with your crop, substituting the feel of a rider’s right leg. To speed into a trot, loosen the reins a bitand press once more with your left leg and crop. To stop the horse, pull back gently on the reins, press the horse’s sides with your left leg and your crop, and press down with your backside. Very well-trained horses might respond to verbal commands such as a tongue click. Do not go faster than a trot or jump the horse until you have a great deal of experience. Only the fast girls follow the hounds, anyway.



HOW TO KEEP HOUSE
    “Catherine would make a sad, heedless young
housekeeper to be sure,” was her mother’s foreboding remark; but quick was the consolation of there being nothing like practice
. — N ORTHANGER A BBEY
    The mistress of a house is rather like the CEO of a major corporation. She oversees all operations: food service, personnel, training, procurement, budget, charitable contributions, interior design, and the day-to-day household activities. There are some ladies who delegate decision-making (and virtually all active involvement) to their housekeeper or a grown-up daughter, but one cannot imagine any of Jane Austen’s heroines doing so after their marriages. No doubt they would plan menus themselves and ensure that their children were cared for and educated, their husbands comfortable and well-fed, and their budget well in hand, all with a smile and a metaphorical The Buck Stops Here sign on their elegant Sheraton writing desks.
    •  Develop a good relationship with your housekeeper . It is likely that she came with the house, has been with the family for ages, and changed your husband’s diapers, so do not dismiss her out of hand. Tap into her institutional wisdom and follow her suggestions whenever practicable, but never let her forget that you are the mistress and she is the servant. It is best to make her your ally and not your enemy, for she can make you look like a superstar—or a slattern.
    •  Work with your cook . Help him or her to plan menus and purchase food for daily meals and dinner parties. Take care to stay within your budget on food. Large dinners for just the family are wasteful, especially since there is no dependable method of preserving food. Your husband will be satisfied with one well-prepared course for his dinner—save your big guns for dinner parties.
    •  Oversee the servants . Much of the daily interaction with the servants can be delegated to your housekeeper, but at the least you should know the name and function of each person working in your house (see “ Servants, By Duty & Rank ”).
    •  Look after your less fortunate neighbors . There might be a perfectly genteel family—the widow or unmarried daughter of your late vicar, for instance—who is having difficulty making ends meet. Do not insult them by offering them money, though they will welcome an occasional gift of a hindquarter of pork or bushel of apples. Pay a personal visit every week or two, even if their company is a trifle tiresome.
    •  Take care of the poor and sick . Visit them, deliver food, give advice, listen to their complaints. It is not fun, but it is your duty. The indigent have no other support system (and your visits