Miss Cheney’s Charade

Written by Emily Hendrickson

Emma Cheney is in London in 1815 at the height of the season, determined to do her duty to make a successful match, helping to bolster her family’s flagging finances. While most young women are looking forward to dancing at balls and meeting new beaus, Emma would rather spend her time sketching the antiquities that she loves. Therefore, when she intercepts an invitation to her brother to attend the unwrapping of an Egyptian mummy at the home of Sir Peter Dancy, she decides to disguise herself as a young man and attend in her brother’s place. The plot thickens when Lady Titheridge, Sir Peter’s aunt, decides to take an active role in Emma’s deception.

Miss Cheney soon finds herself employed as an artist by the owner of the mummy himself. As Emma sketches Sir Peter’s acquisitions, she begins to hope he will see her as a woman; but this would be hard for him to do when she is dressed as a man.

Author Emily Hendrickson has crafted a delightful romp in Miss Cheney’s Charade, complete with characters and details that reflect the times, and an engaging and entertaining plot.