“Lord! we shall sit and gape at one another as dull as two cats.”
—Mrs. Jennings, Sense and Sensibility

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There’s no evidence Marguerite Gérard ever visited England. Her inclusion here is a frippery inspired by an article on the Jane Austen’s World blog about breastfeeding in Regency times. That article introduced me to Marguerite’s painting, Breastfeeding Mother. One click later, I was researching an artist who resides in the Louvre, painted Napoleon, and counted Josephine among her friends. What's more, Gérard adored cats, a detail whimsically echoed by the Austen Reddit community, who imagine cats as Jane’s favourite pets.

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Marguerite, at the heart of French culture, demanded the curator admit her to this magazine. A Rummage in her Reticuleby Lady Palmerston was clearly in order