Chapter 6 is up for posting. I have endeavoured throughout this story to ensure that everything is as accurate as reasonably possible and this has involved a fair amount of research. So the stuff about railway and coaching can all be confirmed and Aurora reaching 19 knots is perfectly possible - USS Eagle has been clocked at 21 and she is no clipper. Journey times are all historically accurate and yes, sewing machines were invented in the 1840's. So we have reached 1858 and in order for the story to continue I have had to play fast and loose with... ladies dresses. At this time crinolines were still in fashion - you can date ladies fashions throughout history to within ten years - and even when these were superceded by more manageable skirts (with bustles, one of my all time favourite fashions, yeah I'm a pervert) the dresses were still extremely complex, and getting access to a ladies, umm... private parts, wasn't easy, a quick roll in the hay wasn't likely. Similarly women didn't have nightdresses they could shed easily so that they could 'get down to business'like these girls do.
But as I have said in other places, like the good old British 'red tops' why let facts get in the way of a good story. But I felt you ought to know just in case someone decided to take me to task.
M