Lady Freya Cunningham, the heroine of book 5 in this series, “accidentally” encounters Lady Emma Orson (Richard’s wife), Miss Victoria Whitchurch (Benjamin Thompson’s betrothed), and Lady Annalise Beaufort (Navan’s wife) leaving Madame Emmeline’s modiste. The ladies ask Freya to accompany them to a nearby tearoom. Freya is hoping to enlist the ladies in assisting her in drawing Lord Aaran Graham’s attention. But what would they be served?

A Regency-era (1811–1820) tearoom in England likely served Chinese green and black teas, often accompanied by thin bread and butter, toast, muffins, crumpets, Sally Lunn buns, or seed cake. Sweet options included biscuits (macaroons), fruit-filled jellies, and gingerbread, while lighter, elegant refreshments like lemon ices were also popular. 

Key Refreshments Served:

• Tea: Commonly imported black and green teas from China, served with milk or lemon.
• Breads & Spreads: Thinly sliced white or brown bread, Sally Lunn buns/bread, toast, and crumpets, often with fresh butter, jam, or marmalade.
• Sweets & Cakes: Seed cake, Queen cakes, gingerbread, sponge cake, macarons, and biscuits.
• Other Delicacies: Lemon ices, jellies, potted meats or fish (salmon), and fruit.
• Savouries: Sandwiches or bites (though the formal, multi-tiered afternoon tea service was actually a later Victorian invention, light bites were common). 

These items were often served as a social, light, mid-afternoon meal designed to bridge the gap between luncheon and a late dinner. 

While they discuss other things, they make plans to escort Lady Freya to the Lyon’s Den and permit Mrs. Dove-Lyon to arrange a marriage between Freya and Aaran. This is a transition scene to where we bring Mrs. Dove-Lyon back into the tale.