Does anyone know how seating arrangements were determined? In my story one of my characters is a marquis. He is a French émigré living in England. His brother and his wife come to visit. Also in the household are their mother and one of their sisters. Who would determine the seating arrangements at table?Second question: I was recently told not to use contractions in the speech of my characters. I noticed that JA's characters do not speak in contractions, but other modern novels about that time period do use contractions. Also, would the use of contractions be according to class or dialect? For example, would my educated characters speak more formally, but the lower class people speak with contractions? Does it depend on the type of conversation and with whom one is conversing?
