Name: Valerie Genevieve Sheffield Longwy (Still technically Baroness de Thionville or Lady Longwy)
Occupation: A Foreign Lady
Age: 28
Sexual Orientation: Straight
Sexual Style: Conventional
Residence: Doctor's Practice

Description: Valerie appears to be a conventional noblewoman in all respects in her dress and behavior. She appears to be a little taller and heavier than an average woman, wears her hair "up", has attractive facial features, speaks in a low or alto voice, and seems to move in a calm and unhurried way.

Height: 5'6"
Weight: 150
Hair: Red
Eyes: Gray

Personality: Most everything about Valerie seems calm and unaffected. After her eccentric upbringing, her experiences during the War, and her efforts to become accepted in the medical community, she has insulated herself against surprise, hurt, and disappointment. As a result, it takes her longer to appreciate new experiences, but gives her a powerful ability to focus and act under extreme circumstances. Can she relax her control to learn new things? Time will tell.

Skills:

Accomplishments often taught to young ladies: sewing, painting, playing the piano
Well-read and knowledgeable about many general subjects
Physician and Surgeon
Lady of the European Nobility
Correspondent with Scientists
Investor in Inventions
Fluent in many Languages
     Luxembourgish <Native Speaker>
     English (Midlands) <Native Speaker>
     French (Parisian)
     German (High German)
     Latin
     Spanish (Castilian)
Survival skills, but from a European perspective

Possessions:

She owns a Mauser Norris bolt action rifle that was modified by her husband in 1869, including a telescopic sight of his own design. http://sportsmansvintagepress.com/read-free/mauser-rifles-pistols-table-of-contents/mauser-norris-67-69-continued/

History/Background: Valerie's own family is descended from lesser nobility of the north of the UK and impoverished nobility of Luxembourg and the Lorraine Region of France.

Valerie's father, William Sheffield, was a diplomat for the UK Foreign Service. Her mother, Olivia Longwy, was a socialite who travelled with her husband to exciting capitals of Europe. Valerie grew up in Luxembourg City under the supervision of her mother's brother, Franz Longwy, a physician, and became his assistant when she grew older.

For dynastic purposes, she married her first cousin Karl Longwy right before the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 1871. Upon the death of their great uncle, Karl became Count of Essen, Baron of Thionville,etc. and inherited estates in Prussia, France, and Luxembourg. Valerie separately inherited a trust from her great aunt, and continued her training as a physician. Karl was an inventor, working as an engineer for Krupp Steel and with the Prussian General Staff for rifled siege artillery.

When the war began, Karl followed the Prussian invasion to Metz and then Paris. Valerie joined the Prussian Medical Corps and joined a surgical team under Uncle Franz. The team performed hundreds of surgeries of all kinds after major and minor battles, with Valerie often acting as chief surgeon with the complicity of her uncle. Karl was killed when a cannon exploded at the siege of Paris in 1871. She was present at the suppression of the Paris Commune, 1871.

Now a widow, with most of the titles and estates inherited by Karl's distant male cousin and confirmed by the Prussian Government, she moved to London in 1872 and became a correspondent with scientists and a silent investor into new inventions. Having no success with the medical establishment in the UK, she emigrated to the US. Not finding the medical establishment of the Eastern United States any more friendly to a female physician and surgeon, she decided to move west.

Last updated 19/8/2011