M.L. asked in the comments: “I have a question: when writing about members of the aristocracy, should one capitalise? I.e. the Earl of x. Is it the Earl said, or the earl said? Writers seem to differ…”
Thank you for the question, M.L., and for being a Regency Reader!
I never like to do the heavy lifting when it comes to rank and titles, so thankfully many editors, style guiders, and other grammar masters have visited this question a few times.
The general rule is when referring to the title as a name “Prince Charles” or “Earl of Sandwich” the title should be capitalised, but when you are talking about how the prince went to market, it would lower case as you are not directly addressing him (Sources: Fiction Q&A: Styling Royal and Noble Titles • Kristen Stieffel, and King, Queen, Prince, Duke: Are Royal Titles Capitalized? | The Editor’s Manual (editorsmanual.com)
There is pretty broad consensus among most modern style manuals and writer’s guide, and while there may be outliers, seems like it’s safe to assume to capitalise the title when used as a name and when the earl said “Hello” or completed another action it may be lower case.
Hope that helps!
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