With those words Aunt Sara introduced Sir Harry to the healthful (?) benefits of the Russian steambath. The Flashman books are masterful in providing insight into the life and times of Victorian England and the major military events (and occasional disasters) of the mid-to-late 19th Century. Interwoven into this historical context are the many romantic conquests of this rogue among rogues, Sir Harry Paget Flashman.

Yet, Flashman's ladies are not mere window dressing against the backdrop of Flashy's life. They represent truly pivotal characters in the unpredictable twists and turns that make the books so interesting and intriguing. These are strong (and diverse) characters that drive the story line and are as much a part of the books as Scud East or Count Ignatieff. For what is Royal Flash without Lola Montez or Flashman and the Redskins without Susie Willinck and Mrs. Candy?

So, in deep gratitude for the role they play (and in the spirit of general randiness), the Sandwich Island Chapter presents Flashman's Ladies. My apologies if I miss any, the old boy sure got around.

Yes, an elegant fellow that Ilderim Khan, but in a brief passage he lays out the main problem of attempting a page such as this. There may be no end to this endeavor. So rather than counting all the grains of sand in the world, I will focus on one of the ladies and then attempt a brief listing. This will remain a work in progress so bear with me and I hope to come up with a better format over time.

So, without further ado, here is the first of Flashman's Ladies:

So, which of the many of Flashman Ladies will be the first to be honored here? I will go with a sometimes forgotten woman (but I always like the unsung hero, or in this case, heroine), Fetnab the cunchunee (and erstwhile munshi) from Calcutta. A quote from Flashman:

I suppose she was about sixteen, with a handsome enough face and a gold stud fixed in her nostril, and great slanting brown eyes. Like most other Indian dancing girls, she was shaped like an hour-glass, with a waist that I could span with my two hands, fat breasts like melons, and a wobbling backside.

I believe that Fetnab gets short shrift. She barely gets mentioned, yet she, more than anyone, is responsible for Flashy getting re-assigned to Elphey Bey's staff. Without her nocturnal lessons in Hindustani, Crawford would never have asked Flashman to go with him to dine with Lord Auckland, the Governor-General. Were it not for little Fetnab (and Crawford doing his 'um-tiddly-o-karo' speech to Emily Eden), Flashy would have languished away (as Lord Haw-Haw intended) in a company cavalry unit and what a boring set of books that would have made. So she is my choice as the first of Flashman's Ladies.

Besides, I found that great picture on the internet and this gives me the opportunity to use it.

Here's my second shot at the list. Hopefully this format is a bit better, although it does make the page seemingly scroll on forever. I'd like to thank Darrell Ambro and David Tibbe for their help and suggestions. For a different look at some of Flashman's Ladies, take a gander at Darrell's features on Flashman's Wives and Flashy In Flagrante Seducto.

Now before we go on, a couple notes:

• There are some spoilers in here, so if you haven't read all the books, you may not want to read through the list.

• This is a work in progress. Feel free to submit your suggestions and corrections. All criticism will be ignored.

And with that, read on and enjoy...

Aphrodite	One of Miss Susie's "gels" in Flashman and the Redskins. Flashman says on several occasions that Miss Susie had 20 women working for her when she and "Beachy" took the road west from New Orleans to Santa Fe. Near as I can tell, he mentions nine: Aphrodite, Claudia, Cleonie (see below), Eugenie, Jeanette, Josephine, Marie, Medea and Stephanie. He also mentions one "gel" (Poppaea) that was sold "down the river", but she was not among the group that traveled west.
Mrs Bomfomtabellilaba	A woman Flashy rogers in Madagascar in Flashman's Lady.
Phoebe Carpenter	A clergyman's wife who lures Flashy into the opium trade, doublecrosses him by having him unknowingly smuggle guns upriver and, by doing so, gets him involved in the Taiping Rebellion.
Cassy	A slave that Flashman escorts up the Mississippi in Flash for Freedom
Cleonie	One of the central characters in Flashman and the Redskins. She is one of Susie Willinck's "gels". Flashman sells her in order to get enough cash to make good his escape. Unbeknownst to Flashman, she bears him a son, Frank Grouard (Standing Bear). Cleonie later reappears as Mrs Candy and seeks to get her revenge on Flashy.
Fanny Duberly	Born Fanny Locke, she is a historical figure and an example of the audacity of Victorian womanhood in spite of the repressive social structure of the time. Fanny Duberly sneaks aboard ship to follow her husband to the Crimean War. She appears twice in the Flashman books.
Elspeth	Elspeth Rennie Morrison of Glasgow, who becomes Mrs Harry Paget Flashman in the first book of the series. Obviously, Elspeth is a main character in all the Flashman books, but she comes to her own as the title character in Flashman's Lady.
Fetnab	A dancing girl that Flashy buys in Calcutta. She teaches Hindi to Flashman. She is one of the reasons, along with Mohammed Iqbal, that Flashy gets posted to Afghanistan and ultimately survives First Afghan War.
Lady Geraldine	She teaches Flashy the First Law of Economics which is that "the time to beware of a pretty woman is not when you're flush with cash...but when you're short of the scratch, and she offers to set you right."
Duchess Irma	Duchess Irma of Strackenz is one of the key characters in Royal Flash. Flashman marries her while impersonating Carl Gustaf.
Jeendan	Maharani Jeendan is the dancing-girl-turned-regent that rules the Sikh Kingdom at the time Flashy is sent to the court of Lahore. Flashy's exploits with Jeendan are chronicled in Flashman and the Mountain of Light.
Josette	She is the third part of the triangle that causes the Bernier duel and results in Flashy being posted to India.
Judy	The guv'nor's live-in girlfriend. She and Flashy have periodic run-ins.
Mrs Leo Lade	Flashy's trysts with Letty Lade are the catalyst that sends Flashy to the East Indies with Don Solomon in Flashman's Lady.
Lakshmibai	The Maharani of Jhansi. She is an historical figure that serves as the central character in Flashman in the Great Game. The rendevous at the pavilion is the epitome of Fraser's descriptive powers (in my own randy opinion).
Lady Caroline Lamb	The name that Flashy gives a slave that he rogers on the Balliol College in Flash for Freedom. This appears to be a bit of sarcasm directed at the real Lady Caroline.
Lily Langtry	Flashy refers to her several times in the books although their relationship has as yet not been detailed.
Mrs Leslie	A woman in Meerut who has an affair with Flashy while he is disguised as the Pathan badmash, Makarram Khan, in Flashman in the Great Game. She is killed in the Sepoy Rebellion.
Mrs Madison	In Flashman and the Mountain of Light, Flashy and Mrs Madison attempt a game of "Flashy in the corner pocket" under a billiard table. Flashy uses information that he overhears while in this position to get an assignment as a political with George Broadfoot. Unfornuately, Broadfoot sends him into harm's way at the court of Lahore.
Mrs Mandeville	Annette Mandeville is a recurring character appearing in both Flash for Freedom and Flashman and the Angel of the Lord. She has a penchant for wearing spurs when "in the saddle".
Mangla	A slave in the court of Lahore, yet a confidant to the Maharani Jeendan, the governess of the young Maharaja Dalip Singh, and one of the richest women in the Punjab.
Lola Montez	Marie Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert is a historical figure from the Victorian era. A dancer that caused scandal in London (as Lola Montez), she was later consort to King Ludwig of Bavaria. Lola plays a central role in Royal Flash.
Nareeman	A dancing girl, and beloved of the villainous Gul Shah, that Flashy ravishes in Flashman. The villain later abducts Flashy and tries to kill him.
Fanny Paget	Flashy relates a story where he has to dive under the bed while in flagrante delicto with Fanny Paget when Lord Cardigan comes knocking at her boudoir door. Under the bed he finds a detective already in hiding. They are forced to remain there listening to Fanny and Lord Haw Haw rogering away until her husband returns home and breaks up the scene.
Mrs Betty Parker	Flashy tries to seduce her on the retreat from Kabul. This incident is later mentioned by Lady Sale.
Baroness Pechmann	She is used by Otto von Bismarck to blackmail Flashy into posing as Carl Gustaf in Royal Flash.
Penny Jenny	A prostitute aboard the riverboat Sultana.
Lady Plunkett	"The sporty young wife of an elderly pantaloon", Maud Plunkett invites Flashy to her room in the Auckland hotel in Calcutta. When they are surprised by her husband, Flashy escapes by posing as a doctor. As a result, Flashy takes the first ship out of Calcutta and gets Shanghaied by John Charity Spring and begins his adventure with John Brown in Flashman and the Angel of the Lord
Mrs Popplewell	She helps Flashman escape from the aftermath of Harper's Ferry by having him pose as Mr Popplewell in Flashman and the Angel of the Lord.
Ranavalona	Queen of Madasgascar. Flashy served as sergeant general and prime stud to the queen in Flashman's Lady.
Aunt Sara	Valla's aunt who tests Flashy's mettle in a Russian steambath in Flashman at the Charge.
The Silk One	Also known as Ko Dali's daughter. A key character in Flashman at the Charge, she uses her charms to drug Flashy into participating in the raid on Fort Raim. During the raid, Flashy uses Congreves rockets to destroy the Russian ammunition ships and forestalls the advance of the Russian army, thereby saving India.
Sonsee-Array	Also known as Takes-Away-Clouds-Woman. An Apache princess, daughter of Mangas Colorado (Red Sleeves), who Flashy saves from the scalphunters and later marries in Flashman and the Redskins.
Miranda Spring	Daughter of John Charity Spring. In Flashman and the Angel of the Lord, she seduces Flashman and causes him to be Shanghaied by her father.
Szu-Zhan	A bandit leader that saves Flashy's life on the Yangtze River. She uses an interesting "fighting style" in the bedroom.
Valla	Valentina is the daughter of Count Pencherchevsky. She is married, but childless, so Pencherchevsky decides to recruit Flashy to help the process along (to which Flashy refers to himself as "Flashman Buttercup the Twenty-first of Horny Bottom Farm"). When Flashman and Scud East try to make their escape from Starotorsk and the cossacks are gaining on them, Flashman tosses the helpless Valla out of the sleigh ("For an instant even I was appalled -- but only for an instant.").
Whampoa's beauties	White Tigress and Honey-and-Milk. They are Whampoa's attempt to help Flashman deal will the shock of Elspeth being kidnapped by Don Solomon in Flashman's Lady. Very civilized of the old boy, if I do say so myself.
Susie Willinck	New Orleans madam who saved Flashy from John Charity Spring. She and Flashy, who is posing as Beauchamp Comber, are married and travel west with her "gels".
Yenohala	Imperial concubine who later becomes the Dowager Empress of the Manchu Dynasty.

Again, if I missed any of your particular favorites, my humble apologies. I plan to add the maid in Royal Flash and the native woman he rogered while on maneuvers with Brooke in Borneo. As I continue my research (and as time permits) I will be adding more info.