Sentence:  Alice Kerr-Sutherland, a no-nonsense governess who in the early years of the century had abandoned her errant but legitimate little charges to pursue the high road of <WSD>madamhood</WSD>. Her flagellation brothel in St James's was a place of resort for the gentry and nobility […]. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The fact or state of being a madam in charge of a brothel.