2017/88: These Old Shades -- Georgette Heyer (reread)

[tamaranth]

2017/88: These Old Shades -- Georgette Heyer (reread)

"I thought to use you as a weapon to – er – punish him for something – he had once done to me."
"Is – is that why – why you made me your ward...?" she asked in a small voice.
He rose, and went to the window, and stood looking out. "Not entirely," he said, and forgot to drawl. [p. 394]

This is a very early Heyer, and rather chilling in its premise: the Duke of Avon, a notorious rake nicknamed Satanas, purchases a young boy, 'body and soul', to serve as his page. His friends and his brother are horrified -- doubly so when they realise (as Avon has known all along) that 'Léon' is in fact Léonie. Avon has plans for Léonie, and Léonie is passionately convinced that she belongs to 'monseigneur'. Can this end well?

Justin Alastair, Duke of Avon, is wicked and charming and witty and very elegant: he's one of those characters whose appeal is plain on the page, but who would be insufferable -- or intolerable -- in reality. His reputation is appalling, and he lives up to it, but he does also have a strong sense of honour, and his machinations on Léonie's behalf seem oddly selfless for a man with a history of very public amours.

I didn't care for Léonie much on first reading. She's a survivor, and she's beautiful and charming and funny -- she wins the hearts of the Duke's family and friends -- but I don't find her temper or her forthrightness especially attractive. Still, hurrah for a spirited heroine and a happy ending!

Comments

[anef]

Yes, and the genetic pre-destination is really quite shocking. I re-read it a lot when I was younger, but find it less entertaining these days.

[tamaranth]

Heyer frequently does the 'heredity defines character' trope but seldom quite as heavy-handedly as here (where Henri's 'base' birth is proven by his desire to be a farmer when he grows up). I think, as a teenager, I read this as charming historical verisimilitude: I'm no longer sure that it isn't Heyer's own snobbery.

Or perhaps it's just easier to show someone exhibiting signs of base blood than to exhibit signs of, hmm, moral degeneracy (though that of course would make them fit right in with the aristocracy) ...

[anef]

Yes, Avon and Leonie's father are neither of them adverts for the natural superiority of the aristocracy. A la lanterne!

Plus, at least in England (though possibly not in France) there were plenty of gentleman farmers, and a fair number of aristocrats were involved in the management of their estates. The heroine in the Masqueraders expresses a desire to keep pigs, and nobody considers her to be declassee.

[tamaranth]

Re Heyer: may need to talk to you about Mary and Avon.

Re pigs, have I persuaded you to the particular pleasures of Untamed, by Anna Cowan? review

[anef]

Oh, I yield to nobody in my admiration for Mary Challoner. The phlegmatic heroine par excellence!

I suppose Untamed is only £1.99 on Kindle - pusher!