Georgette Heyer’s DEVIL’S CUB is the second volume of the Alastair-Audley Book Series. (Volume One THESE OLD SHADES concerns the protagonist’s father and mother.)
So who is this protagonist? His name is the Marquis de Vidal, he is 24 years old, he is a perfectly proportioned handsome young man. Needless to say, he is a rake.
Despite his French-sounding name his home is actually in England, which is a staid place for a hell-bent hellion. At any night of the week, Vidal is wenching or gambling. That, in itself, is not particularly dismaying to his parents the Duke and Duchess of Avon, as that is considered normal behavior for young nobleman. But what does disturb them is Vidal’s tendency to kill his opponents during a duel, as he is a crack shot and an expert swordsman.
The most recent incident ~ where he actually left the body in the middle of the road ~ causes his father to command that he go to Paris for a while until wagging tongues start gossiping about something else. And so Vidal is obliged to leave London suddenly.
But of course, you could not expect such a wild rake to go alone. No, he has to proposition a teenaged girl to go with him. But in his hurry, he mistakenly addresses the note to Miss Challoner, which means that it is the beauty’s elder sister who reads the note.
For those of you who do not know “Miss SURNAME” always meant the eldest sister. The younger sisters being “Miss GIVEN NAME.” In my family, I was Miss Haggard, while my sister was Miss Melanie.
And so a note intended for Sophia Challoner, ended up in the hands of her elder sister Mary. Mary, who is a self-possessed well-educated young woman sees immediately that if her sister goes with Vidal, her reputation will be ruined. And so she goes instead.
Vidal is not happy when he discovers the switch. But as he has been commanded by his father to go to France, he forces Mary onto his private yacht. However, when he attempts to force himself upon her, she shoots him with one of his pistols. Vidal is shocked out of his assumptions, and his attitude towards the young woman changes instantly. Remarkably enough, he actually feels remorse for his boorish behavior, and determines to marry her.
But Mary is not like most women. When the catch of London Society offers her his hand in marriage, she refuses.
What happens next? You will have to read this wonderful novel to find out! Five Stars.
