The Duke of Avon has a Reputation, one that causes his friends (and others) to call him Satanus. Now 40 years old, he has never married and his family consists of a slightly younger sister (a lady in her thirties) and a much younger brother (Lord Rupert, who is around 20.)
One day, His Grace is on his way home by foot, presumably from a not-so-nice place as he is in a shabby neighborhood, when a boy cannonades into him. Picking himself up, he perceives two things. The boy has flaming red hair and compelling blue eyes. And he is terrified.
When the boy’s bully of a brother shows up, determined to continue the punishment, Avon buys him off with a diamond.
And so the boy ~ called Léon ~ becomes Avon’s page.
What makes this book so enjoyable is the remarkable character transformation that these two main characters go through. Avon goes from being a lonely, cynical nasty piece of work, to a man in love. While Léon becomes Léonie the unknown, before becoming Léonie the aristocrat.
I’m not going to tell you how this all comes about. But suffice it to say that under the studied ennui and drawl, Avon is incredibly smart and by the end of the book he has wrought justice for Léonie. Five Stars.