He is powerfully built. He dresses well. He is extremely intelligent. With his charming bow and laughing eyes he captivates ladies without much trouble.
But he is cruel.
That truth takes nearly the whole length of this novel to sink into the head of Miss Kitty Charing, the heroine of Georgette Heyer’s novel COTILLION. But once she understands it, her way is clear.
This swirl of a novel contains the usual Georgette Heyer tropes, such as a fake engagement. When Uncle Matthew, the tyrannical head of the Standen family announces a family meeting, at which he expects all of his five grand-nephews to attend, only Jack Westruther fails to show. This is mortifying for Miss Kitty, because she has a crush on Jack.
And so he is not there when Uncle Matthew announces that he is bestowing his enormous fortune on Miss Kitty, providing that she marries one of his great-nephews. Two offer for her at once. But Hugh Ratray, the pious rector is too austere for her taste. (It doesn’t help that he is constantly telling her off.) And Lord Dolphinton, although an Earl, is rather too slow-witted. If Jack had been there, Kitty would have accepted his offer. As he is not, she persuades another cousin, the dapper Freddie Standen, to pretend to be engaged to her and take her to London, where Jack resides. That way, she can make Jack jealous.
Of course, things do not go to plan. But during the following month or so in which Freddie introduces his pretty cousin to London society, Kitty relies on him more and more. Although not as dashing as the rakish Jack, Kitty comes to appreciate his quieter, more solid qualities.
Filled with sparkling humor, and a cast of rather odd, but vivid characters, you could do better than enjoy a Regency romance crafted by a writer with an ear for 1800s slang.
