Georgette Heyer

The young Duke of Sale has a rebellious spirit, and when he hears of Belinda, the beautiful foundling who appears to be blackmailing his cousin, he absconds with glee – only to be plunged into a frenzy of intrigue, kidnap and adventure.

The Foundling

Pepper

** spoiler alert **
           The Duke of Sale (having had the misfortune of being a sickly child) has been cosseted & coddled for all his life by his relatives and servants. Being 24 now and still having to endure advice and fussing and overprotectiveness meant that when the opportunity presented itself he gladly took the chance to slip his leash and try being a Dash of Nowhere in Particular. He decides that he will help out his cousin Matt from his troubles of being blackmailed by a scoudrel called Mr Liversedge and goes off leaving only his elder cousin Gideon (beloved because he seems to be the only fellow who doesn't adopt and fatherly, matronly or toadeating attitude with him) vaguely aware of his intentions of pursuing adventures.

And adventures he does have! From wresting personal letters from Liversedge to getting saddled with an addlebrained beauty (who has a habit of running off with people who offer her purple, silk gowns and a ring), to rescuing a young charge running away from his home (who is determined to get up to all sorts of mischief like imitating highwaymen and getting locked up), to getting kidnapped by Liversedge. Never a dull moment for Mr Dash of Nowhere though it has to be said he acquits himself well. Meanwhile there is Gideon, who having known to be the last person the Duke saw before disappearing is being thought of as a murderer for his cousin's inheritance. To Gideon's credit he doesn't let such paltry rumours get in the way of his cousin's adventures but when Liversedge comes on his doorstep offering to kill his cousin for fifty thousand pounds even Gideon can't refrain from wanting to (after sufficiently strangling Liversedge) protect his "little one" and launches forth on a rescue mission which (he is happy to discover) wasn't needed at all, the Duke having burnt the place of his hostage to a cinder and made good his escape. 

The relationship between Gideon & Gilly is absolutely adorable. Captain Ware believes in his young cousin's ability to take care of himself and manage his own affairs and while his father, who is uncle to Gilly, is forever contradicting himself by admonishing Gilly to assert himself and just when Gilly tries to do so waves them away as being silly or quite ineligible Gideon at least knows his cousin's strengths and is amused to witness his little one's transformation from being a quite and docile young man to someone who is firmly polite in refusing the various offers of help he is forever being showered with. This book also has one of Heyer's most amusing villains who while being such a scoundrel has so much sensibility (or so he is always saying) and such grand schemes that by the end Gilly and Gideon are inclined more to laugh at him and reward him for being such a villain than clap him in Newgate. Mr Liversedge asserts till the very end that had it not been for his various trickeries and villainy the Duke would never have had such adventures and found himself from someone who was unsure of himself to one who could come off creditably in all manner of deuced devlish situations. He almost convinces us too.

Jaclyn Rye

Abi Hills

A pulse-racing story of Regency romance from one of our best-known and most beloved historical novelists. The shy, young Duke of Sale has never known his parents, Instead, his Grace Adolphus Gillespie Vernon Ware (Gilly for short) has endured twenty-four years of rigorous mollycoddling form his uncle and valet. But his natural diffidence conceals a rebellious spirit. So when Gilly hears of Belinda, the beautiful foundling who appears to be blackmailing his cousin, he absconds with glee. No sooner has he entered this new and dangerous world than he is plunged into a frenzy of intrigue, kidnap and adventure ... For over fifty years, Georgette Heyer was the undisputed queen of historical, romantic fiction. The Foundling shows all of her wonderful talents at their best, and how she won a huge audience that continues to this day.

The Foundling

Reviews