Sylvester By Heyer

Sylvester is not one of my favorite Heyer novels as the hero is too arrogant to be liked. But it has a complex plot and I enjoy an occasional re read. Sylvester is the Duke of Salford, the elder of twin sons, and his brother Harry has died young. His mother, the Duchess suffers from arthritis and is confined to a chair. He is devoted to his mother, and is also a hard working landlord, who does his duty to his tenants. He surprises her one day by telling her that he's decided to get married, and he thinks that he will have very little difficulty in finding a wife, because of his rank. She is startled at his arrogance, and his apparent belief that love is not all that important in a marriage. He tells her that he is now 28 and while he has an heir, his nephew Edmund, he feels that it would be better if he were to father a son while Edmund is still too young to feel as if he has been cut out. He also wishes to provide his mother with a companion, as her son's widow, Ianthe is about to remarry, after several years. She is still very young and is a flighty creature, who professes devotion to her son but is not really maternal. Sylvester dislikes her and even more dislikes her new fiance, a dandy called Nugent Fotherby. He has refused to allow Ianthe to take Edmund with her when she remarries, and this is a bone of contention between them. Elizabeth, the Duchess is dismayed by how harsh Sylvester has become, and half jokingly tells him that when he was a child she made a match for him with the daughter of her best friend, Verena, Lady Marlow. Sylvester asks about this match, claiming that surely the daughter of his mother's friend would be a suitable wife. She tells him that Verena, her friend, died soon after Phoebe's birth and Lord Marlow remarried and has more children. His second wife is rather shrewish. Sylvester decides to court Phoebe, helped by the fact that her grandmother, Lady Ingham is one of his godmothers. He visits her in London, and though she is a selfish old lady, she is fond of her grandchild and would like to see her married well. She tells him that Phoebe is 19, and not a great beauty but she is intelligent.