Jane Austen

I hope to write some blogs about the Jane Austen novels, probalby starting with the popular favourite, Pride and Prejudice. Austen wrote a version of this early work, called First Impressions, when she was only 15 and re wrote it later under the familiar title. Her hero Fitzwilliam Darcy is a very rich man, with an income of 10,000 a year and Elizabeth Bennet is probably her most loved heroine.

Imogen Quy

In the 2000s' Walsh wrote two more Quy novels, the Bad Quarto and Debts of Dishonour, but they are not as good as her earlier works. Debts of Dishonour is about financial problems in one of the colleges and Bad Quarto is partly about theories on Shakespeare, and also about social work with children. Both books seem a little awkward as if these were not subjects on which Walsh had first hand knowledge. However I enjoyed them, and I wish she had written more Quy novels, as I dont much like the Peter Wimsey novels.

Wyndham Case Part II

Imogen knows a little about police work, as she has become friends with Mike Parsons, who is in the police force. He is on the case. In the college, there is a controversy going on over one of the libraries. There is a library, supported by a generous bequest from an earlier don, which is supposed to have an audit every 100 years. A lot of money is tied up in the library, and the college wishes there was some way of breaking the trust and freeing up the money. THe owner of the books was an old fashioned scholar in the 17th century, and most of his books are of no scholarly value, as he tended to support theories that were discredited, even during his lifetime. It is legally possible to go to the Charity COmmission to look into the original trust but the Master is a quiet man who dislikes conflict. As the case unravels, it seems as if Philip was in the library late at night stealing books which seems possible as he was not well off. It emerges that he had quite a decent sum of money in his bank account, considering he was a poor student. Imogen visits Philip's family and is distressed that they are so upset not only to lose their only child but to have whispers going around that he was a thief. Some of the students contact Imogen and tell her where Jack is hiding out, at a hut at the seaside. He tells the police that he found PHilip in the library at night and they quarrelled because he was sure that Philip was up to no good. He pushed him and Philip fell and hit his head. It turns out that Philip had been having shots prior to going on holiday, and a medical student, who was trying to attract Jacks attention, mixed soemthing in the jabs that stopped the blood clotting. Eventually, Imogen discovers that the truth was that Philip was the victim of a prank played by one of the ordinary college librarians on the librarian of the Wyndham library. He was hired to do an audit, which would mean that the trust would go on for a longer while, and the librarian would look foolish. Roger, the college librarian had always been jealous of the better paid Wyndham librarian. Imogen is shocked and angry that in playing his prank, Roger did not consider that it left PHilip with the name of being a thief. Jack is in trouble over attacking PHilip but his death was accidental, as it was caused by the drug being tampered with. Philip's name is cleared. Then, Tracy contacts Imogen, and tells him that she's pregnant, by her dead boyfriend and she does not know if she can cope as a single mother. Imogen had been talking to Philip's mother who told her that while it hurt terribly to lose her son, she had always wanted a daughter. She contacts the lady to tell her that there is a grandchild on the way......

The Wyndham Case By Jill Paton Walsh

This is the first Imogen Quy novel by Jill Paton Walsh. Imogen is a nurse at a college in Cambridge, a single woman in her 30s, who has had some disappointments in her life. She was a medical student, but gave up her studies to go to the US with her boyfriend, who then left her. She returned to the UK, and trained as a nurse while looking after her parents, who then both died, and left her alone. She is a bit lonely but is a warm cheerful young woman who enjoys her job. She rents out rooms in her house, and is friendly with the Master of St Agatha's college and his wife, Lady Buckmote, who is kind to her. Imogen is horrified when a young student, Philip, is discovered dead in one of the libraries. It seems like an accident but soon they realise that he was killed. Imogen finds that some of the students talk to her while they wont talk to the police and she gets involved in the investigation. It emerges that Philip is from a modest lower middle class background and was given rooms to share with an upper crust boy, Jack, who is callous and insensitive. THen Imogen meets a young trainee hairdresser, Tracy, who works at a salon nearby and finds that she was Philip's secret girlfriend. He felt lonely in college as he didn't fit in and was irritated by the students who didn't care much about studying. He and Tracy kept their affair secret because he was afraid of being teased even more by his fellow students. Tracy tells Imogen that Philip had come to see her one evening when Jack was having a party and he knew he would not get any sleep. He said that he had to leave to do some work, and left her... Then another student is killed and Jack disappears.

Lovers All Untrue, Ending.

He is still angry at being forced to give way and let his daughter get married. In the meantime, Mrs Fenner, now angry and desperate, goes to Mr Horridge, having learned that Marion is engaged to him. She tells him that she has seen letters that prove that Marion was married, but while he is uneasy, he refuses to believe her. He offers her some money, in exchange for a letter saying that what she had said about Marion was a lie and that she will never repeat it. Confused and angry, she writes the letter and takes the money, and decides to use it to buy out the house which she rents, so she will own the property and make more money out of it. Mr Horridge is upset by her outburst, half afraid that perhaps Marion isn't the angelic young woman he had fallen in love with but he tells himself that it is all a lie from an old woman trying to get some money. Mr Draper is seething with anger, and determined to upset Marion, even if he can't stop the wedding. He gets her alone and calls her Madame de Brissac. Startled, Marion tells him that she was never married to Johnny but she did get pregnant and have a miscarriage. He slaps her and shakes her angrily and she collapses and goes into a sort of catatonic state. Mr Draper, shaken, tells Ellen that Marion had a dizzy turn and fell and hit her head. THey get a doctor in, and Mr Horridge calls in a specialist, but noone can arouse Marion from her withdrawn state. She ends up in Heatherton, being nursed by Miss Rose, who is kind to her. However, Ellen achieves a liberation, when Marion is gone. The 2 servants they kept left at the same time, and then because they cant find servants for the house Ellen takes over cooking. She enjoys housekeeping and being active and she intends to keep her role as cook housekeeper, even if Papa does not like it and resolves to resort to sabotage if necessary. The book has a sad ending, with Marion forever in a a catatonic state, but shows how Victorian women had such narrow lives that even being a cook was a liberation for some of them. It also shows how desperate a girl like Marion was, knowing that marriage to a man who had a low paid job like Johnny was going to send her out into the world to work at some menial job, yet welcoming it, because she was so bored with her housebound life.

Lovers ALl Untrue Part IV

Mr Draper gives way and agrees to let Marion get married to Mr Horridge. She hopes that her marriage will help her mother and Ellen and that she will be happy, with Edward Horridge, who is kind and gentle to her. But she still has Johnny and her affair with him in her past. When she comes back home, Johnny comes to see her and she tells him not quite truthfully, that her father has decided to get her married and that she is now engaged to Mr Horridge. Johnny is not at all happy. He has again failed to make a marriage that will immprove his life financially, and he's angry with Marion. He is also ill. He has a delicate stomach which gives him problems and he is not well and upset and eager for revenge on her. He reminds her that he has the love letters she wrote him, which speak of their love making and her being pregnant. Marion fears that she will have to play along with him, and half agrees to leave the house and go to London with him. She tells him that she has a legacy which she will inherit when she comes of age... and Johnny promises then to bring the letters and burn them in front of her. She feels anger at how Johnny treated her, seducing her to get her into a mood where she would hopefully marry him, and now he's using her letters against her, to try and destroy any happiness she might have with Edward Horridge. When he comes the following night, she gets him to burn the letters but still does not trust him entirely, and she offers him a drink of brandy laced with arsenic. A few days later, Johnny is taken ill and dies, and his landlady Mrs Fenner who was fond of him, finds herself left with the task of burying him as he has no family or friends. She sells Johnny's clothes and his few valuables to raise some money, and finds some papers in his hatbox. Reading them, she finds that they are love letters. Johnny had not after all destroyed all of Marion's letters, he was holding out on her. Mrs Fenner is a working woman and she is shocked by the letters Marion has written which are frank about their sexual encounters. She also signs herself Johnny's loving wife and mentions her pregnancy. Mrs Fenner works out that this girl who wrote Johnny letters is the daughter of the town's only maltster. Years ago, her husband worked for Mr Draper, but he was ill treated when he became ill and wasnt able to work. She is maliciously pleased to find that Mr Draper's daughter got pregnant and had to get married as she thinks, and decides to take the letters to Draper and ask for money, just to pay for the funeral. She goes to Mr Draper's house and tells him she has letters which prove that Marion was pregnant and had to get married, he refuses to listen to her, and burns the letters, telling her that he doesn't believe a word of it. However he has always been suspicious of Marion, realising that she was always in rebellion against his dominance, and he determines to find out if she really did marry Johnny De Brissac.

Lovers All Untrue, Part III

Mr Draper is furious with Marion, blaming her for the accident and for Johnny being there. He hardly speaks to his daughter until they go back to Bereham. Marion realises how selfish Johnny is, and when she meets him again, she knows that she wont go back to him. But she begins to plot against her father, wanting to free her sister and mother from his domination. She asks Johnny if he can get her some arsenic so she can whiten her hands. He is half suspicious as to why she really wants it, but agrees to try and get it. Mr Draper decides that he will send her to a nursing home, in the country which has a slightly sinister reputation..The matron was reputed to be unkind at times, and he hopes that this will make her realise that she is under his control and must remain so. He writes to Miss Rose, the matron and owner, and in the meantime he has a dinner party for business friends, including a Mr Horridge, who is very wealthy, a self made man who now owns an estate near the nursing home. Horridge falls in love with Marion and is surprised to see that the Drapers dont seem to be seeking husbands for their 2 girls. He finds that she is being sent to Heatherton which is next door to his estate. She goes to the nursing home, and finds that Miss Rose is amusing and kindly, and seems to get on with her. Mr Horridge calls and they get to know each other, but Marion realises that no news has come from home to say that Papa has died. He had noticed that his decanter of claret looked cloudy, and had it thrown out. Marion decides that she must try and manage another plan for escape for herself and her mother and Ellen. Mr Horridge is a middle aged man but he is kindly and seems to be in love with her Marion thinks that if she marries him, she would be able to at least invite Ellen and her mother for visits. She is not in love with Mr Horridge but she likes him. He goes to her father to tell him that he wants to marry Marion and Mr Draper refuses permission. Horridge tells him that he will use his wealth to ruin him in business unless he gets his way. .

Lovers All Untrue Part II

Ellen is not taken with Jean De Brissac, or Johnny as people tend to call him. She thinks that he is rather presumptuous in having flirted with a genteel girl like Angela. She worries at the thought that her sister is so admiring of him. SInce Mr Draper has allowed the girls to go to the society Johnny goes as well and on the way home he and Marion take to walking together and kissing. THen Mrs Draper is rearranging rooms in the house because her faithful old cook Ada cannot manage the stairs as she used to. Mrs Draper suggests that Marion takes a small bedroom by the kitchens, while Ada and Betty, the maids, take a bedroom on the lower floors. THIs give Marion a chance to open the front door and let Johnny in. Before long he is visiting her and they make love. He has been trying to find a girl in England whose father is well to do, and who would be willing to accept him as a son in law. Since Marion has no brothers, he hopes that if he could make her fall in love with him, they could persuade Mr Draper to let them marry and he would become heir to the business. Marion is in love with him, but she having had such a restricted life, is content with their meeting and making love, and she tells him that she does not believe that Mr Draper would ever let them marry. She tells him that her father is very possessive and would never want his girls to get married. Johnny wonders if he has wasted his time seducing another girl who cannot become his wife and his solution to poverty. It is almost summer and Marion then finds that she is pregnant. She tries to persuade Johnny to go to London with her and marry, and they could have the baby there. He is furious, as he knows they will be poor and if she is a young wife with a baby, there's no way that she could work. He wants her to tell her father, and he beleives that any normal man would prefer his daughter to marry than to end up with a baby. marion is not so sure. She and Ellen and the parents go on holiday to the Seaside and Johnny goes on a day trip, hoping to find some way of getting to talk to Mr Draper. Marion goes bathing, and on an impulse, tries to drown herself. Johnny and the Bathing woman rescue her and bring her back to their lodgings and she finds that she has had an early miscarriage, freeing her from the trap of pregnancy.

Lovers All Untrue by Norah Lofts

This is one of Lofts best novels. It is loosely based on the story of the Scottish Madeline Smith. Marion Draper is a Victorian girl, living in Bereham Norfolk during the 19th century. Her father is from the genteel middle class, owning a maltings, which prepares hops for brewing. He is not very rich, but comfortably off and the family consists of him, his wife, who is shy and not in good health, and his 2 daughters Marion and the less intelligent Ellen. Papa Draper keeps his family close and rarely lets the girls socialise more than a minimum with the local families. HIs wife is dominated over by him, but Marion is rebellious, though she knows how hard it is to break free from the strict propreity of life for a girl in Victorian England. She loves to read and study, but her father does not want to give her much education, and when she leaves school and suggests that she might work in the business' office, he refuses to consider it. Marion seeks escape in novels but her father disapproves of them. Ellen is much less clever and does not resent their father's strict rule as much. Marion at 17 is increasingly bored and restless, especially when their father forbids them to join the local music society. Soon afterwards, the local VIcar sets up a literary society, and Marion manages to get permission to join it, with Ellen. The girls have a friend, Angela, the daughter of the local solicitor, who is connected with various country gentry and military families. Angela has been having a secret flirtation with a young man from the music society, Jean Brissac, who is French - even though he works as an asistant to the local chemist. Angela's romance is discovered and her father sends her away to relatives in the country, to break it up, and Marion and Ellen are shocked to find that Angela's "Frenchman of good family" is actually just a chemist's assistant and is only a distant relative of the French genteel family. However, when they meet him, Marion is taken with his Byronic good looks and charm. She and Ellen are asked by Angela to convey to him that she has had to go away, and while they are doing this, Marion finds herself becoming attracted to him.

Anne's House of Dreams Part III

Leslie takes Dick to the city for his operation and Cornelia and Anne fret about their friend. Then, news comes from Leslie to say the operation is safely over. Soon afterwards, she contacts Anne to say that something has occurred, that she has now found that Dick is dead. The man she thought was her husband is his cousin, George Moore, who did resemble his cousin quite a bit as their Mothers were twin sisters. He had been looking after Dick who had died of fever, and he planned to go back to Canada and tell Leslie of her husband's death... and he had a letter from her in his pocket. HE had then been attacked in the port and badly injured and lost his memory. He had changed somewhat due to his injury and run to fat, but some of his memory had come back. Leslie is amazed. She looks after him for a while till he is able to get in contact with relatives in his home town and travel back to them. She then comes back to Glen St Mary, and Anne has written to Owen Forde to let him know that Leslie is now free. Anne has her new baby and this time all goes well and she has a healthy son James Matthew. Leslie moves in to help her, and Owen is able to court her respectably. Owen's book is due to be published and Captain Jim is excited, but he is beginning to fail,health wise. THen Miss Cornelia tells the Blythes that in middle age, she is getting married. THey are astounded, as she had so often abused all the men in the village. She has a farm, and she tells him that she has quite a few suitors still, including Marshall Elliott, who lives nearby, but she had refused to marry him for years. He is a passionate Liberal, in politics (the slang term is Grit) and he was so angry several years ago at an election that he swore not to cut his beard or hair till the Liberals got in again. Now they have just won an election and he's cut his hair and beard and looks respectable again. She says that she will be glad to have someone to help her run the farm, and makes her wedding plans. Leslie and Owen are also planning to marry and move to Toronto, where Owen will go on with his writing. Captain Jim's Life Book is finally published and the old man sits up all night reading it, but the following day, they find him dead. Anne is grieved but she knows that he was happy to see the book published and did not care if it did well in sales. He had achieved his ambition and died before he became frail and helpless. Gilbert tells Anne that he has found a new house, in the village, Ingleside, which is bigger and will be more suitable for them. Anne hates the thought of leaving her litlte house but he reminds her that it will be lonely with Leslie and Captain Jim gone, so she agrees to move. I like the novel even allowing for some fantastic elements such as the news about George and Dick Moore. It is a portrait of a vanished time, in a small prudish community. One of Dick's faults is that he drinks, and there are also stories about him and a girl. Leslie tells Anne that she would never have married him if she had known of these stories, and it seems that in Prince Edward Island only "bad" men drink. There is sadness in the death of Anne's first baby, but rejoicing when she has her son. It is the last novel about Anne herself, as later ones tend to focus on the children and are a bit coy and twee.

Anne's House of Dreams Part II

Anne finds she is expecting a baby, and Leslie though she tries to hide it, is clearly upset - it is another reminder of how little she has in her life. As they are so far north, in the winter the harbour is closed to sea traffic and the land is often covered with snow and ice, so Anne is lonely at times, but she and Leslie remain friendly. In the spring after her wedding, Anne has her baby. It is a little girl whom they call Joyce. But the baby is ill and dies within a day. Anne is desperately depressed, but it brings her closer to Leslie. She acquires a housekeeper, Susan Baker, who comes to live with them. She is a kind middle aged spinster who loves Anne but disapproves of Miss Cornelia, who is always criticising men. That summer, Leslie takes in a summer lodger, to help bring in some money, and the man Owen Ford is a writer who has a connextion with the Island. His grandparents used to live there and he soon becomes friends with Captain Jim. Jim has had a lot of adventures during his sailing days, and he's written them down but does not have the writing skill to make a good book out of them. Owen suggests that they collaborate, with him writing up the story and Jim supplying the material. However while he is doing this, he finds himself falling in love with Leslie. She is so beautiful, and he grows closer to her, but he knows that with her marital bond to Dick, he cannot ask her to be with him. THen Gilbert tells Anne that he has had a look at Dick Moore's head injuries recently and that he thinks that it might be possible for a specialist to operate on him and he might restore him to health again. Anne is horrified when she hears this. Gilbert does not know about the feelings between Owen and Leslie. Gilbert tells her that he does believe that there is a chance for Dick to be restored to something like a normal life, and he feels as a doctor he has to advise Leslie of this. Anne tells him that Dr Dave, his uncle, had always believed that Dick could not be helped and that an operation will cost more than Leslie can afford. Captain Jim tells them that he will lend or give Leslie the money, and he agrees with Gilbert that if the operation works it is right for them to give Dick a chance of normality.

Anne 's House of Dreams

This is the last Anne novel which is mainly about Anne, since the later ones are about her children. The novel covers hte first few years of Anne's marriage to Gilbert Blythe, who is now a doctor. He has taken a practice in Glen St Mary, a village on Prince Edward Island, not all that close to Avonlea. The couple have a quiet wedding at Green Gables, and Marilla And Rachel Lynde are sad to see them go away. When they arrive in Glen St Mary, they meet new friends, including an elderly sea captain, Captain Jim, who now keeps the lighthouse, and Cornelia Bryant a middle aged spinster who professes to disapprove of all men. She is a good hearted creature though and Anne soon becomes good friends with her. Another neighbour is Leslie Moore, a young woman who is married to a man who has had a brain injury and now has the mental age of a child. Leslie was pushed into marrying him because her father had killed himself and she and her mother were very poor. But he was not a good husband, and then went away on a voyage leaving her to manage their farm. He disappeared and did not come back from his voyage, having gone drinking and not rejoined his ship. Then a year or so later, Captain Jim found him in a sailors' tavern in Cuba. He had been injured some time before and the people who kept the tavern let him stay and do a few jobs for them. HE had a letter in his pocket from Leslie, so in spite of his having changed, Jim knew him. He brought him home. Leslie took him in and found him more manageable now that he was injured and his brain was damaged. But she is still a young woman and stuck in a hopeless marriage.

Rilla of Ingleside Part III

Rilla is desperately upset when Walter joins up, but then, he is killed. Jem is taken prisoner and they hear nothing of him for some time. Rilla grieves for her brother but goes on with her war work and looking after baby Jims, and has a surprise when she and Jims have to take shelter in a house from a storm one night, and the lady who owns it takes a fancy to the child and when she dies shortly afterwards she leaves him some money. Then they get word from Jims' father who has been serving in the British army. He had not gotten in touch for a while but left the baby to Rilla's care. He has been repatriated and will be back in Canada, soon and he has become engaged to an English girl. Rilla meets her and likes her. She thinks that if she marries Mr Anderson, she will organise him, and he will work harder and make a living and Jims also has some money in trust for his education. She is sorry to lose her war baby, but continues to work and help her mother at home... Ken Ford comes back from the war, safely and asks her to marry him. Jem comes home when the war ends, and says that he was not ill treated in the German camp but that there was little food. The war is finally over and Britain has won, but the Blythes have suffered a grievious loss.

Rilla of Ingleside Part II

Rilla is not a baby loving kind of girl, and the baby is small, sickly and ugly, but she feels she cannot leave him to an orphanage or a drunken old aunt. She takes him with her to her home, but her father, Gilbert tells her that if she takes on the child, she is going to have to assume full responsibility for him, and not expect help from her mother... Susan, the family maid, is astonished at Rilla's being willing to try to care for the baby, and she offers to help advise, but the doctor says she is not to do more than advise Rilla. Rilla finds the work of taking care of a small baby exhausting, and she also has her Junior Red Cross work, but she perseveres. The baby begins to grow and look better, and she enjoys organising the charity. She matures, gradually, learning that she cannot trust one of the prettier girls in the Red Cross. Walter finally makes up his mind to join the army - he had kept out because he felt he could not kill people, or face the horrors of war. He overcomes his fear and becomes a good soldier. Kenneth Ford, the son of Anne's friend Leslie, is a regular visitor to the Island, and he joins up and pays a visit to Rilla and when he has to go away, he kisses her. She regards herself as engaged to him. At one stage she buys a fancy hat, which Anne regards as too fancy and expensive, and then says that she will wear the hat until the war is over. The book is very much anti German. Montgomery's passionate support of the war made her very hostile to the Germans and since it is a young person's book, it is rather simplistic in its attitude to the enemy. The one character who is something of a pacifist is ridiculed and RIlla helps his daughter to make a wartime marriage to a soldier.

Rilla of Ingleside by LM Montgomery

THis is the last of the Anne novels by LM Montgomery and is set in World War One. Maud Montgomery was very upset by the war; she had half brothers engaged in it, and her own marriage was unhappy. Her husband, a Presbyterian minister, began to suffer from religious melancholy and to believe that he and his children were all doomed to hell, and at times he could barely function as a clergyman. Maud became obsessed by the war, so in 1921, she published Rilla of Ingleside which covers the years of the War, and gives a picture of the life on the Home Front in Canada. Rilla is the youngest daughter of Anne, but she is not clever or artistic like her mother or her older brothers and sisters who have been going to college. Jem, the eldest boy, plans to go into medicine like his father. Rilla has no ambitions, she is 15 and just wants to enjoy herself for a few years. However, war breaks out just on the day that she goes to her first grown up party. At first many of the local people think that there's no reason to worry and that the war will be over before any Canadian troops get involved. Rilla soon finds that things are changing. Her eldest brother joins up and so do other male friends, except Walter, her poetical brother, who has been ill. She is encouraged by her Mother to take on the role of running a junior branch of the Red Cross for young women, and she starts getting involved in that.... and then to her horrified amazment, she visits a local woman to ask for donations and finds that the woman who is from a poor family, has just died after having a baby, and the baby itself is small and weak and is in the care of a drunken relative, who does not want to look after him.

Pistols for Two

This is a collection of Heyers short stories, mostly stories about elopments and love at first sight romances. My favourite is Night at the Inn, because it has a couple who are not that well off, as hero and heroine. Mary is a governess, daughter of a poor clergyman and John is a clerk who has returned from Spain to be promoted to a higher job in England. THey stay at an inn where the staff seem unfriendly, and then they find the next day that the landlord was a murderer like Sweeney Todd. Another story I like is A Husband for Fanny, where a widow finds that the man she had been hoping to marry her daughter Fanny is in fact in love with her, and they get engaged. The stories are short but well plotted and written.

Talisman Ring Part III

The doctor digs a bullet out of Ludovic's shoulder - and then Tristram arrives. Sarah finds that she likes him and is more inclined to think well of him than Eustacie was. He tells her that he was willilng to marry his cousin but not if she does not want to. He goes to see the bedridden Ludovic, and his cousin argues wth him, over the Talisman ring.. but eventually believes that Tristram did not steal the ring and that he wants to help him. THey decide that they have to find out who killed Sir Matthew and what has become of the ring and then Ludovic can take his place as Lord Lavenham. Eustacie is relieved not to be marrying Tristram as she was never in love with him.... Basil turns up at the inn, and they Keep Ludo's being there a secret from him.. telling him that he was a smuggler who had looked after Eustacie... but admit that he had a resemblance to Sylvester, and was one of his many illegitmiate children. Ludovic had beleived that the Beau was his friend but is now suspicious of him. Bow Street Runners come to the inn, and Ludovic has to hide and conceal his smuggling past. He kisses Eustacie and she tells him she will marry him...Sarah teases Sir Tristram but has become friendly with him. Meanwhile, it emerges that Basil was the murderer and that he has concealed the ring in the frame of his eye glass; He is arrested and Ludovic is now free to resume his place as Lord Lavenham. Tristram has lost Eustacie and Sarah tells him she could find him a wife, among the young women who have failed to find husbands and who now no longer go to balls and Almacks, and he tells her that he is in love with her and wants to marry her. They get engaged and all ends happily.

Talisman Ring Part II

Tristram tells her that she can't remain at Lavenham court, without a chaperone now that Sylvester is dead, so she must go to his mother's. He and Basil tell her the story of Ludovic since Sylvester would never talk of his grandson. Ludovic was a bit of a wild young man, and liked to drink and gamble, and he got into a quarrel with a man living locally, SIr Matthew Plunkett...Ludovic had pledged a talisman ring, in a game of cards, with the understanding that he would get it back when he paid for it. Plunkett refused to return the ring, and Ludovic pestered him to try and get it back. He rode out to try and talk to him, and Plunkett's body was found dead but the ring was missing. Basil says that he does not believe that Ludovic was capable of murder, but Tristram is more sceptical. Eustacie is intrigued by the story of her cousin, but she is determined to get away from Lavenham before she can be taken off to Bath. She becomes wary of Tristram, that he seems to be hostile to Ludovic. Basil tells her that Tristram collects antiques and she wonders if he stole the ring. That night, she rides out of the court, planning to go to London and find a job as a governess. On the way, she comes across a few men who take her captive, and one of them turns out to be Ludovic. He has gotten in with a band of smugglers and is leading an exciting life with them. He puts Eustacie on his horse but gets shot as they ride away. They head for a local inn where the innkeeper, a Mr Bundy, is sympathetic and he takes in the injured man. Eustacie manages to bind up his wound but they send for a doctor. As the weather is very bad, there are only 2 guests at the Inn, Sir Hugh Thane, a landed gentleman who likes to travel, and his sister Sarah.. who usually goes with him. Thane likes the brandy in the inn, and he decides to stay there to nurse a cold. Sarah is in her late 20s and a spinster. She meets Eustacie who is upset about Ludovic's injury, and hears the whole tale, and is delighted to feel that she has fallen into an adventure.

Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer

This is one of Heyer's earlier novels and it is more of an adventure story, set in the 18th century than the comedies of manners that she wrote later. It starts with the deathbed of Sylvester, Lord Lavenham, who has an estate in the wilds of Sussex, and who has led a typical life for a squire of those days, drinking, hunting and wenching. He summons his great nephew, Sir Tristram Shield because he is dying. Tristram likes country life, but is a more serious character than his uncle. Sylvester tells him that he wants him to marry his granddaugher Eustacie, who has come to live with him a few months earlier. Sylvester's daughter married a French nobleman and their one child has been living in France, with her father's family. Sylvester brought her to England, because of the Revolution in France and he now wants her to be safely married off. Tristram points out that he is 31 and Eustacie is only 18, and that he fears he's not likely to make her happy. He has never married but he does feel that he ought to as he has no brothers. Sylvester asks hm to promise to marry the girl, but says that he had thought of marrying her to his only grandson, Ludovic. Several years earlier, Ludovic was accused of murder, when he quarrelled with a wealthy City merchant over a gambling debt. Tristram had managed to get his cousin out of England, but the family had not heard from him now for a long time. Basil Lavenham, Sylvester's next heir, is at the estate, though his uncle does not want to see him. He dislikes him for being a dandy whose nickname is Beau. Basil laughs off his uncle's contempt, but he tells Tristram that it would be good if they knew what had become of Ludovic, since if he is married and has an heir, Basil slips down further in the succession. Tristram says that he is left as trustee to look after the estate.. He dines with Eustacie, at Sylvester's house, and she is very pretty, but inexperienced in the ways of the world. She agrees to the marriage, but she is disappointed because she had hoped that living in England, she would be able to choose her own husband. Sylvester dies, and Tristram tells Eustacie that he will tak her to live with his mother until they are able to get married, and she rebels. She does not want to be sent to Bath to live in seclusion with an old dowager lady.

Lady of Quality Part II

Annis is a less interesting character than Abby Wendover. She is a beauty. THe novel does not have much of a plot; Lucy and Ninian are not that interesting as characters either. Lucy is rather spoilt and Ninian is weak. Oliver does not seem to like Annis because he feels that she is interfering in matters that dont concern her. She tells him that Lucy needs someone to take her into society before she officially comes out, and give her a little experience of parties and socialising. She enjoys taking her young friend out, but Maria, her chaperone does not like Lucy and is jealous of her. Oliver is clearly attracted to Annis but disapproving. He and Annis argue, and he is annoyed when she sees other admirers, including the prim and dull Lord Beckenham. He also blames her when Lucy begins a flirtation with Harry Beckenham, the younger brother of Lord Beckenham who is lively and rakish. It is obvious that Oliver and Annis will end up together, and there is no real barrier to their marriage other than their disagreeing with each other at times, so the book is rather dull. Annis becomes ill with flu, and when she is recovering, Oliver comes to visit her and proposes.. and she accepts him. Her sister in law, Lady Wychwood tells her husband that she thinks that he will make a good husband and that they can take in Maria and she can be a companion to their children. Oliver suggests that Lucy could live with the mother of her 2 girlfirends, Mrs Stinchcombe, who has 2 girls who are due to come out......So all ends happily.

Lady of Quality by Heyer

This is Heyer's last Regency novel.. though after her death her husband published her medieval novel My Lord John which she had worked on for years. Lady of Quality is rather similar to Black Sheep but the characters are not so well developed. Her heroine is an older woman, of 29, who lives in Bath, called Annis Wychwood. Annis left her brother's home to live alone in Bath, because she did not want to sink into the role of a spinster aunt. Her brother is married with 2 small children, and he insists on her having a middle aged companion living with her. Annis is travelling to Bath, when she comes across an accident, where a young couple's carriage has broken down. She offers them a lift to Bath, and learns that Lucilla, the young girl, is trying to run away from her home because her family want her to marry Ninian Elmore. She is an heiress and while she's been friendly with Ninian's family from childhood, she does not want to marry him. He does not want to marry her, either, so he aids her to run away. Annis likes Ninian but he seems rather too gentle, and unable to stand up for himself. He tells her that his father who used to be a soldier, has a bad heart and he's afraid if he defied him, it might cause a heart attack. Lucilla tells Annis that she has few relatives. She lived with an aunt who was her mother's sister and who was a nervous silly lady. Her uncle Oliver, her father's brother, seems to be indifferent to her, and he did not respond to her when she wrote to him to ask him to help her avoid an early marriage. Annis writes to Mrs AMber, the aunt suggesting that Lucy could stay with her for a few weeks, and gets no reply. Then Ninian arrives in Bath, angry because he spoke to his father and told him that he did not love Lucilla and he did not want to marry her, and his father got into a rage but didn't collapse or have a heart attack. He realises now that his father uses his health to domineer over his family, and he leaves home. Then Lucilla's uncle arrives in Bath, and he is angry with Annis for taking Lucy in and she tells him that he should have tried to understand his niece better and help her. He says that he has no interest in children and left her to her aunt. But he is not too pleased when he finally realises that the Elmores and Lucy's aunt have been conspiring to get her married.

Black Sheep Part IV

Fanny begins to turn to Oliver for friendship, to try and get over Stacy. Abby is depressed. Stacy is rudely turned down by Mrs Clapham who laughs him off, when he claims to be in love with her and proposes. In desperation he goes to his uncle. He now realises that Miles is very well off, but his uncle laughs at him and says that he feels nothing for him because he is a blood relation. Stacy is shocked at his heartlessness, but tells Miles that he is desperate. If he had some money he would go away. Miles tells him that he will buy the house and lands, but he's not going to give a generous price. Stacy can take it or leave it. So he accepts the lower price and sells up, and Miles tells him that he will be moving in and improving the house and estate soon. Soon after this, Miles calls on Abby and asks her to go out for a drive. Selina gets weepy, but Abby tells her she's just going out for a short drive and Fanny backs her up, wanting Abby to be happy. When they set off, Miles tells her that they are not coming back, that he has a special licence and they will get married as soon as possible and go on to Danescourt, his new estate. She is horrified, and asks what will become of Selina and Fanny. He tells her that she has the right to make herself miserable if she wants to but he does not want to be miserable without her. He tells her that Fanny will soon be going to London to come out, and that Selina will probably pal up with her middle aged friend Miss Butterbank and share a house with her. Abby resigns herself to being abducted....

Black Sheep Part III

Meanwhile, Stacy Calverleigh is very worried. He has found that Fanny wont come into her full inheritance for 8 years and his own financial position is very precarious. He is a gambler and his estate, Danescourt, is heavily mortgaged. He thinks that if he could persuade Fanny to elope with him, her guardian would probably accept the marriage and help him out financially in order to avoid scandal, so he tries to persuade her to run away. Fanny is infatuated with him but she knows how improper it is to run away and she does not feel very happy at the prospect. But Stacy nags on and persuades her, but he cannot get her to agree to go until after a party that is being held by her aunts. Fanny goes down with the flu, starting to feel ill at the party and the following day she is quite ill and confined to bed. Stacy has not noticed her illness and becomes impatient when she is not around after the party. Impatient and desperate, he feels he must seek another way out of his problems. He is staying at an inn and finds that there is a lady Mrs Clapham, who has just come to stay there. She is about 30 and very pretty.. and not very bright. She is clearly well off, and has a chaperone, a middle aged woman who seems to be guarding her. Stacy finds her attractive, and finds that she is a widow of a very wealthy older man, who has left her a lot of money but without a trustee to take care of it. Her husband was in trade and she knows little of the upper class world. He hopes that he may be able to rush her into a courtship, and marry her and get his hands on her fortune so he plays up his own having a landed estate to attract her. He spends a couple of weeks courting her and is a bit embarrassed when he meets upper class lady friends as its obvious that Mrs Clapham is not a lady. Fanny recovers from her flu, but is weak and depressed and upset that Stacy never sent a message or asked for her, unlike her other friends. She then meets him, and he tells her that he had to give her up because of her family being against the marriage, but Fanny, naive as she is, can see that he was only toying with her affections and now he has another wife in prospect and that she meant nothing to him. Abby tries to console her, telling her that she will feel better and Fanny tries to be brave but she is very low. While she has been ill, James, her trustee, comes to Bath and tells Abby that her flirtation with Miles Calverleigh is scandalous when he had been the suitor of Celia, and that if she marries him, he will cut her and Selina off as sisters. Selina tells Abby that she loves her most of her family, and that if James does cut them off, she will accept it because she loves Abby so much. But she still hopes that her sister wont marry a man whom the family dislike. Abby feels very worn down. She feels that she has a duty to her neice to try and cheer her up after her unhappy love affair, and that it would be selfish of her to marry Miles if the marriage would upset Selina so much. Miles explains to her that he arranged Mrs Clapham's coming to Bath and flirting with Stacy. He tells her that he made a lot of money in India and can provide her with a comfortable home.. and that because he could see that she was worrying so much about Stacy and Fanny, he set his nephew up in order to draw him away from Fanny. He tells her that he has had a former lady friend who has a fancy house in London, and that she was able to find Nancy Clapham, a former actress, who played the rich widow and that she will turn Stacy down when he proposes and laugh at his folly. Abby is amused at Miles' plotting and grateful to him for arranging things so that now, Fanny understands that her suitor was just a selfish young man who was fortune hunting. But she feels that she cannot marry Miles because of Selina.

Black Sheep Part II

Abby visits Mrs Grayshott to see young Oliver, who is still weak from the voyage, and she learns that Miles is in fact a skeleton in her own family's closet. Rowland, Fanny's father was engaged to Celia, a shy quiet girl, and Miles who had fallen in love with her as a very young man, persuaded her to elope with him. She is shocked, but he tells her that her father who was a very strict and snobbish man, wanted to hush things up. Celia was the kind of girl who gave way to the stronger will and she accepted the end of her romance and married Rowland and then seemed to adore him and do everything he wished. Miles tells her that his own father was equally strict and snobbish, and he sent his wayward son to India and all but disowned him. He himself was not that sorry, and found that he had a talent for business and did well in India. Abby finds herself liking Miles, he is free of hypocrisy and she likes him better for not being smooth and sly, like his nephew. Selina likes him too, thinking that he seems a nice man and that it was not right of his family to disown him as they did. Stacy manages to pursue his relationship with Fanny, and is embarrassed by the presence in Bath of his uncle whom he regards as a failure. Fanny adores him and is upset when Abby tells her firmly that at 17, she's too young to marry, and that she would not allow her to get married until she had been out in society a year or 2 and met other suitors. She is good friends however with Lavinia, Oliver's sister and she tries to cheer him up as he is depressed about his failure in India. Oliver finds himself falling in love with her...

Black Sheep part I

This is one of Heyer's later novels, which was written when she was in poor health and did not work so hard. It is a shorter novel and is set in Bath. It has an older heroine, Abigail Wendover who is 28, and who lives with her much older sister Selina, and her orphaned niece Fanny. Abby is jolly and attractive and much cleverer than Selina who is foolish, and a hypochondriac. Fanny is the daughter of their elder Brother Rowland and she is the heir to the family estate. Her parents died when she was very young and she was brought up by Selina and Abby and their mother and they moved to Bath for the mother's health. James, the younger brother is at present the trustee for Fanny's estate, as she is only 17. The Wendover sisters come from a large family but many of them died. Abby has been away visiting one of her married sisters who was having a baby, and when she returns to Bath, she finds that Fanny has attracted a young suitor, but her friend Mrs Grayshott and her brother in law tell her that this young man has a reputation for being a fortune hunter. Abby asks Selina about the man and Selina reveals that she has foolishly encouraged the flirtation because the young man is charming. Abby does not want to push Fanny into rebellion so she resolves to tread carefully, but she realises that she has never told her niece that she wont have full control of her fortune until she is 25. Mrs Grayshott who is a war widow, and not well off, has a son, Oliver, and he was taken up by his uncle, Leonard who is a rich merchant who made his fortune in India. Oliver went to India to learn about the business but his health broke down and he is now coming back to England. On the voyage back he meets a middle aged Englishman, Miles Calverleigh, who has lived a long time in India, and who helps him on the voyage... Abby finds that this man is the uncle of Stacy Calverleigh, Fanny's beau and he frankly tells her when they meet that he has not led a perfectly respectable life. She is half shocked and also amused by his blunt ways....