Cotillion (by Georgette Heyer)

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Georgette Heyer’s historical ‘regency romance’ novels have been my favourite comfort reading for several decades. I try to limit myself to about ten each year, re-reading them regularly. I like most of them very much, but one that stands out as a top favourite every time I read it is ‘Cotillion’. The last time I read it was in 2018, and although I recalled the basic plot well, I had forgotten a lot of the detail and some of the characters.

The book opens at a chilly, rather depressing mansion where Great Uncle Matthew is convinced he’s on his last legs. He is planning to make his will, as he has quite a lot of money. He never goes anywhere and won’t spend more than the bare minimum on household supplies or food. 

He has an adopted daughter, Kitty, whom he’s fond of - or, at least, feels somewhat responsible for.  And he has six great-nephews of marriageable age, although one of them (George) is already married. But Uncle Matthew has decided that Kitty must marry one of the others: the rector Hugh, the Corinthian Jack, the dandy Freddie, the military man Claude, or the Earl Foster (known as Dolph). 

The five unmarried great-nephews have been summoned, but only two turn up: Dolph and Hugh, with George (who is Hugh’s brother) as well. It’s all very awkward, but both Dolph and Hugh make awkward proposals to Kitty, which she refuses. Their characters are wonderfully drawn in just the first chapter: Dolph, with a kind heart but low IQ, is under his mother’s thumb. George is a bit of a snob and also very materialistic. And Hugh is upright and quite kind, but doesn’t realise how very condescending he can be…

Unsurprisingly Kitty decides to run away and bumps into Freddy who has arrived late and has no idea what Uncle Matthew proposes. So Kitty concocts a plan to enable her to spend some time in London, naively unaware of the difficulties she might encounter, or what problems her proposed deception might lead to…

Freddy is one of my absolute favourites of Georgette Heyer’s male leads. He’s not particularly bright - or so his family tells him - but he has impeccable taste, and plenty of common sense. He’s extremely prosaic - there are some very amusing scenes when Kitty’s former governess tries to quote poetry to him, or when Kitty drags him around some of the historic sights of London. And he also takes his responsibilities seriously. Kitty brings out the best in him and he starts surprising his relatives with his forward-thinking and problem-solving. 

There are parts of the book that are a bit sordid, but all too realistic for the era; we meet some characters in this who are not part of the upper classes, but they’re treated sympathetically, even if some of them are obviously vulgar. Kitty is naive at first, and her kindness and friendliness means she gets involved with some rather dodgy folk - yet even they are shown to have good qualities. 

I don’t know quite why I like this story so much, but although I’ve read it at least half a dozen times, maybe more, I enjoy it every time. I chuckled aloud at some of Freddy’s comments, and found it almost impossible to put down once I’d read a couple of chapters. Then, after a typical Heyer gathering of several diverse people as problems are solved, the final scene - as ever - moved me almost to tears.  

Definitely recommended.  

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