I love re-reading my Georgette Heyer historical romance novels. I discovered them in my late teens, and have acquired most of them, second-hand, over the years. I have to ration myself to no more than one a month, so I always have some which I haven’t read for at least eight or nine years. But they’re the ultimate in comfort reading.
I last read ‘Lady of Quality’ in 2012, and had only the vaguest memory of the characters and plot, although it quickly came back to me as I started reading. Annis Wychwood is the heroine, one of Heyer’s strong-minded, independent women, past marriageable age (in Regency terms) as she’s approaching thirty. She’s wealthy and beautiful, and has had many proposals since her first ‘season’, but she has felt nothing more than mild liking, and believes herself impervious to falling in love.
Travelling back from a visit to her brother’s, she comes across two young people who are quarrelling over a broken carriage wheel. Lucilla is berating her friend Ninian for accompanying her in running away from home, and he is trying to insist that he had no choice. Annis’s first idea, that they were eloping, is quickly forgotten. In fact Lucilla is running away from relatives who are trying to persuade her to get married to Ninian, due to an arrangement made by their fathers many years ago. But they’ve been brought up almost like brother and sister, and squabble almost continually.
Annis takes Lucilla with her to her Bath home, which isn’t far away, and tries to work out what is best to do. Lucilla is an engaging young woman of seventeen. She is an orphan, but has been both indulged and protected by the aunt who has brought her up. She’s also an heiress. Ninian is also very likeable. He’s far more inclined to be dutiful and responsible, but has also been rather closeted at home, convinced his parents are frail and that any conflict will cause his father to decline in health.
Lucilla’s guardian is the rude, profligate Oliver Carleton who has no wish to be involved in her life - but realises that as her uncle he has a duty to find someone to look after her. He considers Annis entirely unsuitable, and they find themselves sparring verbally right from their first meeting. And yet, somehow she finds him exhilarating, and attractive in a nonconventional way…
It’s a good story, fast-paced, and with some characters I had entirely forgotten about. Annis’s companion, her cousin Maria, is a wonderful creation: she talks non-stop about irrelevancies, is determined to be helpful, and is extremely sensitive. She’s a caricature, of course, but one I could certainly recognise. Annis’s brother Geoffrey is rather pompous, but also has a sense of humour. And he’s married to the delightful Amabel, who isn’t nearly as intelligent as Annis, but a natural peacemaker.
Although I knew the outcome, I’d forgotten about the scene towards the end which scandalises several members of the household, and provides a great deal of amusement for the reader. I recalled it with pleasure a chapter or so in advance, however, when the way was paved by cousin Maria succumbing to a nasty dose of influenza.
It’s classic Heyer, entirely authentic with humorous touches amidst the low-key romance. Definitely recommended to anyone who likes this style of historical fiction set amongst the upper classes. 'Lady of Quality', which was first published in 1972, is regularly in print and also widely available second-hand.
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