Nell is the beatiful young wife of one of the wealthiest lords in Regency England. Giles is quite a bit older than Nell, who is still in her teens. Nell's family is not well off and she has been spending the generous allowance that Giles gives her a bit too freely. But that is not the reason why she can't pay her bills. She can't pay her bill because she has been giving a lot of money to her brother, Dysart, who, like their father, is a gambler and, like their father, not lucky.
It's not surprising that Giles might think that Nell married him because of his wealth. How else to explain her spendthrift ways and her standoffishness? Giles knows she gives money to her improvident brother and he has laid down the law forbidding her to continue to do so. What Giles doesn't know is Nell's mother has explained to her that men of their class often take mistresses and that Nell mustn't be a clingy, emotional wife and not take offense if Giles strays. Plus Giles' little sister artlessly informed Nell that Nell was much prettier than Giles' mistress. What Giles also doesn't know is that Nell loves him very much and is distant because she believes that is what is expected of a Society wife.
So when Nell discovers a large bill she forgot she owes, she feels she cannot tell Giles about it because it will only confirm his suspicion that she married him for his money. Thus she launches on a frantic effort to raise the money on her own with the help of her gambler brother Giles and hindered by Giles' little sister, Letty, who is busy hatching plots of her own.
I first read this book decades ago and loved it from the first. I have reread it many times and enjoyed it each time. But this is the last time. It is time to pass on my copy to another reader who enjoys the novels of Georgette Heyer.
Review by She Reads Novels.
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