Frederica

 

By Georgette Heyer

Frederica considers herself past the age of worrying about finding a husband (she's 24). But she does have a younger sister who is outstandingly beautiful. Here is how one of the characters describes Charis: "I have never before seen, or—or even dreamed of such a lovely girl! Her eyes! So big, and of such a blue! Her hair! like shining gold! The prettiest little nose, too, and her complexion quite exquisite! And when she spoke—" 

Frederica has no ambition for herself, but she is aching to find a worthy match for the gorgeous but dim Charis. The only way to find Charis the match that Frederica feels she deserves is to bring her to London to meet the wealthy bachelors of the British nobility. Their father used to talk about a distant cousin of his who he greatly admired, a man of wealth and style, the Marquis of Alverstoke. So Frederica gets the bright idea of enlisting Alverstoke's help in launching Charis on London high society even though she has never met the man before.

Alverstoke is a selfish man, accustomed to thinking about no one but himself. His sisters have tried to talk him into giving a ball for two of their daughters and he has definitely indicated that he is unwilling. But then he meets Frederica and sees the beauteous Charis and changes his mind. He declares he will give the ball but wants his sister to sponsor Charis into society. The rub is that the sister's daughter is a plain Jane and that the sister has no idea what Charis looks like. So it's Averstoke plot to get back at his sister who is really upset when she sees how beautiful and charming Charis is. 

But once Alverstoke holds the ball, he can't seem to disentangle himself from Frederica and her siblings. Between rescuing the youngest boy's mongrel dog after it got in trouble for chasing cows and rescuing the teenage boy after he crashed his bicycle-like vehicle and then again rescuing the youngster when he takes a serious fall and develops a fever, he seems to be coming more and more involved in caring for Frederica's family and ultimately caring, not for the lovely Charis, but for her capable, practical and "over-the-hill" older sister, Frederica.

This was a pretty good story, if a bit long. Not one of my favorite Heyer novels, but still a fun and entertaining read. 

Check out this review by Dear Author.