The tale of staid Mary and dashing Dominic
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Dominic Alastair , the Marquis of Vidal, is the only son and heir to the infamous Duke of Avon from These Old Shades. Inheriting his rash, impetuous temper from his mother and those charming dark good looks from his father, Dominic is a guaranteed heartbreaker.
Already a hell-born babe even at 24, Dominic has been christened the Devil's Cub ( on account of his father, Justin Alastair being known as Satanas ). He has a fondness for his mamie, Leonie Saint-Vire, a high regard and affection for his enigmatic father, The Duke of Avon and a patent disregard for the rest of his fellow countrymen.
On the other side of the ring, our staid Mary Challoner is steady, dependable and imminently respectable. Mary is the elder daughter of a deceased peer with an ambitious, match-making mama on the side and a spiteful, spoilt sister, Sophia. With her steady grey eyes and dark ringlets, she would be considered a beauty if not for her far prettier sister ( who had beauty but nary a sensible head on her shoulders ).
Sent to a select seminary, Mary was expected to open the doors to the Polite World but her mother's well-laid plans were foiled by Mary's quiet common-sense. Due to her pride and her wish not to be indebted to anyone, Mary also failed to charm her way into her paternal grandfather's heart, a certain General Sir Giles Challoner. All her mother's aspirations for her up in smoke, Mrs. Challoner could only hope for a respectable alliance for her ungrateful elder daughter.
At the opening of the tale, Dominic makes his debut by callously killing a highwayman and leaving his corpse at the roadside without suffering any qualms. The lovely, airheaded Sophia Challoner is seen to be the passionate young Marquis' latest flirt and poor Mary lives daily in fear that her sister would soon be disgraced. Dominic notices Mary lurking in the shadows but dismisses her as a prim, strait-laced sort.
Soon, Mary's deepest fears are realized when a letter arrives in her hand detailing Sophia's plans to run away with Dominic to France. In a fit of panic, Mary devises a rash, ill-thought plan to rescue her sister by disguising herself as Sophia.
Unfortunately, Mary doesn't count on Dominic's black temper. In a fit of blind fury, Dominic takes her instead and drags her off to France.
In order to protect herself - and her virtue, the desperate lady pulls a pistol on Dominic. Led on by her fear, the lady manages to graze our hapless hero's arm ( and leave a burning hole in the private salon much to the innkeeper's chagrin ). Their circumstances then require Dominic to offer his hand in marriage and surprisingly, he immediately does so. Contrary to the Marquis' expectations however, the young lady absolutely refuses to accept the necessity of marriage. Trying to put him off, Mary gives him all sorts of reasons for rejecting his offer but Dominic wilfully brushes them aside and insists on their marrying. Unbeknownst to our hero, the seemingly unflappable Mary has actually fallen hard for the handsome, wicked Marquis. This novel is populated with a whole range of supporting characters from the quintessential matchmaking mama, the redoubtable Mrs. Challoner to the spoilt, pampered Sophia. The secondary romance comprises another spoilt beauty Juliana Marling and her hapless beau, Frederick Comyn. Not to be left out is the whole slew of Dominic's family ( who featured in These Old Shades ) such as the Duke and the Duchess of Avon, the irrepresible Rupert Alastair and the Marlings. Mary is definitely my kind of heroine; confident, capable and with a sensible head on her shoulders. Definitely no screaming and whining included. For a gently-bred lady of those times, she is also remarkably modern, independent enough to travel around alone, imminently resourceful and doesn't quiver at the thought that her reputation might have been torn to shreds.
Whereas Mary is cool, calm and controlled, Dominic has all the fire in this duo. There is no doubt that Dominic is the perfect foil for her; handsome, passionate, forceful. Together, they are almost unbeatable. One of their romantic interludes has Mary trying to feed Dominic some gruel.
One interesting item to note is that Dominic is quite one of the youngest heroes in Heyer's novels at only twenty-four. The only child of the fond, doting Leonie - it is no wonder that he was probably spoilt silly.
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