Cotillion

Chapter 1

The Saloon, like every other room in Arnside House, was large and lofty, and had been furnished, possibly some twenty years earlier, in what had then been the first style of elegance. This, however, had become outmoded, and although the room bore no such signs of penury as a ragged carpet or patched curtains, the bright brocades had faded, the paint on the panelled walls had cracked, and the gilded picture-frames had long since become tarnished. To a casual visitor it might have seemed that Mr Penicuik, who owned the house, had fallen upon evil days; but two of the three gentlemen assembled in the Saloon at half-past six on a wintry evening of late February were in no danger of falling into this error. They knew that Great-uncle Matthew, who had made a fortune in the large enterprise of draining the Fen-country, was one of the warmest men in England, and suffered merely from a rooted dislike of spending money on anything that did not administer directly to his own comfort. The third gentleman gave no indication of thinking about it at all. He did not, like his cousin, Lord Biddenden, level a disapproving eyeglass at a spotted mirror; he did not, like his younger cousin, the Honourable and Reverend Hugh Rattray, comment acidly on the inadequacy of the small wood-fire burning in the hearth. Throughout dinner, which had been served at the unfashionable hour of five, and had been chosen (as Lord Biddenden pointed out to his brother) more with a regard to the host's digestive difficulties than to the tastes of his guests, he had maintained a silence that might have been unbroken had his cousin Hugh not addressed a series of kind and simple remarks to him, which could be easily understood, and almost as easily answered. Upon entering the Saloon, he had drifted to a chair on one side of the fireplace, where he now sat, chewing a corner of his handkerchief, and staring with an expression of vacuity at his elder cousin. Lord Biddenden knew that this gaze betokened nothing but blankness of mind, but he found it disconcerting, and muttered fretfully: 'I wish the silly fellow would not stare so!'

'He is doing you no harm,' his brother said gravely. However, he picked up a book of engravings from one of the tables, and gave it to Lord Dolphinton, directing him to look at the pictures, and telling him that he would find them very pretty and interesting. Lord Dolphinton, who was accustomed to being told, far less kindly, by his mother, what he must do, received the book gratefully, and began to turn over the pages.

Lord Biddenden said, still in that complaining under-voice: 'I cannot conceive what should have prevailed with Uncle Matthew to have invited him! It is absurd to suppose that he can have an interest in this business!' He received no other answer than one of his brother's annoyingly reproving looks, and with an exclamation of impatience walked over to the table, and began to toss over one or two periodicals which had been arranged upon it. 'It is excessively provoking that Claud should not be here!' he said, for perhaps the seventh time that day. 'I should have been very glad to have seen him comfortably established!' This observation being met with the same unencouraging silence, his lordship said with a good deal of asperity: 'You may not consider Claud's claims, but I am not one to be forgetting my brothers, I am thankful to state! I'll tell you what it is, Hugh: you are a cold-hearted fellow, and if you depend upon your countenance to win you a handsome fortune, you may well be disappointed, and there will all my trouble be spent for nothing!'

'What trouble?' enquired the Rector, in accents which lent some colour to his brother's accusation.

'If it had not been for my representations of what you owe to the family, you would not be here this evening!'

The Reverend Hugh shrugged his broad shoulders, and replied repressively: 'The whole of the affair seems to me to be most improper. If I make poor Kitty an offer, it will be from compassion, and in the belief that her upbringing and character are such as must make her a suitable wife for a man in orders.'

'Humbug!' retorted Lord Biddenden. 'If Uncle Matthew makes the girl his heiress, she will inherit, I daresay, as much as twenty thousand pounds a year! He cannot have spent a tithe of his fortune since he built this place, and when one considers how it must have accumulated--My dear Hugh, I do beg of you to use a little address! If I were a single man--! But, there! It does not do to be repining, and I am sure I am not the man to be grudging a fortune to either of my brothers!'

'We have been at Arnside close upon twenty-four hours,' said Hugh, 'and my great-uncle has not yet made known to us his intentions.'
'We know very well what they are,' replied Lord Biddenden irritably. 'And if you do not guess why he has not yet spoken, you are a bigger fool that I take you for! Of course he hoped that Jack would come to Arnside! And Freddy, too,' he added perfunctorily. 'Not that Freddy signifies a whit more than Dolphinton here, but I daresay the old man would wish him not to be excluded. No, no, it is Jack's absence which has made him hold his tongue! And I must say, Hugh, I never looked for that, and must hold it to be a piece of astonishing good fortune! Depend upon it, had the opportunity offered, the girl must have chosen him!'

'I do not know why you should say so,' replied the Rector stiffly. 'Indeed, I am at a loss to understand why you should be so anxious to have me offer for a lady whom you apparently hold in such poor esteem! If I did not believe her to be a well-brought-up young woman to whom such persons as my cousin Jack must be repugnant--'
'Yes, well, that is more of your humbug!' interrupted his lordship. 'You may be a handsome fellow, Hugh, but you are not an out-and-outer, like Jack!'
'I have no wish to be an out-and-outer, as you term it,' said Hugh, more stiffly still. 'Nor do I regard his absence or his presence as being of any particular consequence.'
'Oh, don't sham it so!' exclaimed Biddenden, flinging down a copy of the Gentleman's Magazine. 'If you fancy, my dear brother, that because he gave you your living my uncle prefers you above his other great-nephews you very much mistake the matter! I wonder you will talk such gammon, I do, indeed! Jack has always been my uncle's favourite, and so you know! He means Kitty to choose him, depend upon it, and that is why he is so devilish out of humour! I marvel at his having invited any of the rest of us, upon my soul I do!'

Lord Dolphinton, who occasionally disconcerted his relations by attending to what they said, here raised his eyes from the book on his knees, and interpolated: 'Uncle said he didn't invite you, George. Said he didn't know why you came. Said--'
'Nonsense! You know nothing of the matter!' said Lord Biddenden.

Lord Dolphinton's understanding was not powerful, nor was it one which readily assimilated ideas; but once it had received an impression it was tenacious. 'Did say so!' he insisted. 'Said it last night, when you arrived. Said it again this morning. Said it--'
'Very well, that will do!' said his cousin testily.

Lord Dolphinton was not to be so easily silenced. 'Said it when we sat down to luncheon,' he continued, ticking the occasion off on one bony finger. 'Said it at dinner. Said if you didn't care for your mutton you needn't have come, because he didn't invite you. I ain't clever, like you fellows, but when people say things to me once or twice I can remember them.' He observed that this simple declaration of his powers had bereft his cousin of words, and retired again, mildly pleased, into his book.

Lord Biddenden exchanged a speaking look with his brother; but Hugh merely remarked that it was very true, and that in such a contemptuous voice that Biddenden was goaded into saying: 'Well, at all events, it is as much to the purpose that I have come as that Dolphinton has! Folly!'

'I'm an Earl,' said Lord Dolphinton, suddenly re-entering the conversation. 'You ain't an Earl. Hugh ain't an Earl. Freddy ain't--'
'No, you are the only Earl amongst us,' interposed Hugh soothingly.
'George is only a Baron,' said Dolphinton.

1Reviews
Sunday Telegraph
"Triumphantly good Georgette Heyer is unbeatable."

Amazon.com
Young Kitty Charing stands to inherit a vast fortune from her irascible great-uncle Matthew--provided she marries one of her cousins. Kitty is not wholly adverse to the plan, if the right nephew proposes. Unfortunately, Kitty has set her heart on Jack Westruther, a confirmed rake, who seems to have no inclination to marry her anytime soon. In an effort to make Jack jealous, and to see a little more of the world than her isolated life on her great-uncle's estate has afforded her, Kitty devises a plan. She convinces yet another of her cousins, the honorable Freddy Standen, to pretend to be engaged to her. Her plan would bring her to London on a visit to Freddy's family and (hopefully) render the elusive Mr. Westruther madly jealous. Thus begins Cotillion, arguably the funniest, most charming of Georgette Heyer's many delightful Regency romances.

No sooner does Kitty arrive in London than she becomes embroiled in the romantic difficulties of several new acquaintances. Kitty's French cousin, Camille, a professional gambler, has won the heart of her new friend, Olivia--who also happens to be the object of Jack Westruther's dishonorable intentions. Meanwhile, Kitty's doltish cousin Lord Dolphinton has fallen in love with a merchant's daughter who's embattled with his mother and needs his help. Finally, there is Kitty herself, who begins to wonder if the dandified Freddy might not be the man for her after all. As in all of Georgette Heyer's books, Cotillion transcends genre--it is, quite simply, wonderful literature. Historically accurate down to the finest details of dress, deportment, and speech, Heyer was also a master at creating unforgettable, comic characters, and Kitty Charing and Freddy Standen stand out as one of her most charming romantic duos ever.


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Blog Critics Katie Trattner
While reading Cotillion by Georgette Heyer I wondered: What is a cotillion? I don't remember once coming across the word in all 482 pages of this Regency romance. So I looked it up. Cotillion, which is a noun, comes from an old French word for a petticoat and is a formal ball in which young women are presented to society as well as being a dance with many steps. Thanks Ask.com!

Now the title makes sense. But not knowing the definition didn't take away from my enjoyment of this wonderful, historical light-hearted escapade, which comes complete with gorgeous fashion descriptions, something that Jane Austen didn't always include. I have to admit that I've got a soft spot the size of Texas when it comes to a good Regency romance and Cotillion is definitely one of those.

Cotillion contains all those elements which are essential for good dramatic romance. It also helps that Heyer threw in a good dose of tongue-in-cheek humor, a ton of witty dialogue, and delightfully awkward situations to which her characters fall prey. Why hasn't this been made into a movie yet?

Kitty Charing is dependant on her Great-Uncle Matthew's kindness, except that the two are not really related. Never the less it is Kitty who will inherit his vast fortune. Provided, of course, that she marries one of his many nephews. But Uncle Matthew has a favorite amongst his relatives and already has a beau in mind for his ward as well as his money.

Jack, a charming handsome man about town, knows that he is his Uncle's favorite and is sure of Kitty's affection. But when this certain young gentleman fails to answer Uncle Matthew's summons and snubs Kitty she hatches a daring plan.

Why should Kitty be forced to marry? She only has to become engaged to one of her cousins to make Uncle Matthew happy and escape to London for a month. It doesn't mean she must marry the cousin she becomes engaged to. Young and confident in her own attractions, Kitty is sure that she will take London by storm and make Jack horribly jealous in the process.

Kitty convinces Freddy, one of the few unmarried and marriageable nephews who did answer Uncle Matthew's summons, to pretend to be engaged to her. Reluctantly he agrees. Freddy might not be the smartest of the bunch but it doesn't take him long to realize that Kitty has some hidden agenda as he sweeps her off to London for a season with the Ton.

London is full of pitfalls for a country girl and Kitty finds herself in a few tight spots. But again and again Freddy, the dandy concerned with not much else besides fashion, is there with his common sense and knowledge of the intricate workings of London society to save the damsel in distress. Freddy is the perfect gentleman hero, the kind that is better than the ones you read about in books (so says Kitty) because he is real.

There are several story lines here that all tie into Kitty and her adventures in London. She seems to be the go-to-girl for several of the characters who are in dire need of help. It is Kitty who takes on the task of enabling her dim-witted but well-meaning cousin Lord Dolphinton to escape his dictator of a mother. As well as making it possible for her French cousin Camille to achieve his happiness; happiness which happens to take the form of the beautiful Olivia, a woman in search of a rich husband.

So Cotillion is a bit complicated with its collection of romantic entanglements and multiple schemes. But that's the best part about it. You simply become lost in the characters, truly living breathing people and all of their games and intrigues. That, of course, is what a good regency romance is about; high society and the way your favorite characters navigate the pitfalls.

Never once did the almost 500 pages seem too long. It helps to have excellent historical details as well as superb writing, both of which happen to be what the author is known for. Georgette Heyer writes a novel that you are always dying to pick back up once you've set it down.



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Becky's Book Reviews Rebecca Laney
First sentence: The saloon, like every other room in Arnside House, was large and lofty, and had been furnished, possibly some twenty years earlier, in what had then been the first style of elegance.

It may not have you at hello, but this Regency romance is quite satisfying by the end. Quite happy-making actually. Though the first few chapters may take some patience, by the time the action moves to London and out of the country, this book begins to shine. It is the story of a young woman, Kitty, who stands to inherit a bit of money if she will marry one of her "cousins." Mind you, in this situation, the term is used loosely in that Kitty was an orphaned child an old man had taken in and raised. These "cousins" are his great-nephews. There are five: George (who is married so he's ineligible), Hugh, (a clergyman), Foster (the Mama's boy of all Mama's boys), Jack (who doesn't bother to show up because he's too busy gambling and being a Rake) and Freddy. Kitty, who is just a girl of eighteen or nineteen, wants to get out of the house, out of the country, and she sees a sham engagement to Freddy as her way out. If they become engaged, then surely he must take her to London to meet his family. He must. And if she should get some shopping and socializing in--operas and balls and such--then so much the better. Kitty, honest girl that she is, doesn't try to fool him. She's upfront from the start. This "phony" engagement is her idea from start to finish, and Freddy does take some convincing there at the start.

Soon after their arrival in London, Kitty begins her stay with her future-sister-in-law, Meg. Meg is married, but her husband is out of town. Out of the country in fact. And Meg sees Kitty as a way to have a chaperon or companion that isn't all-too-clever in the ways of the ton. Also for Meg taking on Kitty as a project is fun for her. London is a whole new world for Kitty. New places to see, new people to meet, and a few old acquaintances to bump into as well.

Georgette Heyer's Cotillion reads like a cross of Fanny Burney and Jane Austen. In particular, Burney's Camilla and Austen's Emma.

While I found all of the novel to be enjoyable, the last hundred pages were incredibly so. The pace quickens dramatically and everything seems to happen all at once. All the small little details that were introduced one by one in the first half of the novel all begin to come together quite rapidly. The clearer the big picture becomes, the more satisfying it is.

Definitely recommended to historical fiction fans especially if you love Regency Romance.



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Christian Science Monitor Ralph Ashbrook
"Thank heavens, Georgette Heyer has been promoted from genre hack to 'historical novelist' (as Raymond Chandler was promoted from genre hack to literary artist). Heyer's Cotillion has been reissued by Sourcebooks, Inc. - one to be read on the bus or the train with pride. For those who don't know her novels, you are in for a treat!" --RALPH ASHBROOK, Bala Cynwyd, Penn.


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Dear Author Kay Layton Sisk
GUEST REVIEW: Cotillion by Georgette Heyer
By Guest Reviewer ? Jul 30th, 2008 ? Category: A Review Category, A Reviews, Reviews ? ?
Cotillion: a dance with elaborate steps and figures

My romance reading group is composed of eight women whose ages span a healthy quarter-century. As a group, although the membership has ebbed and flowed, we've met for nine years. We each have our likes, dislikes, and areas of expertise. Several members judge national romance contests from the reader's point of view. As an author myself, I judge unpublished contests and then take tremendous delight when we come across a newly published book that I read in its first-50-page infancy.

We pick a book to read per month and over the course of these years, we've tried all the categories. Very few selections have been universally beloved. We also like first printings, not trusting reprints to hold to the mores of when the original was published. We've been to RWA National Conference booksignings, the local ones held by the closest RWA-chapter, done a stint at an Romantic Times convention, and have co-hosted, along with the local library, as many as eight area romance authors for a meet, greet, and sell.

As readers, we are jaded.

I give all this background to introduce our latest reading jump, Georgette Heyer. I saw an ad from Sourcebooks announcing a re-release of her books. I'd never (no throwing things here) read one. It had been decades since anyone else in the group had. Our buyer didn't get the message to find the new ones, so when I found worn paperbacks on the used book store clearance rack for 50 cents apiece, we were in business. We each had our own (in many cases a first printing) Georgette.

And so began my adventure.

As the Regency romance genre's grande dame, Georgette Heyer's writing career spanned over 50 years and 58 books, not all of them Regency romances. As my group's Regency-reader-in-residence, I was set for a treat. I got more than I bargained for.

At 288 pages, COTILLION should have been a snap read. But the print was small, and there were words that begged a dictionary, words that changed the way I wrote two newspaper columns. (This was a good thing.) I knew I had become lazy in my reading and my writing, but this served to prove it to me. I must reform.

Kitty Charing is young, orphaned, and under the guardianship of Matthew Penicuik, an old man suspected of being her father. That trope ends quickly. As his health fails, he desires to see otherwise penniless Kitty set for life and she will be-if she marries one of his great-nephews, men she has grown up with and calls cousins. She has always loved Jack Westruther, but he doesn't deign to come to Great-Uncle Matthew's "this is how it will be" lecture. In a fit of pique, Kitty agrees to an engagement to his cousin, Freddy Ledgerwood. She hopes to get to London, make Jack jealous when he sees her on his cousin's arm, switch the intended bridegroom, and live happily ever after. Freddy agrees to all this and tells her it's fine because he's not ready to be married. But Freddy, unbeknownst to Kitty, has a plan of his own.

For starters, Freddy takes charge of most of the clothing allowance Uncle Matthew reluctantly parts with. Possessed of considerable fortune and a title to boot, Freddy plans to supplement the money, with Kitty never being the wiser. Freddy is a good guy, but a bit of a ditherer. I finally nailed him: Hugh Grant at his most confused. Totally charming, but I'd have liked a little less goodness me-ing.

"Goodness gracious," exclaimed Meg [his sister], when she saw him. "What now, pray?" A gleam of hope shone in her eyes. She cast aside the hat she was just about to set on her head, and said eagerly: "Oh, do you mean to tell me the secret after all?"
"Not that one," responded Freddy. "Tell you another instead!" He perceived that she was looking affronted, and added: "Not banning you! Wish I was! Dashed awkward business! Fact is, need your help!"

Kitty is a quite modern heroine, capable of taking care of herself, but realizing there are times that help from other quarters is needed. Freddy installs Kitty with his married sister Meg whose older husband has gone off for business in India, and the women quite conveniently manage to get themselves involved in lives and situations better left alone. But then, that's the fun of the book. All the characters, all the interconnected lives, all the romance!

There are two romances beside Kitty and Freddy's. Cousin Foster, inheritor of the Irish title Lord Dolphinton, a man overrun by his mother and without the brains to get out of it, desires a most unsuitable match with a woman far below his station. She, Kitty surmises, will nonetheless be quite good for him and stand up to his mother. The other is Kitty's French cousin, the Chevalier, and Olivia, a beautiful girl with a social-climbing mama who would have her married to the highest bidder. Confusing this issue is Jack's desire to take Olivia as a mistress, perhaps his last one, before settling down with Kitty, whom he has always considered will be his-in his own good time. He, like everyone else in the book, has seriously underestimated Freddy.

The conversations are quick, the descriptions pithy and to the point, and in the end, all the romances set to end well. COTILLION refers to the dance our protagonists are making around each other. For awhile, they don't even know they're dancing. But after mutual expressions of affection, Freddy gets his girl and a kiss. Jack slumps off into the sunset and, if this were written now and not in 1953, he'd have his own reformed-rake book out next year.

from Kay Layton Sisk



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Shelf Love Jenny
Cotillion
August 5, 2008 by Jenny

I was going to title this post "The Last Frontier," because by reading Georgette Heyer's Regency romance Cotillion, I feel as if I've crossed some kind of Rubicon. I am by no means a genre snob, but I think of myself as mostly enjoying literary fiction, classics, and mysteries. That means that when I try other genres, I experience a little discombobulation: westerns? Really? Well, I adored Lonesome Dove and Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses trilogy. Seafaring stories? I'm addicted to Patrick O'Brian. Science fiction? Comic books? Horror? Check, check, and check -- as long as it's well-written and tells a compelling story. Sturgeon's Law that 90% of everything is crap applies here, literary fiction included: you have to be discerning no matter what genre you're reading. And besides that, I have an almost absolute pleasure principle about reading. If you enjoy reading something I wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole, more power to you! I don't believe in "shoulds" when it comes to reading for pleasure.

But romance novels? I admit, with embarrassment, that I have been a snob about them. I have eclectic taste, I would think... except romances. Simplistic, cliched, sexist, ill-written, everything I dislike. To Be Avoided. But then I discovered that Michael Dirda placed Georgette Heyer among the Great Entertainers. He claims she's not to be missed, and since, for me, Michael Dirda has been batting a thousand with his recommendations, I couldn't disregard that lightly. So I picked up Cotillion.

The plot is simple enough. Kitty's irascible great-uncle Matthew has made his will: his enormous fortune will go to Kitty if, and only if, she marries one of his great-nephews. There's the rake, Jack, with whom Kitty has been in schoolgirl love for ten years; the vague and hapless dandy Freddy; the sanctimonious Hugh and the imbecile Dolph. An impossible choice? Not for Kitty, who convinces Freddy to agree to a sham betrothal so that she may come to London to enjoy a month's revelry before all is discovered. I'm sure you can guess the happy ending. Unpredictability is not the shining virtue of this book. What surprised and delighted me was the execution of it. Heyer's writing is wonderful, her characterization exquisite. Her period detail, unlike so many people who write historical novels, is accurate to the smallest degree. She's funny, and more than funny, she's witty; her heroine is not "spunky" or "feisty" but strong and good (if a bit headstrong.) And Freddy, who inherits his style from Freddy Arbuthnot and Freddy Eynsford-Hill, reminded me in the end of no one so much as a very young, pre-war Peter Wimsey, full of piffle. My one, modest objection was that Heyer overdid the exclamation points a little. But that's just my taste, and once I got into the story I got used to it.

I enjoyed this book enormously. I can see that Heyer will become a favorite for light reading, beach reading, comfort reading. Once again, Michael Dirda steers me right: one of the Great Entertainers, indeed. And if there are any genres left for me to read, don't hesitate to introduce me!