Something a little different to this Regency Romance, and that would be the female central character – Frederica d’Avillez and her very unconventional family. Freddie has just been dumped by her beau after her first London season, and is now convinced she has lost her chance at marriage. To console herself and on a burst of passion on both sides, she and Bentley Rutledge, a close friend of her cousin and well known rogue, have sex.
The next day, Bentley appears to do a runner, but even a rouge knows what is right and unknown to Freddie, Bentley does try to do the right thing. Something he’s somewhat unused to doing, but which he feels compelled to do, and not because it’s expected of him. Indeed what is expected is exactly what Freddie thinks he’s done – disappeared into the night. So we have Bentley expecting to hear an answer from Freddie, and Freddie determined to soldier on. Then Freddie falls pregnant. Her reaction and that of her family is as you would expect for the time, but unusually they all accept that marriage is not necessarily the option that needs to be taken. Freddie’s felt out of place for much of her life, being an orphan and illegitimate, and this is what Bentley has to use when he discovers her condition to manoeuvre Freddie into marriage. Now two people who don’t know quite how things went wrong need to set about finding a way to live happily together.
There are some deep issues to be resolved for both Freddie and Bentley, regardless of their marriage, and yet they need to be worked through for the sake of their furture. The story is told from both perspectives, although mostly from Freddie’s point of view, but surprisingly the one with the most to work through is in fact Bentley. Not only he but also his family have to work through the psychological and physical damage that he has endured.
The two families are as important to the overall plot as Freddie and Bentley themselves. Their families form the beginnings of their characters and perspectives on the world and how each will relate to the world and those in it, and it is clear that Carlyle considered this very carefully when crafting this work. For me, these factors raised this book to a cut above the standard Regency, and made it all the more enjoyable.
