| Drusilla Herbert can’t believe her luck! She is to go and stay with her mother’s best
friend from their school days. It seems the
woman has been ill and needs some help. Since
Dru’s mother has written to the Marchioness and told her all about Dru’s
excellent organizing skills, the Marchioness has asked that Dru be sent to her as a
companion. Dru is very excited to be going. The family decides that she needs a new wardrobe
and she gets some new clothing made, shoes and other accessories as well. A carriage even comes to pick her up. Adrian Richmond, the
Marquess of Brentford, is in White’s enjoying the company of some of his friends when
Lord Taylor comes up to him and tells him what a wonderful time he had at Adrian’s
country estate. He goes on to rave about his
mother’s companion, about how beautiful she is and how good his mother looks because
of her and also that Lord Osman was there as well and how taken his mother seems to be
taken with Lord Osman. Well this is outside
of enough! Adrian decides that he will have
to go to his country estate and oust this companion that he didn’t even know about. She’s probably just after his mother’s
money anyway.
The Marchioness has a birthday coming
up. She wants to throw a party. Drusilla agrees that the company would do her good
and so it’s decided that they will have a house party.
They will invite the Marchioness’s older friends and she also wants her son to
come. The Marchioness also asks that Dru
invite Lord Reginald Ives and Lady Felicia Tait. The
Marchioness is planning on Felicia for her son and Lord Ives to keep Dru company. Dru doesn’t think much of Adrian. How can she when the man shamefully neglects his
ill mother? So Dru writes out the
invitations and makes sure that everything is ready in the home for the invasion of the
guests.
Adrian is upset when he finds the
invitation to go to his own country seat for his mother’s birthday! He decides that he will show up early and get rid
of his mother’s companion.
When he gets there, he immediately
finds his mother and tells her that they cannot have a party and demands that her
companion will have to go. The Marchioness
ends up back in bed after this. Dru decides
enough is enough and confronts Adrian. She is
definitely not what Adrian expected. She is
young and very beautiful. She is also very
outspoken and Dru takes Adrian to task for his neglect of his mother. She refuses to leave the Marchioness. Later that evening, his valet has discovered that
all of the staff love Dru. Adrian relents and
decides to allow Dru to stay. He also relents
about the party.
The guests start arriving. Lady Felicia is beautiful beyond words. She is always dressed in pink and white and it is
obvious from the first that she has set her cap at Adrian.
Dru suspects that she is not all sugar and spice and has a temper. Dru begins having feelings toward Adrian. Felicia becomes jealous of Dru and becomes quite
spiteful toward her. What about Adrian? He shows signs of caring for Dru but knows that
his mother expects him to ask for Felicia. And
what about Lord Ives? He is very pleasant to
Dru, but Adrian finds himself jealous of the easy way they talk together.
This is a wonderful Regency tale! This story has everything you would expect in a
Regency, from the beautiful clothes to the activities that are planned for a house party. This story even has the humor, right down to the
dog that belongs to one of the older women at the party and how it bites the ankles of
other guests. The characters are all very
well-rounded and believable, right down to how Felicia only thinks of herself and slowly
reveals more and more of her character as the story progresses. This story will hold your attention from the very
first page to the very last page. This is
definitely one that I recommend to all lovers of Regency Romance.
Reviewed by Chere Gruver for The Road
to Romance
September 7, 2003 |
