314:. The Duke displays LĂ©on before the Comte's wife and his son and heir. He notes the resemblance of the son, Henri, to LĂ©on's brother, Jean Bonnard, a tavern keeper. He also notes that the boy, LĂ©on's age, prefers rural life, and wants to be a farmer. After this excursion to Versailles, the Comte becomes greatly interested in LĂ©on and attempts to purchase him. Meanwhile, both Avon and his friend, Hugh Davenant, have realised that LĂ©on is actually a girl, LĂ©onie. LĂ©onie is wildly devoted to Avon, seeing him as her saviour from a life of abuse, rather than as dissolute and scandalous, as the rest of the fashionable world views him.
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Fortune favours Justin
Alastair, the notorious Duke of Avon, casting in his way, one Paris night, the means to revenge himself on his enemy, the Comte de Saint-Vire. Avon literally collides with an abused boy, LĂ©on Bonnard, whose red hair, deep blue eyes and black eyebrows proclaim him a child of the
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The Duke journeys into
Champagne, where LĂ©onie grew up, to meet a childhood mentor, the village priest who educated her. This discussion confirms for Avon what he had suspected: LĂ©onie is the legitimate child of the Comte and his wife and was switched at birth with the Bonnard's newborn son, who has
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Once in France, the Duke introduces LĂ©onie into
Parisian society, where she makes a big splash. A rumour comes to Léonie's ears that she is the Comte's illegitimate child—the family likeness is very striking. The Comte then persuades Léonie that her illegitimacy is destroying the Duke's reputation,
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The dissipated Avon has come to care for LĂ©onie so while he continues his scheme of revenge on the Comte, he takes LĂ©onie to
England with him where he announces his intention to make her his ward. He teaches her to be a lady, while letting her be known as LĂ©onie de Bonnard. The Comte has become
322:
increasingly desperate and kidnaps her and carries her to France. LĂ©onie escapes from him with the help of the Duke's younger brother, Lord Rupert. The party is then joined by Fanny
Marling, the Duke's sister, and her husband, Edward Marling.
558:, Heyer determined that publicity was not necessary for good sales, thenceforth refusing to grant interviews. As she told a friend: "My private life concerns no one but myself and my family."
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was a melodrama and a sequel per se would not work in with the plot, she decided to make the new novel stand alone, renamed many characters and made them 'shades' of their former selves.
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been raised as the Comte's heir ever since, as the Comte feared his wife would not bear any other children and he was eager to prevent his younger brother Armand from becoming his heir.
333:. This breaks her mother, whose open grief betrays the Comte's guilt. Knowing he is ruined in society, the Comte shoots himself. His despised brother becomes the new Comte.
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This event spurs Avon to complete his revenge. At a large party, he tells the true story of LĂ©onie's life, then embellishes it by adding that she has drowned herself in the
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with the adventures of Avon's and LĂ©onie's son
Dominic, a shockingly selfish and indulged young man who elopes with a poor relation of one of his father's friends.
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Not knowing the exact relationship between the boy and Saint-Vire, Avon purchases him from his brother, a tavern keeper. He takes the boy as his
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as society views her as his lover. Her distress at this leads her to flee to live with the kindly village priest of her childhood.
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593:"Georgette Heyer: biography of a bestseller", Jennifer Kloester, William Heinemann 2011.
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Avon reunites with LĂ©onie, they express their true feelings, and they marry.
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Jane Aiken Hodge, The
Private World of Georgette Heyer (London 1984) p.70
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Henri de Saint-Vire, the Comte's supposed son, approximately 19 years old
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was itself originally intended to be a sequel to Heyer's first novel
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is said to be about 20 years old. However, she also refers to
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Justin "Satanas" Alastair, Duke of Avon, age approximately 40
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Jean
Bonnard, a tavern-keeper, LĂ©on's supposed older brother
446:(1921), which would redeem the devilish Belmanoir. But as
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360:Armand de Saint-Vire, younger brother of the Comte
351:Hugh Davenant, the Duke's friend, in his early 30s
391:Lord Rupert Alastair, the Duke's younger brother
146:1927 edition (with same cover as first edition)
554:became popular despite its release during the
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404:'s epilogue poem to his collection of essays
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384:Harriet Field, the Duke's cousin, a widow,
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464:Tracy "Devil" Belmanoir, Duke of Andover
120:Learn how and when to remove this message
467:Justin "Satanas" Alastair, Duke of Avon
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515:Lady Merivale (née Jennifer Beauchamp)
472:Lady Lavinia Carstares (née Belmanoir)
378:Lady Fanny Marling, the Duke's sister
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58:adding citations to reliable sources
752:The Transformation of Philip Jettan
556:1926 United Kingdom general strike
475:Lady Fanny Marling (née Alastair)
381:Mr Edward Marling, Fanny's husband
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520:Jack Carstares, Earl of Wyncham
504:Harriet Fleming (née Belmanoir)
400:The novel's title is taken from
225:Print (hardback & paperback)
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45:needs additional citations for
960:Sylvester, or the Wicked Uncle
577:"Eighteenth Century Vignettes"
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507:Harriet Field (née Alastair)
27:1926 novel by Georgette Heyer
406:Eighteenth Century Vignettes
274:written by British novelist
1083:Heinemann (publisher) books
480:The Hon. Richard Carstares
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286:as actively involved with
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1063:Novels by Georgette Heyer
428:. It is also a sequel to
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816:The Convenient Marriage
575:Dobson, Austin (1894).
523:Anthony, Lord Merivale
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512:Miss Diana Beauleigh
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744:Instead of the Thorn
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1078:Fiction set in 1755
1068:1926 British novels
912:The Quiet Gentleman
880:The Reluctant Widow
685:Simon the Coldheart
536:Sir John Fortescue
483:Mr. Edward Marling
372:Walker, the Duke's
366:Gaston, the Duke's
354:Comte de Saint-Vire
284:Madame de Pompadour
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69:"These Old Shades"
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52:Please help
47:verification
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1024:Cousin Kate
1016:Black Sheep
936:Bath Tangle
808:Devil's Cub
800:Barren Corn
411:Devil's Cub
256:Devil's Cub
1057:Categories
952:April Lady
693:Beauvallet
340:Characters
308:Versailles
270:is a 1926
80:newspapers
1008:Frederica
920:Cotillion
546:Precedent
388:to LĂ©onie
194:Publisher
110:June 2023
896:Arabella
434:(1935).
312:Louis XV
310:held by
288:Louis XV
184:Georgian
172:Language
968:Venetia
562:Sources
396:Sequels
299:Comte.
188:Romance
175:English
94:scholar
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658:Novels
550:After
386:duenna
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233:352 pp
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784:Helen
368:valet
331:Seine
230:Pages
180:Genre
101:JSTOR
87:books
304:page
209:1926
73:news
660:by
56:by
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