When the Marquis of Vidal is forced to leave the country (due to the imminent death of a man he shot in a drunken duel) the notorious gamester and rake plans to take his latest fancy with him. His future conquest’s sister discovers the plan, and knowing that his intentions are not in the least honourable, she decides to meet him in her younger sister’s place. In doing so she believes that she can save her sister’s reputation and destroy his inappropriate interest in the girl.
In a fit of temper at finding himself duped, and believing the sisters were in it together, the Marquis abducts the substitute with a view to revenge. He soon learns that the two sisters are completely dissimilar. Instead of the light skirt he had expected, the older sister is a true and proper lady and he has compromised her beyond redemption.
He offers marriage and she declines. Having got to know him and developed feelings for him she does not wish to enter into a union of duty rather than love.
Throughout their flight his feelings for her grow but it is only when she manages to escape on the eve of their wedding that he realises how much he has come to love her. He tracks her down, declares himself, allays her many concerns about their union and they live happily ever after.
I enjoyed The Devil’s Cub. Though slow to start, as is the nature of books of its era (it was originally published back in the 1930s), it eventually delivers a fine historical romance. The primary characters are well established and though some of the secondary characters felt two-dimensional they provide an amusing backdrop to the main story. Given that the focus of a romance is supposed to be on the primary relationship I can overlook this minor flaw common to most works written in the traditional style.
Reading this I was made aware that my schoolgirl French is rather rusty but I was able to pick up the meaning of phrases used without too much trouble.
Overall I found this book to be a nice distraction for a rainy afternoon-Lynn
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