 First edition cover | |
| Author | Georgette Heyer |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Regency, Romance |
| Publisher | Heinemann |
Publication date | 1953 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 368 pp |
| ISBN | 978-1-4022-1008-2 |
| OCLC | 137244661 |
| 823/.912 22 | |
| LC Class | PR6015.E795 C68 2007 |
Cotillion is Georgette Heyer's twelfth regency romance, [1] published in the UK in January 1953 by Heinemann [2] and in the U.S. in February 1953 by G. P. Putnam's Sons. [3] '
Matthew Penicuik has brought up Catherine (known as Kitty) Charing, the orphaned daughter of an old school friend, at his isolated home of Arnside House. Now that she is approaching the age of twenty, he has summoned his great nephews and promised that his money and land will pass to whichever of them will marry her. Of these, Lord Biddenden is unable to make her an offer because he is already married. However, his younger brother, Hugh Rattray, a rector in holy orders, is present. So is their cousin, Lord Foster Dolphinton, a half-witted earl, known as Dolph to the rest of the family. Two other cousins have not arrived: Jack Westruther, who prefers not to come, and the elegant but not very bright dandy, Freddy Standen, who has only found out about the invitation at the last moment.
Kitty is invited to meet those whom she has been brought up to regard as cousins and receives a proposal from the self-interested Rector, who cannot hide that he is out for the main chance. When he is turned down, Dolph follows, but it is plain that he is proposing only because his domineering mother has told him to, and Kitty refuses him too. Humiliated on learning that she will receive nothing directly from her guardian except as she is bid for to keep the money in the family, Kitty flees the house, determined to earn a living in London, where she has always longed to go.
Cold weather forces Kitty to seek warmth at an inn on the way and there she meets Freddy, who is shocked to learn that she has been made an item of barter. Together they hatch a plot whereby he will temporarily act as her protector and pretend that they are engaged. Accordingly she secretly re-enters the house and accepts Freddy's proposal on being summoned downstairs to receive it. They leave together next day, but Freddy’s mother, Lady Legerdown, cannot act as her chaperone because the rest of her children have gone down with measles. Instead Kitty stays with Freddy's elder sister Meg in the absence of her husband on a diplomatic mission.
The story of Kitty's betrothal is now kept secret and Freddy plays the role of her cousin and protector. This involves him in some trouble as he coaches Kitty through the difficulties of fashionable social life and is expected to guide her round the sights of London. These trials cause him to become more thoughtful and resourceful, much to the surprise of his father, Lord Legerwood, who had hitherto dismissed Freddy as no more than a well-dressed society butterfly.
Kitty now becomes acquainted again with her childhood hero, Jack Westruther, who thinks himself sure of gaining her hand on this account but in the meantime is in dishonourable pursuit of another beauty, Olivia Broughty, whose mother is trying to get her well-married despite the disadvantages of vulgar relations and having little in the way of dowry. Jack also reacquaints her with Camille, her French cousin on her mother’s side, who is passing under the title Chevalier d'Evron but is in fact a card-player and gambler. Through Kitty, Olivia meets Camille and the two fall instantly in love.
Kitty's social career is further complicated by the reappearance of Dolph, who has been instructed by his mother to propose again since Kitty’s betrothal has been concealed. Kitty, however, gets Dolph to admit that he is already engaged to Hannah Plymstock, daughter of a radical tradesman. Dolph adores her and Hannah wants to free him from the debilitating influence of his mother and allow him to retire to the family estate in Ireland and breed horses, his cherished dream. Kitty therefore agrees to accompany Dolph on his secret visits to Hannah, since he is spied on by the family servants, and to do this she has to take Freddy into her confidence since her behaviour is causing gossip.
By this time, Kitty and Freddy have learned to value each other and act as a team. Through their means the various mismatched couples are united and they themselves become engaged in earnest.
The novel was begun in 1952 and during its course was given two earlier alternative titles. The first was Quadrille , a dance for four couples in square formation, of which a cotillion (the final title) was a more lively forerunner. The other working title was Chicken Hazard, the name of a low stakes game of dice. [4] Georgette Heyer only had a rough outline for plot when she began and was puzzled how the novel might develop once Kitty arrived in London. She was to describe its later development in a letter as "a riot of absurdity". [5] It was, however, meticulously researched. Kitty's purchase of silk stockings for twelve shillings a pair was a detail she had noted in Jane Austen's letters. [6] In addition, the fact that Meg's husband, Lord Buckhaven, has just left with Lord Amherst on his embassy to China dates the year in which the story is set as 1816. [7]
Georgette Heyer was an English novelist and short-story writer, in both the Regency romance and detective fiction genres. Her writing career began in 1921, when she turned a story conceived for her ailing younger brother into the novel The Black Moth. In 1925 Heyer married George Ronald Rougier, a mining engineer. The couple spent several years living in Tanganyika Territory and Macedonia before returning to England in 1929. After her novel These Old Shades became popular despite its release during the General Strike, Heyer determined that publicity was not necessary for good sales. For the rest of her life she refused to grant interviews, telling a friend: "My private life concerns no one but myself and my family."
These Old Shades (1926) is a historical romance written by British novelist Georgette Heyer. The novel is set around 1755: Heyer refers to the Duke of Avon's participation in the 1745 uprising as ten years previous; in addition the Prince of Condé is said to be about 20 years old. However, she also refers to Madame de Pompadour as actively involved with Louis XV, whereas her relationship with the King ended at about 1750.
The Grand Sophy is a Regency romance novel by Georgette Heyer. It was first published in 1950 by Heinemann in the UK and Putnam in the U.S. Sales were brisk. Heinemann reported that in Australia it sold forty thousand copies in its first five months. There was also a Book Club edition in 1951.
The Foundling is a Regency romance novel written by Georgette Heyer and published by William Heinemann Ltd in 1948. It was also serialised in the Woman's Journal as "His Grace, the Duke of Sale", followed by a Book Club edition in 1949.
Sylvester, or the Wicked Uncle is a Regency romance novel by Georgette Heyer. First published by Heinemann, London and Putnam, New York in 1957, it is the story of intelligent and desperate Phoebe who ends up marrying the man she has run away from home to avoid, and whom she has caricatured as the villain in her novel. The book features gentle mockery of the Gothic novel genre and also features Heyer's characteristic strong heroine, with a desire for independence, who marries on her own terms. The story is set in 1817-1818.
Bath Tangle is a Regency romance novel by Georgette Heyer. The story is set in 1816.
Beauvallet is an adventure novel by Georgette Heyer, published in the UK in 1929 by Heinemann and by Longmans, Green & Co. in 1930 in the US.
The Quiet Gentleman is a Regency novel by Georgette Heyer, published at the start of 1951 by William Heinemann Ltd. Set in the spring of 1816, after the Battle of Waterloo, it is the story of the return home from the wars of the Seventh Earl of St Erth to claim his inheritance. The novel incorporates elements of the mystery story as well as the classic romance.
April Lady is a Regency romance by Georgette Heyer, published in 1957 by Heinemann in the UK and by Putnam in the US. Previously serialised in the Woman's Journal as “My Lady Cardross”, the new novel was Heyer’s forty-fourth book and her fifteenth Regency novel.
The Unknown Ajax is a Regency romance by Georgette Heyer, published in 1959 by Heinemann in the UK and in 1960 by Putnam in the US. It was her forty-seventh novel and the eighteenth set in Regency times.
The Black Moth (1921) is a Georgian era romance novel by the British author Georgette Heyer, set around 1751. The Black Moth was Heyer's debut novel, published when Heyer was nineteen. It was a commercial success.
The Convenient Marriage is a Georgian romance novel by Georgette Heyer published in 1934. The novel is set in 1776 and concerns the relationship between Horatia Winwood and Lord Marcus Drelincourt. It is the first of several Heyer romances where the hero and heroine are married early in the novel, and the plot follows their path to mutual love and understanding. Later examples include Friday's Child and April Lady.
The Talisman Ring is a historical romance novel by Georgette Heyer, first published in 1936. Set in 1793, in the Georgian era, the action takes place in Sussex, where Heyer then lived.
The Corinthian is a regency novel by Georgette Heyer.
Faro's Daughter is a Georgian romance novel by Georgette Heyer that was first published in 1941 by Heinemann in the UK and in the US by Doubleday in 1942. The story's focus is on the misfortunes of an aunt and niece trying to run a gambling house for the upper classes.
The Reluctant Widow is a 1946 Regency romance by Georgette Heyer, published by Heinemann in the UK, and by Putnam the following year in the US. A humorous parody of a Gothic Novel, it is set in early 1813. It was published with the description "By midnight she is a bride, by dawn a widow", and with gouache artwork by Philip Gough.
Frederica is a Regency romance novel by Georgette Heyer. The story is set in 1818. The plot is typical of several later Heyer romances in counterpointing the courtships of an older and a younger couple, with variation provided by the antics of Frederica's younger brothers and their boisterous mongrel.
My Lord John is an unfinished historical fiction novel by the British author Georgette Heyer, published posthumously in 1975 after her death the previous year. It traces the early lives of the "young lordings" – Harry, Thomas, John, and Humfrey – all sons of the future Lancastrian king Henry IV of England. They grow up amidst turbulent events including the 1394 pestilence, the exile of their father by Richard II, the death of their powerful grandfather John of Gaunt, and the seizure of the throne by their father. John of Lancaster serves as the novel's main character.
Jennifer Kloester is an Australian-born writer, particularly known for her work on Georgette Heyer.