Review: Intriguing story, great heroine
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 10, 2012
Lady Caroline Waverly decided as a child that societal rules restricting women to beautiful objects were idiotic and that SHE wasn't going to follow them. Having no parents to influence her otherwise, and blessed with a fortune and a prosperous estate, she could indulge her passion for scholarship and estate management without worrying over much about being condemned as a bluestocking.As a child of 12, she'd inadvertently caught her beautiful cousin Lavinia laughing at a handsome young man's marriage proposal. When the devastated young man caught her eavesdropping, she told him candidly that her cousin was beautiful and charming, but also quite self-centered, and that she cared for no person as much as herself. And although Nicholas Daventry was wealthy and from an aristocratic family, he was a second son and thus quite beneath the touch of a jewel like Lavinia.Realizing it was true, Nicholas went off to war, distinguished himself in battle, and six years later, returned to London as a marquess, after the deaths of his father and older brother. In the meantime, Lavinia, now the Countess of Welham, has been widowed, and the intervening years have given her a mature beauty that once again draws Nicholas to her. He should know better--and he is well aware of the fact that he should--but she draws him like no other, and he is hopeful that marriage and motherhood have matured her in more than just outward appearance.Of course, Caroline looks on with derision, recalling their conversation on the stairs six years ago, and seeing that even a man such as this is putty in the hands of a lovely woman. Nicholas's impression of the grown-up Caroline changes considerably as they become acquainted. At first she's a nonentity and he feels sorry for her being so much less attractive than her cousin. Then he begins to see how she lights up the lives of everyone around her and really has no need to put herself forward in society. The more he sees her--and compares her character with her cousin's--he finds himself wanting to be in her company. And the more he is with her, the more attractive she becomes. (And she's never been unattractive either.)But Nicholas is a man, and his eyes still light up when he sees the ephemeral beauty of Lavinia. And frankly, they are still lighting up around the vampy Lavinia through 75% of the book, even though he is well on his way to falling for Caroline. This bothered me a LOT. As much as he agrees with Caroline that society is shallow, he still holds up Lavinia as a jewel of the ton. Although as time passes he realizes that a beautiful self-serving fribble is not for him, he takes far too long to realize that Caroline IS.How I wish Ms. Richardson had thought to include a scene of Lavinia's chagrin upon discovering she has lost her prey to her bluestocking cousin. Oh, I feel like I deserved that!