Faro’s Daughter

by Georgette Heyer

Published 1941

Whoever it is that republished all of these books has no concept of matching covers with stories, just so you know.  The apparently just choose some random picture that has a Regency lady in it, and then throw it on the book.  Ah well.

I really enjoyed this Heyer tale.  Deb’s family has fallen on hard times, and she now helps her aunt run a genteel gaming house.  A young man, whose name I can’t remember, falls “in love” with Deb and is determined to marry her.  The young fellow’s cousin, Max, is equally determined to prevent him from making such a dreadful connection.  Max visits the gaming house to meet Deb for himself, and, completely misreading her character, offers to pay her off to prevent her from marrying the young cousin.  Deb, who is completely offended that anyone would think that she would take advantage of the cousin in such a way, immediately fires up, refuses Max’s  money, and tells the cousin that she will marry him, so long as he keeps their engagement a secret!

Throughout the course of the story, Deb and the cousin end up rescuing a damsel in distress (the cousin eventually marries her instead, making everyone very  happy), and many other adventures ensue.  Of course, Deb and Max fall in love (Heyer’s books are nothing if not predictable) and all ends well, as Max realizes Deb’s true worth.

The plot was happy and skipped merrily along with Heyer’s usual delightful dialogue and character development, making it an easy 4/5.