False engagements are a convention of the genre called Regency romance
that featured the fashionable class of early 19th-century England. A
false engagement is the focal point of Cotillion, written
by Georgette Heyer (1902–74), one of the foremost writers of the
Regency romance. Heyer wrote more than three dozen Regencies, many of
which are so good that they're said to transcend the genre and qualify
as literature.
Cotillion sparkles with
dialogue reminiscent of Jane Austen, a flawed but impossible-to-dislike
heroine, and a hero who turns the tables on expectations. The many
other characters are all well drawn, and their predicaments amusing.
Kitty Charing, the heroine, finds out that she will inherit her
guardian's fortune provided she marries one of his great-nephews. To
entice the one she has set her heart on, Jack Westruther, into becoming
jealous and proposing, Kitty asks his cousin, Freddy Standen, to
pretend to be engaged to her for a while. Kitty persuades Freddy to
take her to London to visit his family, arguing that etiquette requires
the visit, but the real reason is that Jack is in London. Carrying off
the ruse is more complicated than Kitty expected — and isn't
producing the hoped-for results. As if her own situation weren't messy
enough, Kitty gets involved in trying to help along a couple of other
romances.
By the time it becomes clear where Kitty's own romantic life is headed,
readers will also have fallen in love with the hero. No mere weak
dandy, he has gumption, common sense, and humility, and he deserves to
get the girl.
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