Saturday, March 15, 2014

Regency Twin Trouble

Identical Twins are predestined for comedy, and Georgette Heyer made excellent use of that literary convention to write this Regency romantic comedy. When the elder twin and head of house disappears, the younger and more responsible one takes over. His moves to reduce risks of exposure just dig him in deeper as his brother stays lost for weeks on end.

Jordan and Travis Smit Twins

Georgette Heyer's book False Colours is one of her humorous stories set in the time when the Prince Regent held court at Brighton Pavilion. The sudden disappearance of Lord Denville is becoming extremely bothersome when the date set for him to meet the family of his fiancee draws nearer and nearer. The providential return of his twin from Vienna gives rise to the scheme of him taking the place of the absentee lord.

Jorge and Jariel Naranjo Twins

Pressured by his mother, he attends that most unpleasant dinner and then absconds to the family seat to avoid any more chance meetings with friends of his brother's. The grandmother of his brother's fiancee has no scruples to invite herself and her granddaughter for a stay there planing to stay for at last at least a couple of weeks. Lady Denville quickly assembles a party of guests on grounds of availability rather than compatibility to dilute the time the false lord will have to spend with each of them.

Zach and Tyler Brank Twins

The assembly give Georgette Heyer full scope to unfold the play within a small field of vision. The limited number of players involved in this story allows her to develop the character of the individuals more deeply than in many of her books with a wider cast. Cressida, the fiancee, soon suspects subterfuge despite having met Lord Denville only once when he proposed this marriage de convenience. Sleepy Sir Bonamy, friend of the Prince Regent and the Duke of York, becomes aware of the charade, too, and closes his eyes resolutely against it. 

Ryan and Justin Wood Twins

The charm of the story lies in the people gathered at the family seat and the many side issues that arise from throwing together an ill assorted guest list. Many old scandals and stories come to infringe on the carefully balanced peace and complicate the situation further. She manages to make from what readers might expect to become a comedy of errors a comedy of situation.


Marcio and Marcos Patriota Twins

By the time the real lord reappears with a broken shoulder and rattled brains, it is clear that the whole scheme will blow up in their faces as soon as the twins change places again. In the end, mother and sons find ways to turn events to their advantage and scrape out of the brewing scandal. False Colours is available on Kindle.

John and Edward Grimes Twins

Further reading
A Marquis, a Dog, and Cows in London Parks
Who Would Want to go to Dijon?
English Intrigue in Louis XV's France

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