The Double Wager (Signet Regency Romance)

Rating:
Summary: A rebel in old London town.
Review: I had the opportunity recently to read two of Mary Balogh's earliest books - A MASKED DECEPTION and THE DOUBLE WAGER. Compared to her later books, I have to say that both were kind-of disappointing. The books were not badly written, the characters were more or less rounded (but not completely fleshed out in the characteristic Balogh style that develops later), and the plots were slightly unusual. However, THE DOUBLE WAGER in particular troubled me, perhaps because of the similarity it bears to a much better book (in my opinion) Heyer's THE CONVENIENT MARRIAGE, where the hero, heroine and villain(s) are all more interesting.

Balogh does not completely rip off Heyer, in the style of some particularly shameless writers. She introduces some twists to the story - firstly the notion of a double wager, one made in London by the hero the Duke of Eversleigh, and the other made in the country by the heroine Henrietta Tallant, who prefers to be known as Henry. The Duke, a member of a group of friends who are trying to avoid matrimony, is nevertheless persuaded to wager on the point, when he determines to marry - simply to cut out his unsatisfactory cousin and heir presumptive. [Actually there is a story behind the Duke's dislike of his cousin, of course].

In the country, young Henry Tallant wagers with a group of friends that she, who hates being a girl and despises the idea of a London Season, can nevertheless catch the most elusive man, the Duke of Eversleigh. Her friends think that her loss is a foregone conclusion, given that Henry is so hoydenish and the Duke is notoriously determined to remain a bachelor (besides being rather elegant).

Henry is one of a rather large family - her eldest brother Sir Peter Tallant lives in London with his eminently proper wife Marion; the young Henry lives in the country with her brother Giles, two younger siblings, the twins Philip and Pen (Penelope?), a flustered governess who is unable to control the children, and a couple of unusual pets. This entire menagerie travels up to London, for no particular reason, upsetting the Tallant household. It does serve a useful plot device - in that the dismissal of the governess and the threat to send the youngest children to school acts as a powerful stimulus for Henry to accept the Duke's offer. And of course, the Duke does offer, ostensibly because Henry amused him at her ball.

In the background, the discarded mistress of the Duke forms an alliance with his cousin. They hope that the Duke will be forced to divorce his wife for adultery and worse, which will leave the succession clear. The mistress hopes to marry the Duke, or at least not to share his attention with a young wife.

The Duke and his new Duchess win their wagers, but neither informs the other of course, that their marriage came about only because of the double wager (hence the title). The Duke learns about the wager made by his wife from her indiscreet brother, after the latter has run into trouble. Curiously, he does not judge Henry badly. I wonder why? You would think that his pride would be hurt, or that he might wonder if his wife really loved him. Perhaps he had no illusions anyway about the marriage.

Henry is not an admirable wife, let alone a perfect Duchess. She will not have the marriage consummated, and she will associate with the Duke's cousin despite his warnings (even when he tells her why he so dislikes Oliver). When she gets into trouble, she will not ask for help, since she believes that she is as good as a man. Rather, she will borrow from untrustworthy persons and get into scrape after scrape. She chooses to listen to a man who has proved himself to be less than good, rather than listen to her husband (or ask someone else for advice). Generally, she is a rather spoiled and immature 18-year-old who seems younger than her age.

I found the denouement somewhat improbable, and as you can tell, I did not like the heroine at all. The story lines, borrowed from THE CONVENIENT MARRIAGE and AN APRIL LADY, could have worked beautifully if the heroine had been different. The denouement seemed both farcical and melodramatic to me, even though they might be in keeping with the heroine's general character. But to the end, I could not figure out what attracted the duke to his duchess, and I did not think their marriage would be a successful one. To the end, Henry (or Henrietta) showed that she did not trust her husband, and that she felt that she could go through life on her own - even though she had been rescued by her younger siblings more than once.

What was attractive about this book were the younger siblings - Philip and Pen. They were beautifully drawn, as was the confusion they created in the Tallant and then in the ducal household. Their love for their older sister and determination to protect her from her own folly was well-portrayed. I have some doubts about the ways in which they were apparently able to slip into and out of the duke's house, but that is a small point.

There is one major flaw in the plot - the issue of the villain's motivation. Making the villain the duke's father's sister's son and therefore the duke's heir was somewhat unusual, given that most titles of dukes were created with remainder to heirs male (meaning the sons, the sons of sons, and so forth of the person so honored). There are only a few titles that pass differently (and do so by Act of Parliament, or as Scottish titles). This was not well-explained. That, and Oliver's reckless behavior, did not add up to me.

Of all the Baloghs, I have read, this book was the most disappointing, for the reasons I stated. The writing is immaculate, as usual. But the heroine and the hero, let alone the intrigue, simply did not draw me in.

Rating = 2.8 (upgraded to 3)

Rating:
Summary: Decent twist on old plot devices...
Review: I had the opportunity recently to read two of Mary Balogh's earliest books - A MASKED DECEPTION and THE DOUBLE WAGER. Compared to her later books, I have to say that both were kind-of disappointing. The books were not badly written, the characters were more or less rounded (but not completely fleshed out in the characteristic Balogh style that develops later), and the plots were slightly unusual. However, THE DOUBLE WAGER in particular troubled me, perhaps because of the similarity it bears to a much better book (in my opinion) Heyer's THE CONVENIENT MARRIAGE, where the hero, heroine and villain(s) are all more interesting.

Balogh does not completely rip off Heyer, in the style of some particularly shameless writers. She introduces some twists to the story - firstly the notion of a double wager, one made in London by the hero the Duke of Eversleigh, and the other made in the country by the heroine Henrietta Tallant, who prefers to be known as Henry. The Duke, a member of a group of friends who are trying to avoid matrimony, is nevertheless persuaded to wager on the point, when he determines to marry - simply to cut out his unsatisfactory cousin and heir presumptive. [Actually there is a story behind the Duke's dislike of his cousin, of course].

In the country, young Henry Tallant wagers with a group of friends that she, who hates being a girl and despises the idea of a London Season, can nevertheless catch the most elusive man, the Duke of Eversleigh. Her friends think that her loss is a foregone conclusion, given that Henry is so hoydenish and the Duke is notoriously determined to remain a bachelor (besides being rather elegant).

Henry is one of a rather large family - her eldest brother Sir Peter Tallant lives in London with his eminently proper wife Marion; the young Henry lives in the country with her brother Giles, two younger siblings, the twins Philip and Pen (Penelope?), a flustered governess who is unable to control the children, and a couple of unusual pets. This entire menagerie travels up to London, for no particular reason, upsetting the Tallant household. It does serve a useful plot device - in that the dismissal of the governess and the threat to send the youngest children to school acts as a powerful stimulus for Henry to accept the Duke's offer. And of course, the Duke does offer, ostensibly because Henry amused him at her ball.

In the background, the discarded mistress of the Duke forms an alliance with his cousin. They hope that the Duke will be forced to divorce his wife for adultery and worse, which will leave the succession clear. The mistress hopes to marry the Duke, or at least not to share his attention with a young wife.

The Duke and his new Duchess win their wagers, but neither informs the other of course, that their marriage came about only because of the double wager (hence the title). The Duke learns about the wager made by his wife from her indiscreet brother, after the latter has run into trouble. Curiously, he does not judge Henry badly. I wonder why? You would think that his pride would be hurt, or that he might wonder if his wife really loved him. Perhaps he had no illusions anyway about the marriage.

Henry is not an admirable wife, let alone a perfect Duchess. She will not have the marriage consummated, and she will associate with the Duke's cousin despite his warnings (even when he tells her why he so dislikes Oliver). When she gets into trouble, she will not ask for help, since she believes that she is as good as a man. Rather, she will borrow from untrustworthy persons and get into scrape after scrape. She chooses to listen to a man who has proved himself to be less than good, rather than listen to her husband (or ask someone else for advice). Generally, she is a rather spoiled and immature 18-year-old who seems younger than her age.

I found the denouement somewhat improbable, and as you can tell, I did not like the heroine at all. The story lines, borrowed from THE CONVENIENT MARRIAGE and AN APRIL LADY, could have worked beautifully if the heroine had been different. The denouement seemed both farcical and melodramatic to me, even though they might be in keeping with the heroine's general character. But to the end, I could not figure out what attracted the duke to his duchess, and I did not think their marriage would be a successful one. To the end, Henry (or Henrietta) showed that she did not trust her husband, and that she felt that she could go through life on her own - even though she had been rescued by her younger siblings more than once.

What was attractive about this book were the younger siblings - Philip and Pen. They were beautifully drawn, as was the confusion they created in the Tallant and then in the ducal household. Their love for their older sister and determination to protect her from her own folly was well-portrayed. I have some doubts about the ways in which they were apparently able to slip into and out of the duke's house, but that is a small point.

There is one major flaw in the plot - the issue of the villain's motivation. Making the villain the duke's father's sister's son and therefore the duke's heir was somewhat unusual, given that most titles of dukes were created with remainder to heirs male (meaning the sons, the sons of sons, and so forth of the person so honored). There are only a few titles that pass differently (and do so by Act of Parliament, or as Scottish titles). This was not well-explained. That, and Oliver's reckless behavior, did not add up to me.

Of all the Baloghs, I have read, this book was the most disappointing, for the reasons I stated. The writing is immaculate, as usual. But the heroine and the hero, let alone the intrigue, simply did not draw me in.

Rating = 2.8 (upgraded to 3)

Rating:
Summary: A rebel in old London town.
Review: We liked this story. It was typical of formula historical romances and lent humor in unexpected areas. Basically, you have
a willful woman named Henry who gets into a family jam and accepts a Duke's "proposition" to become his wife. It's a duel
of wills and passionate hearts. Good characters, delightfully
surprising story, highly recommended.