Devil's Cub is a Georgian

Georgian era

The Georgian era is a period of British history which takes its name from, and is normally defined as spanning the reigns of, the first four Hanoverian kings of Great Britain : George I, George II, George III and George IV...

 romance novel

Romance novel

The romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Through the late...

 written by Georgette Heyer

Georgette Heyer

Georgette Heyer was a British historical romance and detective fiction novelist. Her writing career began in 1921, when she turned a story for her younger brother into the novel The Black Moth. In 1925 Heyer married George Ronald Rougier, a mining engineer...

. It is the sequel to These Old Shades

These Old Shades

These Old Shades is a Georgian romance novel written by British novelist Georgette Heyer . It was an instant success, and established her as a writer.-Plot summary:...

, and is set in 1780. The book was published in 1932, and has not been out of print since. It is one of her most popular novels.

Plot summary

The son of the Duke and Duchess of Avon, the Marquis of Vidal is known as Devil's Cub not only for the excesses of his father but for his own wild habits. As he is paying court to a girl of the bourgeoisie, Sophia Challoner, he also participates in a rather impromptu duel, the outcome of which forces him to leave the country. He intends to bring Sophia with him as his mistress: but her strait-laced sister Mary has no intention of allowing her sister to be ruined, and takes her place, assuming that the Marquis will let her go once the mistake is discovered, leaving him with no chance to take Sophia afterwards. But she has not yet obtained the measure of the Marquis's personality, for in the grip of fury he takes Mary off with him instead, and only when they are in France and it is too late for either to turn back does he realise that by abducting a respectable girl he has compromised her and is obliged to offer her marriage.

However, Mary refuses Vidal because she believes he is making the offer from guilt and as she has fallen in love with him she finds this intolerable. In her misery, she runs away, intending to seek her own fortune. While away, she meets Vidal's father, the Duke of Avon, by chance, and takes him into her confidence without realising that she is talking to Avon - who is an old crony of her grandfather's and has come to France to investigate the rumours surrounding his son and scotch any scandal. The two reach an excellent understanding, with Avon clearly coming to respect Mary.

Vidal pursues, and ultimately realizes he loves her, persuading her to marry him - in spite of Avon's dry observation that she could do better.

Heyer's An Infamous Army

An Infamous Army

An Infamous Army is a novel by Georgette Heyer. In this novel Heyer combines her penchant for meticulously researched historical novels with her more popular Regency romances...

is a sequel to Devil's Cub.

These Old Shades	Devil’s Cub
Justin Alastair, Duke of Avon	Justin Alastair, Duke of Avon
Léonie de Saint-Vire	Léonie (de Saint-Vire) Alastair, Duchess of Avon
Lady Fanny (Alastair) Marling	Lady Fanny (Alastair) Marling
Edward Marling	Mr. John Marling
Lord Rupert Alastair	Lord Rupert Alastair
Harriet (Alastair) Field	Harriet (Alastair) Field
Mr. Hugh Davenant	Mr. Hugh Davenant