Weekly Geeks: A Quote A Day - Georgette Heyer #7

Well, sadly we've come to my last daily Georgette Heyer Quote. This one is from Friday's Child, and is an exchange between Hero Wantage (Sherry's wife) and Gil Ringwood, one of Sherry's friends. Hero is an unworldly girl, and she and Lord Sheringham were married on a whim of his after he was turned down by the woman he thought he loved. To give you a bit of the context of this particular selection, Hero had just asked Sherry (in mixed company at the opera) if one of the dancers on stage was his opera-dancer.

"It isn't Sherry's fault!" Hero said, firing up in defence of her free-spoken husband. "He is forever telling me what I must not say! The thing is that I don't perfectly remember what I may say, and what I may not. I dare say I ought not to call that dancer a fancy-piece either?"

"Upon no account in the world!" Mr. Ringwood said emphatically.

"Well, I must say I think it is very hard. What may I call her, Gil?"

"Nothing at all! Ladies know nothing of such things."

"Yes, they do. Why, it was my cousin Cassy who first told me about Sherry's opera-dancer, so that just shows how mistaken you are!"

"Well, they pretend they do not, at all events!" said Mr. Ringwood desperately.

"Oh, do they? But Sherry told me himself that everyone has an opera-dancer, or something of the sort, and there is nothing to it. Gil, have you--"

"No!" said Mr. Ringwood, with more haste than civility.

"Oh!" said Hero, digesting this. She raised his eyes to his face and heaved a tiny sigh. "I am not a prude, Gil." 

"No," agreed Mr. Ringwood feelingly.

Oh, poor Hero and her many mishaps and slips of the tongue. It's a delight to watch her marriage to Sherry unfold as the story continues.

Weekly Geeks: A Quote A Day - Georgette Heyer #6

Today's quote is from Black Sheep. I originally wanted to post even more from this conversation between Miles Calverleigh and Abigail Wendover, but it really would have been too much. But it's a great exchange... I settled on the last bit of it.

"I should dearly love to kiss you--here and now!"

"W-well you can't!" said Abby, rocked off her balance.

"I know I can't--not here and now, at all events!"

"Ever!" she uttered, furiously aware of flaming cheeks.

"Oh that is quite another matter! Do you care to wager a small sum on the chance?"

Making a desperate recovery, she said: "No! I never bet on certainties!"

He laughed. "You know, you are a darling!" he said, completing her confusion.

"Well, what you are is a--a--"

"Hedge-bird?" he suggested helpfully, as she stopped, at a loss for words opprobrious enough to describe him. "Gullcatcher? Bermondsey boy? Rudesby? Queer Nabs?"

You've got to love the phrases that Georgette Heyer used--all meticulously researched, of course.

Weekly Geeks: A Quote A Day - Georgette Heyer #5

The Grand Sophy was one of the last Heyer Regencies I came across, possibly the last. My mother had never read it, either, and we both enjoyed it tremendously. Sophy's many escapades are nothing short of amusing. Here we have a conversation between her and Charles Rivenhall that inevitably turns to the subject of his fiancee, Miss Eugenia Wraxton:

He said through shut teeth: "I think I told you once before, cousin, that we did very well here before you came to upset all our comfort!"

"Yes, you did, and what you meant, Charles, was that until I came no one dared to flout you. You should be grateful to me--or at any rate, Miss Wraxton should, for I am sure you would have made an odious husband before I came to stay with your Mama."

This put him in mind of a complaint he could with justice make. He said stiffly: "Since you have brought up Miss Wraxton's name, I shall be much obliged to you, cousin, if you will refrain from telling my sisters that she has a face like a horse!"

"But Charles, no blame attaches to Miss Wraxton! She cannot help it, and that I assure you, I have always pointed out to your sisters!"

"I consider Miss Wraxton's countenance particularly well-bred!"

"Yes, indeed, but you have quite misunderstood the matter! I meant a particularly well-bred horse!"

How can you not have "fits of the giggles" after reading that?? :-)

Weekly Geeks: A Quote A Day - Georgette Heyer #4

There are so many enjoyable Georgette Heyer Regencies... Regency Buck is another of my favorites. Who doesn't enjoy the exchanges between Judith Taverner and her guardian, Lord Worth?

"You have a considerable fortune in your own right. More important than this is the fact that under your father's Will you are heiress to as much of your brother's property as is unentailed."

"Well?" said Judith.

"That being so," said Worth, shutting his snuff-box with a snap and restoring it to his pocket, "there is little likelihood of gaining my consent to your marriage with anyone whom I can at the moment call to mind."

"Except," said Miss Taverner through her teeth, "yourself!"

"Except, of course, myself," he agreed suavely.

"And do you suppose, Lord Worth, that there is any great likelihood of my marrying you?" inquired Judith in a sleek, deceptive voice.

He raised his brows. "Until I ask you to marry me, Miss Taverner, not in the least likelihood," he replied gently.

Men are so insufferable, aren't they? :-) And did anyone else notice that this cover is essentially the same as the one for These Old Shades?! I believe they were released by different publishers, however.

Weekly Geeks: A Quote A Day - Georgette Heyer #3

Another of my favorite Heyer romances is These Old Shades. It is amusing throughout, with a very touching ending--I always tear up when I read it. Here we have Leonie talking to the Duke of Avon after her unsuccessful kidnapping by Saint-Vire.

"He is a fool, Monseigneur. He did not know even that I was pretending to be asleep."

"According to you, my infant, the world is peopled by fools. I believe you have reason."

I'm sure this is blasphemy, but I'd read Georgette Heyer over Jane Austen any day.

Weekly Geeks: A Quote A Day - Georgette Heyer #2

Today's quote is from Lady of Quality, which is the first Heyer novel I ever read, and still one of my favorites. This is from an exchange between Annis Wychwood and Oliver Carleton (naturally, for those of you who've read the book).

"Miss Wychwood," he said, "I lied when I said I liked you! I do not like you! I am very nearly sure that I dislike you excessively!"

"What can I say, dear sir, except that your sentiments are entirely reciprocated!" she responded.

He smiled appreciatively. "Has anyone ever got the better of you in a verbal encounter?" he asked.

"No, but it must be remembered that I have not until today had much opportunity to engage in verbal encounters. The gentlemen I have previously been acquainted with have all been distinguished by propriety of manners and conduct!"

"That must have made 'em sad bores!" he commented.

In my opinion, Annis Wychwood and Oliver Carleton have some of the best exchanges between any couples in Heyer's novels. I find myself laughing often when I read this book.

Weekly Geeks: A Quote A Day - Georgette Heyer #1

I'm participating in my first-ever Weekly Geeks! This week's "assignment" is a quote a day, and I opted to work with a theme to try to make it easier on myself. My all-time favorite author is probably Georgette Heyer. I have my mother's entire collection of older edition Regencies, as well as some of the newer ones throughout the years that we needed to complete the Regency collection.

Today's quote is from Frederica--a conversation between the Marquis of Alverstoke and Louisa Buxted:

"My dear Vernon, you should surely know by now that I never touch sherry!"

"Should I? But I have such a shockingly bad memory!"

"Not when you wish to remember anything!"

"Oh no, not then!" he agreed.

I never get tired of reading the bantering dialogue in Georgette Heyer's books.