False Colours by Georgette Heyer

Kit Fancot is a rising young diplomat, stationed in Vienna, when he senses something is wrong with his identical twin brother in London. It’s 1817 so he can’t call or text – he uses the recent death of his godfather as an excuse to make the long journey home. 

When he arrives, he finds his instinct was not misplaced as his mother and his brother’s most trusted servants are extremely worried: Evelyn, Lord Denville, has been missing for days and he is supposed to meet his soon-to-be fiancée’s family the next evening. Failing to turn up would be an unforgivable insult to Cressida Stavely. Trying to calm his mother, Kit jokes that if Evelyn doesn’t return in time, he will have to impersonate him as they’d done as children.

He didn’t mean it and is horrified at the idea of misleading Miss Stavely but his impetuous mother and his brother’s valet argue that Evelyn would not hesitate to cover for him if needed, and soon his hair has been cut in his brother’s style, he is wearing his brother’s clothes, and he is on his way to a party where every relative of the prospective bride has been summoned to inspect him:

At this moment, and just as he released Miss Stavely’s hand, one of the assembled company, an elderly spinster who had been observing him with avid curiosity, confided to a stout matron in the over-loud voice of the deaf: “Very handsome! That I must own!”

Startled and far from gratified, Kit looked up, involuntarily meeting Miss Stavely’s eyes. They held a look of twinkling appreciation; and he thought suddenly that she was more taking than he had at first supposed.

A shared sense of humor is more of an aphrodisiac in a Heyer novel than any other attribute. It is inevitable that Kit will fall in love with his brother’s chosen wife and while he and Cressy make a delightful couple, they are not the only reason this comedy of manners is one of my favorite Heyers. It is full of well-drawn and entertaining characters from Cressy’s dragon-like grandmother (unexpectedly susceptible to Kit’s charm), Kit and Evelyn’s understated but close relationship, their flighty but devoted mother, and her beau, Sir Bonamy Ripple (the first person to guess Kit is not Evelyn because Kit fails to flick open the snuff box with one hand as his brother does, then compounds the error by offering dry snuff).

There are many amusing scenes, mostly involving Kit’s mother, Lady Denville, who is devoted to her sons. However, her situation is serious – married very young to someone whose infatuation faded, she became addicted to spending and gambling, much to her husband’s disgust. Although he occasionally paid her debts (with many recriminations), she hid the extent of what she owed out of fear. Evelyn, the older twin, inherited the title and the obligation to cover his mother’s financial obligations. He proposed to Cressy so he could have access to his inheritance. In addition to the urgent challenge of resuming his own identity while retaining his brother’s fiancée without a scandal, Kit wants to help protect his mother’s reputation by ensuring all her debts are paid. According to an inflation calendar, the £20,000 Lady Denville owes in 1817 is the equivalent of £2,189,509 in 2025, which seems high but even half of that would be a significant dent in anyone’s fortune.

This is my second review of the year for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.  This would be an excellent “first Heyer” if you have never read one of her books.  I have probably read it ten times, with the same amount of enjoyment with each reread.  Of course, I am always a fan of impersonation stories! The online Georgette Heyer group is discussing False Colours this month.

Publication: The Bodley Head, hardcover, 1963
Genre: Historical Romance/Regency
Source: Personal copy