My Lady Domino (Signet Regency Romance)

By Sandra Heath

THE TENDER TRESPASSER... Miss Adele Russell knew it was sheer folly to attend the Duke and Duchess of Bellingham's grand masquerade. A year ago, she would have been an honored guest--before the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451126149
• ISBN13: 9780451126146
• Release Date: December 1983
• Publisher: Signet Book
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

a charming book, rich in detail and texture

Ah, sigh...such a pleasure to read excellent Multi-POV that lets all the characters of the book come to life. US has this enforced single Point of View thing going the last 10 years. That is fine for those who like it. Guess what not all of us do. I love knowing all the characters in the book and find that missing so much in American writers today. Heath is British and the comforting Brit style of POV usage made me smile. Heath has this down to a pat and it's so enjoyable to read this wonderful style again. These are two excellent Heath books in one! My Lady Domino finds Miss Adele Russell living in reduced circumstances. She was once the only daughter of a rich Bath banker and engaged to the devilishly handsome David Latimer, Earl of Blaisdon. The evil Duke Bellingham conspired with her father's clerk to rob the bank blind. When her father was ready to expose them, the secretary set a fire and killed her father, destroying her home. Adele was left to deal with the scandal when her father was accused to stealing the money. No one ever stopped to ask where it went. No one listened when she tried to expose the men who killed her father. Especially absent from supporting her in this time of troubles as her fiancé. David Latimer barely had the courtesy to send a dear john note before decamping Bath. Broken hearted, Adele now lives with her former governess. The governess runs a fashionable store in bath and Adele works there as a clerk. Life goes along well, it rather dull until news that David Latimer has returned. Adele is distress everyone is saying he is going to marry the daughter of the Duke of Bellingham. As the night of the masquerade at the Bellingham manor arrives, Adele takes the risk. She alters her mother's gown and slips into the mansion, just to live in the manner she once had. David Latimer dances with her, but he doesn't recognize her as his former love. Hurt, she dances with the son of the Duke, which sets off a chain of events that nearly destroys all their lives. It's a skillfully woven tale, that touches the heart and done with a beautiful use of multiple-POV. Wish American readers would once again embrace this beautiful style. It's just so "full", instead of paint-by-numbers it's a masterpiece of light and shadow.

Behind the mask . . .

My Lady Domino should never have met Sir Mask. She had no business attending a Masquerade Ball. But then, before the sudden death of her father one year earlier, she would have received her own invitation to the Ball. So, when Adele Russell was busily delivering merchandise from her friend's haberdashers to the society ladies of Bath, and saw one of the treasured invitations on the street in front of her, she decided to take advantage of this bonus, and attend one--possibly last, at least for her--such function. Of course, one of the first persons she encountered was her former fiancé, David Latimer, the Earl of Blaisdon. Even though he persisted in sharing a dance with her, and did not penetrate her disguise, still he took the time to warn her away from the dashing young man who had made sure to also have a dance with her--the intriguing, and unknown Sir Mask. Five years ago, a sudden trip to India required David to leave Adele, with only a letter to advise her of his journey. The letter went astray, and the betrothal was broken. Now, the earl is the matrimonial target of Euphemia, the Marchioness of Heydon, who is daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Bellingham. It just so happens that at about the time David went off to India, the Duke's fortunes took a marvelous turn for the better, and his son, Rex, Lord Talbourne, will now have something more than an empty inheritance to anticipate. These are the major players in this skillfully-woven tapestry of life in Regency England, particularly in Bath, which is so well-drawn, the reader is taken on a virtual tour of that ancient Roman city. The Pulteney Bridge, the Circus, the Royal Crescent, the Assembly Rooms, all play their parts as well as do the many multi-faceted characters. You'll love Euphemia, who is one of those slightly over-the-top personalities who will make you laugh in spite of yourself as she labors mightily to capture David, all the while running Adele all over Bath on errands for the haberdashery. There is even the 'perfect' villain, Sir Frederick Repton, in the service of the Duke, who now has aspirations of a political career in his own right. Sir Mask is eventually un-masked, the villain banished, and like all good theatre, all's well that end's well. It's the journey from opening curtain until final standing ovation that provides such satisfaction; in this instance, from the masterful pen of veteran Regency author Sandra Heath. First published in 1983, it's easy to see why it's been reprinted several times, and you'll think it well worth your effort to find your own copy.