The proud Darracotts have never acknowledged their lowly relative. The hero of this tale, Major Hugh Darracott, is the offspring of a second son who was cut off from the family when he married a weaver's daughter. In The Unknown Ajax, Georgette Heyer pulls off another Regency romp with her usual comedic flourish. A lot of fun, and it makes me want to read some more Heyer. A beautiful set of misdirections and twists. Poor Ottershaw, he was really out of his depth here. I agree with another reviewer, it would make a magnificent play. And a lovely climactic - not scene, but series of scenes.

Interesting discussions of smuggling and the long-term effects of breaking laws, even greedy and poorly-designed ones. All of them had at least one really good scene. The Corinthian cousin, the gentle (or cowardly, according to some of his relatives) cousin, the ill-handled high-strung youth, and the domineering patriarch of the family are among the males the females include the sensible girl (Anthea), her addicted-to-drama mother, and the calm, majestic woman that married in to the family, and refuses to succumb to their expectations. I loved the scenes between Hugo and Anthea, where he carefully doesn't quite admit what he's up to. Of course, I wasn't being pressured to marry him, either. I believed his act for quite a while - I didn't catch his slips of the tongue as quickly as his cousin Anthea did. Hugo, the son of an unacceptable marriage, becomes heir to a peerage, much to his and his grandfather's mutual dismay. This may be one of my favorite Heyers - mostly because while there are pretty much the usual array of characters, none of them were intensely irritating.

The unknown ajax