"You offend my nostrils."
If you want some good old 18th century sarcasm and sass, there's absolutely no better book than Georgette Heyer's These Old Shades. The first in a series of Regency novels, this one introduces the two characters who will basically be the mama and papa of the lot of them later. I've read the other books, but none have captured my heart so much as this one, where Satanas prowls the streets of Paris and wreaks havoc over the English countryside just because he can, making sure everybody knows who's boss.
Want to take a jaunt with the Devil himself? Autumn is prime time for it!
Under the reign of Louis XV, corruption and intrigue have been allowed to blossom in France, and Justin Alastair, the notorious Duke of Avon and proud of his soubriquet 'Satanas' flourishes as well. Then, from a dark Parisian back alley, he plucks Léon, a red-headed urchin with strangely familiar looks. Among the splendours of Versailles and the dignified mansions of England, Justin begins to unfold his sinister plans against the Comte de St Vire - until, that is, Léon becomes the ravishing beauty Léonie ...
(from book jacket)
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*image not mine
