These Old Shades (Alastair-Audley, Bk. 1)

These Old Shades is considered to be the book that launched Georgette Heyer's career and helped usher her into becoming the Queen of Regency Romance. It features two of Heyer's most memorable characters: Justin Alastair, the Duke of Avon, and Leonie, whom he rescues from a life of ignomy and comes to love and marry.

A thrilling tale of long-awaited revenge...

The Duke of Avon is known for his coldness of manner, his remarkable omniscience, and his debauched lifestyle. Late one evening, he is accosted by a young person dressed in ragged boy's clothing running away from a brutal rustic guardian. The duke makes "Leon" his page. "Leon" is in fact Leonie, and she serves the duke with deep devotion. When he uncovers the true story of her birth, he wreaks an unforgettable revenge on her sinister father in a chilling scene of public humiliation.