THE MASQUERADE is the second novel in the five book de
Warenne Dynasty series and is the story of the heir --
Tyrell de Warenne and Elizabeth (Lizzie) Fitzgerald. From
their childhood in Ireland, their lives have passed sharing
incidents of great stress -- Tyrell saves Lizzie from a
drowning during a summer picnic and rescues her from the
wild driving of noble scoundrels. Of course, even though
Lizzie was only ten, she fell in love with her rescuer and
thought of Tyrell as her "prince" and hero. Her hero worship
is only reinforced when Tyrell again saves her life. They
are bound for some intertwined destiny.
But the road to a happy ending for this Irish couple is not
smooth. In the tradition of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, the
Fitzgerald family has three daughters of marriageable age, a
scattered mother, a distant father, and a small town with
limited bachelor possibilities. Twice a year the
Fitzgerald's are invited to the great de Warenne estate and
the autumn masquerade plays a special role in this farce.
Lizzie is being launched into society with her two older
sisters: Georgina and the spoiled beauty of the family,
Anna. The masquerade falls shortly after the carriage
incident and Lizzie is determined to be as beautiful as
possible to attract Tyrell's attention. And much to her
surprise, Lizzie manages to spend the evening flirting with
Tyrell to the point of setting an assignation for midnight.
Unfortunately, a drunken suitor spills a drink on Anna's
dress and their mother insists she return home, but spoiled
Anna convinces Lizzie to change costumes with her as Lizzie
is only a wallflower. Anna cannot believe Tyrell was
serious about meeting Lizzie and convinces Lizzie to go home
in Anna's soiled costume.
After the masquerade, Anna is engaged to Thomas, a British
officer she met at the masquerade and the whole family is
ecstatic, but there is one wrinkle -- Anna is pregnant and
the father is NOT Thomas. Lizzie comes up with a daring and
imaginative plan for a young virgin of 16, to forge an
invitation from their rich aunt Eleanor in Dublin to visit
for a "few months." Anna will deliver the baby who they'll
find a good home for and will marry Thomas with no one but
the sisters and aunt the wiser. With a few missteps and
bumps the plan works beautifully except when Anna gives
birth to the baby boy, Lizzie falls in love with baby Ned.
Against her aunt's advice, Lizzie returns home with the
orphan child she adopted even though it marks her as a
"fallen" woman. Unfortunately for Lizzie, the child is the
spitting image of Tyrell de Warenne.
Aunt Eleanor tells Lizzie's parents baby Ned's father is
Tyrell. Lizzie's father demands marriage on the day of
Tyrell's engagement party to Lady Blanche Harrington, but
Lizzie claims she seduced Tyrell and he should not be held
accountable. Lizzie expects Tyrell to deny Ned and to be
sent away. Tyrell knows Ned is not his and Lizzie's son but
he wants to know the game Lizzie is playing. Tyrell
blackmails Lizzie; if she does not become his mistress he
will claim Ned as his son and refuse to let her see him
again. The die is cast -- Lizzie must decide what is more
important to her and what is best for her child and family.
The first three chapters are heavy going, but with chapter 4
the book takes off. I did find it hard to believe at the
age of 16, Lizzie had all these sexual feelings and actually
know what they were since Lizzie was presented as a gently
bred girl-- not raised in brothel. But my primary hang up
was Lizzie's ability to forgive her sister Anna so quickly
-- no one is that forgiving. Anna betrayed Lizzie, for a
purely selfish reason and in the worst possible way.
On a positive note, Lizzie and Tyrell's love is the story of
a great love. What these two people go through to be
together against all the people standing in their way made
for a good read. For once the hero and heroine knew they
wanted to be together and it didn't take the entire book for
them to figure it out. Their problem was everyone getting
in their way and trying to force them to stay apart for
their own selfish reasons. I especially like the way Lady
Blanche stood up and told what her father had done. I hope
someday to read a book about her.
As a child, shy, bookish Elizabeth Anne Fitzgerald loses her
heart to the dashing young lord Tyrell de Warenne. Although
she is well aware that he is the heir to an earldom and
utterly unattainable, Lizzie secretly worships him for
years. And one fateful evening -- the night of her first
masquerade ball -- she is stunned when he suggests that they
rendezvous at midnight. But then fortune takes a maddening
turn and Lizzie is thwarted from ever meeting Tyrell. Lizzie
is certain such an opportunity will never arise again, but
that night is only the beginning...
Tyrell de Warenne is shocked when, two years later, Lizzie
arrives on his doorstep with a child that she claims is his.
He remembers her well -- and knows that it is impossible
that he is the boy's father. What is this game she is
playing... and why? Is Elizabeth Anne Fitzgerald a woman of
vast experience, or the gentle innocent he had believed her
to be? Tyrell quickly decides he will play her game, and he
claims the child as his own, determined to uncover Lizzie's
lies. But neither scandal, deception nor pride can thwart a
love too grand and passionate to ever be denied...
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