The Masqueraders
First edition
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| Author | Georgette Heyer |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Georgian, Romance |
| Publisher | William Heinemann |
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Publication date
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1928 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 304 pp |
The Masqueraders is a 1928 novel written by Georgette Heyer. It is set in Britain at a time shortly after the 1745 Jacobite Rising and is concerned with a family of adventurers and escaped Jacobites.
To escape exposure as former Jacobites, Robin and his sister Prudence have exchanged identities and assumed new names. The tall Prudence appears to be a youth by the name of Peter Merriot, who is escorting the slighter Robin to London in the guise of his younger sister, Kate. They are to meet their eccentric and larger-than-life father, who they call "the Old Gentleman", with whom they have been living a chancy and peripatetic existence on the European continent since birth, despite their English nationality.
On their way to London, Prudence and Robin encounter the villainous Gregory Markham eloping with a beautiful heiress named Letitia Grayson, who is now having second thoughts. The pair decide to rescue Letitia; Prudence knocks out Markham with her sword hilt, and Robin, who quickly becomes fascinated with the romantic and naive Letitia, befriends her in his guise as Kate. Shortly afterwards, a friend of Letitia's father, Sir Anthony Fanshawe, arrives on scene to discover that the elopement has already been frustrated.
Prudence finds herself oddly drawn to Sir Anthony, whom her brother dubs "the Mountain" owing to his massive frame. Sir Anthony projects an air of bored detachment, but Prudence realises that "the sleepy gentleman" is far more observant and quick witted than his exterior would suggest.
"Peter" and "Kate" quickly rise to prominence in London society – Robin is a new beauty in town and Prudence, under the patronage of Sir Anthony, begins socializing with gentlemen in highest circles.
The pair is invited to a masked ball, and while “Kate” lies ill at home, Robin puts on a mask and attends the ball as a man, introducing himself to Letitia as "L'inconnu" to woo her. Before the unmasking, he departs, but promises Letitia that he will return in her hour of need.
The Old Gentleman, Prudence and Robin's father, abruptly reappears and claims to be the younger brother and legal heir of the recently deceased Viscount Barham, much to the consternation of the man, Rensley, who had long believed himself to be the heir, and who had already installed himself as the new Viscount. The Old Gentleman, now referring to himself as "Tremayne of Barham," proceeds rapidly to insinuate himself into high society, despite the fact that his claim is, as yet, unproved. Robin and Prudence, long used to their scheming father's delusions of grandeur, are sceptical of his claims, which they have never heard before. As tensions mount over who is the legitimate heir, Rensley, overhearing Prudence disparage his manners, challenges her to a duel. Sir Anthony undertakes to forestall this meeting by insulting Rensley in order to force him into an earlier duel and wound him. Startled by this unaccountable intervention, Prudence begins to wonder if Sir Anthony suspects her masquerade.
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