Originally published in 1963, False Colours has its charms and foibles. When the prodigal son finally resurfaces with a wild story of where he has been and news of finding true love, the two brothers must either face the scandal of their deception or depend upon their mother to devise an alternate solution that suits them both.Ī Predictable Plot Saved by Finely Drawn Characters

But, she has fallen in love with him, of course, and keeps his secret.

By careful deduction and a few blunders by others, Cressy is able to discover that Kit is impersonating his brother. As Kit and Cressy are thrown together they are attracted to each other. His trust will be available to him upon his marriage and she will be free of her imposing step-mother. Kit soon discovers that Evelyn’s alliance with Miss Stavley is a marriage of convenience for both of them. When Lady Denville invites Evelyn’s fiancé and her family to their country estate for a small gathering the hoax must continue. Lady Denville begs Kit to impersonate his brother for just one evening to win time to locate his wayward brother. Their future depends upon Evelyn marrying the Honorable Miss Cressida Stavely, an heiress whose formidable grandmother the Dowager Lady Stavely must approve the marriage or the betrothal is off. Because of his mother’s mounting debts, Evelyn must make a quick alliance so he will have access to his family trust. Two years after the close of the Napoleonic Wars, Kit returns to England from diplomatic service in Vienna to meet his widowed mother Lady Denville distraught over the disappearance of his older brother Evelyn on the eve of an important introduction to his future bride and her family. The Honorable Christopher “Kit” Fancot is pressed into operating under a false flag by impersonating his identical twin brother Evelyn, Lord Denville, who has inconveniently disappeared at a critical moment in the Fancot family’s lives. That is exactly what transpires in Heyer’s Regency-era novel False Colours. Anyone with a modicum of military knowledge will recognize the term ‘flying false colors’ or flying a flag of a country other than one’s own to deceive the enemy into believing that a ship or fort or field banner is of a friend or allies until they are trapped.

Each title is short, evocative and intriguing. Georgette Heyer had the fortunate knack of selecting catchy titles for her novels that were a perfect match to what would unfold inside: The Convenient Marriage, The Unknown Ajax, Bath Tangle, Devil’s Cub, Sprig Muslin, The Nonesuch, and on and on.

False colours heyer