Sylvester, or the Wicked Uncle

infobox Book |
name = Sylvester, or the Wicked Uncle
title_orig =
translator =


author = Georgette Heyer
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series =
genre = Regency, Romance
publisher = William Heinemann
release_date = 1957
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 309 pp
isbn = NA
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Sylvester, or the Wicked Uncle" is a novel written by Georgette Heyer.

Intelligent and desperate Phoebe runs away from a man whom her parents wish her to marry. She is assisted in escaping by none other than the man himself, about whom she has written a novel starring him as the villain. Unfortunately, the novel mirrors real life in some particulars, which others take too seriously.

Plot summary

Sylvester, a wealthy duke, is considering marriage. After discussing his prospects with his ailing mother, who thinks he is too arrogant towards the women he thinks are possibilities, he travels to London to discuss the matter with his godmother, Lady Ingham. Lady Ingham tells him of her granddaughter, whose mother (lady Ingham's daughter) was his mother's closest friend. He is disgusted by Lady Ingham's efforts at match-making, and departs for a hunt in the countryside.

It is at this hunt that he meets the father of the girl Lady Ingham offered him. Impressed by the man's hunting, Sylvester consents to being his guest. As the visit progresses, it is patent to Sylvester that the whole was engineered by Lady Ingham to make him fall in love with Phoebe, whom he considers insipid and talentless.

Phoebe, meanwhile, is terrified of being made to marry Sylvester. She calls upon a childhood friend, Tom Orde, to rescue her. They set off for London (and the refuge of Lady Ingham's house), but their carriage breaks down and Tom breaks his leg. Sylvester, who took the news of the supposed "elopement" between Phoebe and Tom as an excuse to leave the premises, happens upon the wreck and decides to help them.

During their stay at the nearest inn, Sylvester realizes that Phoebe is extremely smart and capable, though very impertinent. Although smarting from learning that "nothing could induce her to marry (him)", he helps her to go to London while Tom is recovering, and Phoebe goes to Lady Ingham.

In London, Phoebe meets Sylvester's sister-in-law, who is convinced that Sylvester is evil because he is executing his brother's will exactly: her son, Edmund, must live with Sylvester and not her and her fiance, Nugent Fotherby. Phoebe is struck by the parallels between the real Sylvester and the arrogant parody of him in her book, and attempts to change her manuscript, but her publishers say that they cannot.

When her novel "The Lost Heir" is published, it fascinates all London, and members of high society immediately try to find the identity of author who has satirized them all so perfectly. Lady Ianthe, Sylvester's sister-in-law, declares that the author must know that Sylvester is so evil and decides to take the novel, which is gothic silliness, seriously. Phoebe, in protesting this absurdity, accidentally lets slip that she is the author. Naturally, Lady Ianthe cannot keep her peace, and soon all London knows Phoebe is the culprit.

Sylvester, hurt by the portrayal of him as arrogant, insults Phoebe, causes a scandal, and makes himself a laughingstock. Phoebe decides to retire to France with Lady Ingham and Tom Orde, but they are kidnapped by Lady Ianthe and her now-husband, Fotherby Nugent. She and Nugent were eloping to France (with young Edmund in illegal tow) to fulfill the task Phoebe supposedly set forth in her novel.

Edmund reacts badly to the strange surroundings and the loss of his nurse, while his mother and stepfather are incapable of providing the love and comfort he needs. Phoebe and Tom take over the care of the small child, but when Sylvester catches up with the five of them at an inn near Paris, he and Phoebe quarrel. By this time neither Lady Ianthe nor Nugent want further custody of Edmund, and Sylvester takes him, Tom, and Phoebe back to England.

In another argument, Phoebe accuses Sylvester of ruining her reputation beyond salvation. Sylvester proposes marriage, and Phoebe is outraged by the perceived sarcasm. But by this time, Sylvester has actually fallen in love with her. After some persuasion by Sylvester's mother, who says that Phoebe stopped both Sylvester's arrogance and the grief he was suffering after the loss of his brother, and a thorough apology from Sylvester, Phoebe consents to marriage.

References