REVIEW: Weave Me a Rope by Jude Knight
He is imprisoned. She is cast out. But neither will give up on their love.
When the Earl of Spenhurst declares his love for a merchant’s niece, he is locked away in a tower. Spen won’t get out, the marquess his father says, until he agrees to an arranged marriage.
After the marquess unceremoniously ejects Cordelia Milton from his country mansion, she is determined to rescue her beloved, but it all goes horribly wrong.
She needs time to recover from her injuries, and Spen has been moved across the country under heavy guard. It seems impossible for two young lovers to overcome the selfish plans of two powerful peers, but they won’t give up.
CW/TW – parental beating/abuse of a child. potential sexual non-consent, thwarted attempted rape, description (by villains) of an intellectually disabled character as “simple”
Dear Ms. Knight,
It’s been a while since I read and enjoyed some of your historical novellas but the cover caught my attention. I’m also partial to a fairy tale or retelling of such especially when it’s an unusual take on the original. So a hero who needs to be saved from imprisonment by his heroine? Yes, that’s refreshing.
Miss Cordelia Milton is helping a young woman when she comes to the attention of Lord Spenhurst who is lurking in the proverbial London garden at a ton ball. As the eldest son of a marquess, he knows he can’t allow himself to be trapped into marriage so he is careful when he calls on Lady Daphne and then Miss Milton the next day. Lady Daphne treats him as a friendly playmate while Miss Milton impresses Spenhurst with her ability to deflect some of the nastier males who are after that woman’s money or virtue.
While his father is putting pressure on Spen to marry and sire an heir, he spends his time among several young ladies at balls and routs before realizing that Miss Milton has slowly captured his interest and his heart. But when his imperious father catches wind of the fact, he orders Cordelia off his property and imprisons his son meaning to force a marriage with Lady Daphne, a thought that repels Spen as he’s already in love with Cordelia and knows that Lady Daphne is unable to consent to any such union.
Can Cordelia and Spen manage to thwart two ruthless peers and save some innocents caught up in the machinations?
Yay and huzzah that Spen and Cordelia do not immediately fall in love nor are they enemies who fall in love. Spen and Cordelia are well aware of their differing social stations and that society would most likely frown on such a romance/marriage. Spen also knows it would anger his father who is so aware of his station as a Marquess and what is due the family. As well, Cordelia is reluctant to consider such a match because of her reception by the ton who call her (not in her hearing but darn close) an encroaching mushroom among other things.
Instead first there is respect between them that leads to growing feelings. However, although we are told that their feelings are changing, we don’t actually see this unfold very much. We’re told that Spen divides his time between certain debutantes for a specific reason – to protect them against the hellcats, the rakes, the fortune-hunters, and to lend countenance to Cordelia. It is while doing this that he sees how well Cordelia handles these unsavory people, how intelligent she is, and how kind she is – especially to Lady Daphne. Cordelia has never expected to find a match during her Season. Her pragmatic plans are to appease her Uncle by participating then find a husband from her own class. It is only gradually that she comes to feel that Spen is The One and for similar reasons to those he feels for her.
All this is just the beginning of the story as Spen and Cordelia must fight for their HEA. A little of what they are subjected to might be excused because this is a fairy tale retelling but sadly some might be actually not too far from what might have happened when powerful men, in an age when powerful men were all powerful and control their children, set about getting what they want. Watching the two lovers scheme to overcome the obstacles between them is entertaining as they put their minds and their kindness to work to do so. It also doesn’t hurt that Cordelia’s Uncle is a wealthy man who knows how to pull strings and weave nets to catch the villains. The ultimate setup of the situation that wins the day is clever and seems legit as well.
It is at this point that the plot slowed down and dragged a bit for me. There is a last second hitch that I felt was unneeded as well as two epilogues — two?? And a marriage occurs that I found distasteful and also unnecessary. I’m just going to pretend that I didn’t read this bit and remember the quick and clever way that Cordelia and Spen win the day. B
~Jayne
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