A Fashionable Indulgence

Harry Gordon grew up the son of radical antigovernment activists who were forced to flee England after inciting a riot that killed a soldier in 1808, when Harry was 12. A decade later, after his parents' deaths, he returns to London and goes to work for a radical bookseller and pamphleteer he knew in his youth. It's there that his father's family tracks him down and informs him that he's the heir to the Vanes. Harry quickly learns his grandfather hates his upbringing and turns him over to a cousin for training as a gentleman, so Harry can make an advantageous marriage and continue the Vane name. Unfortunately for his grandfather, Harry is more attracted to Julius Norreys, the friend his cousin enlists to train him, than he is to his potential bride. Harry proves an apt pupil, but he refuses to abandon the friends of his childhood, and as the Tory government is cracking down on seditionists and treason, Harry's choices endanger his family, his friends, and his love.