Insomnia + bedside lamp + kindle = finished. I'll try to process my thoughts while others catch up. In the meantime, I'll leave my immediate impressions behind a spoiler tag.
Venetia's mother and her husband. OMG! That was out of left field, and yet not, because it threw everything into a different light and explained all those little hints I hadn't even realized Heyer was dropping. Well done there!
Damerel's reason for summoning his agent wasn't quite what I thought (though I was on the money about his sense of self-worth), and the version in my head played out more satisfyingly for me than what Heyer wrote. The actual reason, and more particularly the sudden upset of it by Uncle Hendred, seemed like so much unnecessary contrivance. Not that my version wouldn't have been totally contrived, but still. It made more sense to me than what actually happened. *shrug*
That ending came too soon. We didn't even get to meet Conway, or see him meet Damerel, and I was really hoping we would! At least some kind of epilogue where we learn how long he suffered his mother-in-law before tossing her out would have been nice.
And Aubrey. What a tool. Seriously. Smarter than Conway, but not even a smidgen more sensible.
(show spoiler)
And now I'll try to sleep again.
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