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Endearing Young Charms #1
The French Affair
She must have been mad. She was on her way to marry a man she had never set eyes on!
It was true. The lovely young widow, Lady Charteris (Delphine to her friends), had agreed to abide by her parents' wishes and marry the Comte Saint Pierre. Delphine's parents had long since died in the French terror, but when she learned of their wishes for her, she believed it her duty to respect their wishes. Delphine would marry, but it would be a marriage in name only.
But when Delphine saw Jules Saint Pierre, she got the shock of her life.
He was the same man she had seen juggling in the streets at a local fair. What was he doing as the Comte Saint Pierre? Was he posing? Had she made some terrible mistake?
It was true. The lovely young widow, Lady Charteris (Delphine to her friends), had agreed to abide by her parents' wishes and marry the Comte Saint Pierre. Delphine's parents had long since died in the French terror, but when she learned of their wishes for her, she believed it her duty to respect their wishes. Delphine would marry, but it would be a marriage in name only.
But when Delphine saw Jules Saint Pierre, she got the shock of her life.
He was the same man she had seen juggling in the streets at a local fair. What was he doing as the Comte Saint Pierre? Was he posing? Had she made some terrible mistake?
176 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 12, 1984
About the author
Marion Chesney
148 books763 followersMarion Chesney Gibbons
aka: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Charlotte Ward, M.C. Beaton, Sarah Chester.
Marion Chesney was born on 1936 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, and started her first job as a bookseller in charge of the fiction department in John Smith & Sons Ltd. While bookselling, by chance, she got an offer from the Scottish Daily Mail to review variety shows and quickly rose to be their theatre critic. She left Smith’s to join Scottish Field magazine as a secretary in the advertising department, without any shorthand or typing, but quickly got the job of fashion editor instead. She then moved to the Scottish Daily Express where she reported mostly on crime. This was followed by a move to Fleet Street to the Daily Express where she became chief woman reporter. After marrying Harry Scott Gibbons and having a son, Charles, Marion went to the United States where Harry had been offered the job of editor of the Oyster Bay Guardian. When that didn’t work out, they went to Virginia and Marion worked as a waitress in a greasy spoon on the Jefferson Davies in Alexandria while Harry washed the dishes. Both then got jobs on Rupert Murdoch’s new tabloid, The Star, and moved to New York.
Anxious to spend more time at home with her small son, Marion, urged by her husband, started to write historical romances in 1977. After she had written over 100 of them under her maiden name, Marion Chesney, and under the pseudonyms: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Charlotte Ward, and Sarah Chester, she getting fed up with 1714 to 1910, she began to write detectives stories in 1985 under the pseudonym of M. C. Beaton. On a trip from the States to Sutherland on holiday, a course at a fishing school inspired the first Constable Hamish Macbeth story. They returned to Britain and bought a croft house and croft in Sutherland where Harry reared a flock of black sheep. But Charles was at school, in London so when he finished and both tired of the long commute to the north of Scotland, they moved to the Cotswolds where Agatha Raisin was created.
aka: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Charlotte Ward, M.C. Beaton, Sarah Chester.
Marion Chesney was born on 1936 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, and started her first job as a bookseller in charge of the fiction department in John Smith & Sons Ltd. While bookselling, by chance, she got an offer from the Scottish Daily Mail to review variety shows and quickly rose to be their theatre critic. She left Smith’s to join Scottish Field magazine as a secretary in the advertising department, without any shorthand or typing, but quickly got the job of fashion editor instead. She then moved to the Scottish Daily Express where she reported mostly on crime. This was followed by a move to Fleet Street to the Daily Express where she became chief woman reporter. After marrying Harry Scott Gibbons and having a son, Charles, Marion went to the United States where Harry had been offered the job of editor of the Oyster Bay Guardian. When that didn’t work out, they went to Virginia and Marion worked as a waitress in a greasy spoon on the Jefferson Davies in Alexandria while Harry washed the dishes. Both then got jobs on Rupert Murdoch’s new tabloid, The Star, and moved to New York.
Anxious to spend more time at home with her small son, Marion, urged by her husband, started to write historical romances in 1977. After she had written over 100 of them under her maiden name, Marion Chesney, and under the pseudonyms: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Charlotte Ward, and Sarah Chester, she getting fed up with 1714 to 1910, she began to write detectives stories in 1985 under the pseudonym of M. C. Beaton. On a trip from the States to Sutherland on holiday, a course at a fishing school inspired the first Constable Hamish Macbeth story. They returned to Britain and bought a croft house and croft in Sutherland where Harry reared a flock of black sheep. But Charles was at school, in London so when he finished and both tired of the long commute to the north of Scotland, they moved to the Cotswolds where Agatha Raisin was created.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
June 3, 2019
Rating: 3 1/2 stars
A delightful story with fun and intriguing twists in a quaint English village where the main characters--both survivors of "The Terror"--connect and breathe new life into the community and learn how to live, heal and love. If the h was a bit annoying at times, then the joi de vie of the H (Jules) made up for it all. Jules was intelligent, rakish, and debonair! His positive energetic independence and warmth, along with a laid-back attitude made him so very noble and likable. I did like that Delphine was spirited and strong-willed. She did not take anything off of anyone, especially her bullying and meddling sister-in-law, Maria. All in all, this was quite entertaining.
A delightful story with fun and intriguing twists in a quaint English village where the main characters--both survivors of "The Terror"--connect and breathe new life into the community and learn how to live, heal and love. If the h was a bit annoying at times, then the joi de vie of the H (Jules) made up for it all. Jules was intelligent, rakish, and debonair! His positive energetic independence and warmth, along with a laid-back attitude made him so very noble and likable. I did like that Delphine was spirited and strong-willed. She did not take anything off of anyone, especially her bullying and meddling sister-in-law, Maria. All in all, this was quite entertaining.
July 20, 2025
The heroine's personality changed throughout the book and the hero's nonchalant attitude was annoying.
July 9, 2017
I have read a significant number and variety of Marion Chesney historical romances over the last couple of years. They are like comfort food, the small snackable types that have a low calorie count and therefore engender little to no guilt, but also come in limited flavours. Oft-repeated names and character archetypes abound, and villains and subplots can often be guessed before they come in. Everything is so cosy and easily established.
The downside is that the thinking is quite old. Obviously, the books themselves are old, so this is to be expected, and if I go in expecting anything progressive, than on my own head be it. But I’m always put off when I come across a sticky issue. This one isn’t horrible--it’s not like a self-punishing peek at the Censored Eleven--but it always gets worse when I see that I’m the rare reader who didn’t believe the judgmental bullshit view of the heroine.
When she was five years old, Delphine was rescued from France by Lord Charteris. He coddled and sheltered her through childhood and then into an infantilising marriage, never allowing her to meet other French refugees, nor to speak her own language--she only learned French because he considered it something a proper English lady learned--and he refused to tell her the circumstances of her rescue or her parents’ death. Always claiming that he would tell her someday. Until he died.
Three years later, she lives with his disapproving gossip of a widowed sister, Maria Bencastle, who decries her as too French to the neighbours behind her back, makes life less fun, and is basically the reason no one pays calls. At the start of the story, they are taking a rare, nigh unheard of trip to a fair to raise funds for French refugees, and Delphine encounters a juggler who gives her a flower. She later learns he is the Comte Jules Saint-Pierre, and the two of them are parties to a marriage agreement between their parents that dates back to childhood.
The rest of the story is about Jules being “perfect” and right all the time, even when he makes a mistake or acts like an ass, and every last tiny thing Delphine does wrong is worthy of burning her at the stake. Some faux pas are legitimately head-shaking and tie into her character arc. But Jules has no arc and is never considered by the narrative to have done anything wrong, even if he has done.
As a Chesney HR, this book doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be. It felt kind of like it was emulating my struggle with still reading them after a saturation point. The antagonist is a pointedly unpleasant poor relation by marriage to the heroine. But she repents of her behaviour immediately and threatens to leave the story early on. Delphine stands up to her right away, so she never needs to learn anything from her interactions with Mrs Bencastle. Theirs is not the timid heroine and overbearing authority figure conflict, nor is it the heroine blinded by loyalty to an awful person conflict.
Delphine’s characterisation fluctuates wildly while the book tries to find its place. At first, she is the capable businesswoman who has made her late husband’s estates flourish. Then she’s bored with it and thinks of how the juggler represents fun. But then she disapproves because the juggler lacks dignity. The fair awoke her need to be with other French people, but she takes a long time to question Lord Charteris’s treatment of her and forced rejection of her nationality. When the marriage comes up, she’s firmly stuffed into the slot of being stodgy and a shrill fishwife who nags Jules in public. Never mind that he puts both of them in danger and never shows any care for her safety. He does care about her safety--he simply chooses to punish her by not making any outward show of it.
I never liked Jules. I only got that he was supposed to be a foil teaching Delphine to have fun and lighten up because I am genre savvy. It was executed extremely poorly. Jules was a lightly sketched character who phoned in everything and sailed through all of his conflict without so much as a speed bump. Delphine was a likeable character who got morphed and badmouthed in order to sell me on things I didn’t buy. Somehow she was always the bad guy when they argued, even when it was clear that Jules should have taken some responsibility or at least effing apologised.
Of course an inattentive reader would believe the “bad press” about Delphine and not disapprove of Jules. She’s an actual character with an arc. He’s just... there without any consequences. This made the majority of the book feel either frustrating or just empty. I know sometimes Chesney HRs have the cards stacked in the hero’s favour, but this was ridiculous.
The downside is that the thinking is quite old. Obviously, the books themselves are old, so this is to be expected, and if I go in expecting anything progressive, than on my own head be it. But I’m always put off when I come across a sticky issue. This one isn’t horrible--it’s not like a self-punishing peek at the Censored Eleven--but it always gets worse when I see that I’m the rare reader who didn’t believe the judgmental bullshit view of the heroine.
When she was five years old, Delphine was rescued from France by Lord Charteris. He coddled and sheltered her through childhood and then into an infantilising marriage, never allowing her to meet other French refugees, nor to speak her own language--she only learned French because he considered it something a proper English lady learned--and he refused to tell her the circumstances of her rescue or her parents’ death. Always claiming that he would tell her someday. Until he died.
Three years later, she lives with his disapproving gossip of a widowed sister, Maria Bencastle, who decries her as too French to the neighbours behind her back, makes life less fun, and is basically the reason no one pays calls. At the start of the story, they are taking a rare, nigh unheard of trip to a fair to raise funds for French refugees, and Delphine encounters a juggler who gives her a flower. She later learns he is the Comte Jules Saint-Pierre, and the two of them are parties to a marriage agreement between their parents that dates back to childhood.
The rest of the story is about Jules being “perfect” and right all the time, even when he makes a mistake or acts like an ass, and every last tiny thing Delphine does wrong is worthy of burning her at the stake. Some faux pas are legitimately head-shaking and tie into her character arc. But Jules has no arc and is never considered by the narrative to have done anything wrong, even if he has done.
As a Chesney HR, this book doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be. It felt kind of like it was emulating my struggle with still reading them after a saturation point. The antagonist is a pointedly unpleasant poor relation by marriage to the heroine. But she repents of her behaviour immediately and threatens to leave the story early on. Delphine stands up to her right away, so she never needs to learn anything from her interactions with Mrs Bencastle. Theirs is not the timid heroine and overbearing authority figure conflict, nor is it the heroine blinded by loyalty to an awful person conflict.
Delphine’s characterisation fluctuates wildly while the book tries to find its place. At first, she is the capable businesswoman who has made her late husband’s estates flourish. Then she’s bored with it and thinks of how the juggler represents fun. But then she disapproves because the juggler lacks dignity. The fair awoke her need to be with other French people, but she takes a long time to question Lord Charteris’s treatment of her and forced rejection of her nationality. When the marriage comes up, she’s firmly stuffed into the slot of being stodgy and a shrill fishwife who nags Jules in public. Never mind that he puts both of them in danger and never shows any care for her safety. He does care about her safety--he simply chooses to punish her by not making any outward show of it.
I never liked Jules. I only got that he was supposed to be a foil teaching Delphine to have fun and lighten up because I am genre savvy. It was executed extremely poorly. Jules was a lightly sketched character who phoned in everything and sailed through all of his conflict without so much as a speed bump. Delphine was a likeable character who got morphed and badmouthed in order to sell me on things I didn’t buy. Somehow she was always the bad guy when they argued, even when it was clear that Jules should have taken some responsibility or at least effing apologised.
Of course an inattentive reader would believe the “bad press” about Delphine and not disapprove of Jules. She’s an actual character with an arc. He’s just... there without any consequences. This made the majority of the book feel either frustrating or just empty. I know sometimes Chesney HRs have the cards stacked in the hero’s favour, but this was ridiculous.
October 19, 2018
I normally find this author's work intriguing, but this series has not been compelling to me. This one just never piqued much of my interest.
I listened to the audio version of this book through Hoopla. The narrator, Vanessa Benjamin, did an excellent job portraying the different accents!
I found it difficult to identify with the characters in this book. The plot was odd, the characters never grew in depth, and the romance was not believable in the least. There was a huge gap between the last two scenes that was barely glossed over.
It was clean, able to stand on its own and delivered an H.E.A.
I will be reading book #3, since I downloaded the first 3 books in anticipation of liking this series as much as this author's previous series.
October 18, 2017
I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would, and I can't seem to get it out of my head. It is a poignant story about two young people who have overcome a tragic family history during the French Revolution, but have dealt with it in different ways.
The hero is not the one who needs to be redeemed, it is the heroine who needs to change, although she is a good person. The characters' past gave this story a seriousness that made them seem so real and sympathetic. They were not just two frivolous young people searching for love.
I also like the way Delphine loves and respects her first husband. In loving the Comte, she doesn't end up hating her first husband, Lord Charteris.
Now that I have read it for free from amazon's Kindle Unlimited, I am going to buy it and read it again.
The hero is not the one who needs to be redeemed, it is the heroine who needs to change, although she is a good person. The characters' past gave this story a seriousness that made them seem so real and sympathetic. They were not just two frivolous young people searching for love.
I also like the way Delphine loves and respects her first husband. In loving the Comte, she doesn't end up hating her first husband, Lord Charteris.
Now that I have read it for free from amazon's Kindle Unlimited, I am going to buy it and read it again.
April 11, 2019
Not a favorite despite having an unusual hero and heroine (French emigres in Britain after the Terror). There was an odd little French spy plot late in the book that felt it was just thrown in for good measure. Also, Dephine at first was intriguing having to deal with the scorn and prejudice of the village people because she was first a “foreigner” and secondly a “lady farmer” who had the audacity to manage her own estates after the death of her husband. I enjoyed two rather odd characters: Charlie the odd little tiger/valet/manservant/friend to Jules and Maria Bencastle, Delphine’s widowed sister-in-law. Maria was the fly in the ointment this time instead of a murdering mistress or a talkative mynah bird. She’s described as looking like “a female John Bull”, who has looked like she was ready to attend a funeral since she was a child. Even after three years she dresses in black to mourn her brother. She truly “lived on spleen and tea”, looking with disfavor and suspicion and certain blind prejudice at anyone/anything non-English. She was always grumpy and always critical and a malicious gossip.
April 10, 2024
This story didn't appeal to me and I couldn't like the hero's character. The heroine spent most of her time trying to reform the hero and he spent most of the time sleeping. There was nothing to like in this book.
May 3, 2016
Despite its title, it's actually a nice little story and I rather enjoy a change of pace from my usual mystery diet, but only because it's written by favorite author M. C. Beaton ;>
December 20, 2017
The writing was decent but the story was uneven. It was as if there were chapters missing and no one noticed it upon publishing. There was much more potential to this story.
October 22, 2023
I love Jules, a sexy French count, and Charlie, his servant. Jules is one of my all-time favorite Chesney heroes. Unfortunately, Delphine is a jerk throughout the whole book until the very end.
August 27, 2022
The very young widow Delphine had been in a secure and comfortable marriage. After her husband’s death, she learns about her parents death and their betrothal for her. She agrees to marry a stranger based on their instructions and never laid eyes on him until after the wedding. Through their marriage there is a serious of unfortunate events that doesn’t lend her to the comfort and security of her first marriage. She must get out of her comfort zone with this new husband. Typical Beaton humor in this Rom-Com.
August 26, 2019
Frensh revolution affected French aristocrats, with French protagonists this book moves slowly and emotionally.
What I like about this book is for the first time I read about poor mutli talented Hero, who try to do whatever to live and survive, marries a wealthy widow with no affection towards him at all but embarrassment.
It was light book to read, but passion and emotions were slow paced, wished to have more adventures and more sparkle.
What I like about this book is for the first time I read about poor mutli talented Hero, who try to do whatever to live and survive, marries a wealthy widow with no affection towards him at all but embarrassment.
It was light book to read, but passion and emotions were slow paced, wished to have more adventures and more sparkle.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 19, 2020
I enjoyed this immensely. The British dislike of foreigners and their inability to understand the plight of emigres fleeing The Terror is contrasted with the simple kindness and acceptance once the emigre is humanised and known. This is a brilliant exposition of the place foreigners have in Britain, exposed with Beaton's wit and sarcasm. She has such a sharp eye for the foibles of people. Marvellous.
December 9, 2024
A fun read about two French emigrees who were betrothed by their families when they were only children (the boy ten and the girl only three years old) and then separated by the events of the French Revolution. They meet again as adults and decide to fulfill the terms of the betrothal contract and wed. They have reached adulthood by very different routes and this leads to much misunderstanding before a happy climax.
February 22, 2019
Good heavens, I'm so thankful that the audiobook only robbed me of a mere five hours of my life. What an unbelievable love story. And what kind of author in her right bloody mind skips over, oh say, the BATTLE OF WATERLOO??? Would have been the only interesting part in the entire bloody book. Ah well, live and learn.
November 8, 2024
Weak but amusing story of French emigres before Waterloo. The main character deciding to marry, sight unseen, the nobleman her parents had engaged her to as a child in France seemed implausible at best, insane at worst. So, from that shoddy premise, the action didn't stop. Too many miscommunications between the 2 main characters to suit me, but I do love Chesney/Beaton's grasp of the period.
May 26, 2025
My rating system:
5 stars: The best I've read in a while & for sure will re-read in the future. Definitely recommending to friends.
4 stars: Still a great book, and will re-read in the future. Would possibly recommend.
3 stars: Good book, but probably too predictable.
2 stars: Finished the book, but didn't like it.
1 star: Hated it; wouldn't even finish it.
5 stars: The best I've read in a while & for sure will re-read in the future. Definitely recommending to friends.
4 stars: Still a great book, and will re-read in the future. Would possibly recommend.
3 stars: Good book, but probably too predictable.
2 stars: Finished the book, but didn't like it.
1 star: Hated it; wouldn't even finish it.
July 30, 2019
It was a quick, ok read, not nearly my favorite by this author. But I have to wonder, am I the only one who thought Sir George was creepy? He rescued a child, sheltered and raised her in the way a parent would, but then marries her as soon as she’s 18?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 3, 2021
Another wonderful light-hearted story by the great Marion Chesney. Hardly am I ever disappointed by her books! I love the characters and craziness of the mores and customs during these periods in English (and, in this case, somewhat French) history.
December 27, 2024
Cute story with a likable hero. The main character, Delphine, was an interesting normal female. She dreamed of all the things, romance, love, etc., but then was afraid to embrace him. Made for a fun, clean, romance.
February 20, 2018
Entertaining.
October 9, 2020
Silliness, but quite entertaining. Delphine Charteris is smart and buffleheaded, skilled at running her kate husband's estate, but woefully ignorant about life.
February 13, 2021
Hated it. That is basically all I wanted to say.
June 27, 2023
Dolphins agrees to marry the Comte. A juggler and French emigre.
June 7, 2024
Slightly frustrating but still good
February 10, 2026
Bratty FMC. Very little substance.
March 1, 2026
good un
March 14, 2016
Oh, those Frenchies!
A widow agrees to an arranged marriage after she learns it was the wish of her parents who died in the French Revolution. She is shocked to learn that her new husband is nothing like her late husband George, who was kind and fatherly.
The new marriage is filled with resentment and distrust, and idle gossip becomes a source of danger. Misunderstandings drive the two apart until after the Battle of Waterloo.
A widow agrees to an arranged marriage after she learns it was the wish of her parents who died in the French Revolution. She is shocked to learn that her new husband is nothing like her late husband George, who was kind and fatherly.
The new marriage is filled with resentment and distrust, and idle gossip becomes a source of danger. Misunderstandings drive the two apart until after the Battle of Waterloo.
August 29, 2025
I have read ninety-five percent of M.C.Beaton's/Marion Chesney's books. This one is by far the worst. It did not get me interested at all. I like the Agatha Raisin books. They are light, easy and quick reads. They are good entertainment with a good amount of humor. This was a great disappointment.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews