A Momentary Marriage by Candace Camp

Narrated by Gildart Jackson

A Momentary Marriage is the sequel to A Perfect Gentleman, and focuses on the unlikely romance between Sir James de Vere and Laura Hinsdale, two prominent secondary characters in the earlier story. In that book, we learned that Graeme Parr, Earl of Montclair – James’ cousin – and Laura (daughter of the local doctor) had fallen in love in their youth but were not able to marry because Graeme needed to marry an heiress in order to pull his family out of debt. It had been James who had gone to Laura and told her she needed to break things off with Graeme so that Graeme could salvage his family fortune and honour. Needless to say, while Laura knew that what James said was true, it stung, and they have avoided each other ever since.

In A Perfect Gentleman, James emerged as a witty – though cynical – man with a fondness for his cousin, his huge mastiff Demosthenes (Dem for short) and very little else. Enigmatic, good-looking and charming when he wants to be, he reveals little of himself and is the sort of man who buries his emotions deep and needs to maintain control. A Momentary Marriage opens several months later and finds James suffering from a serious illness that none of the medical men he’s seen can identify. The diagnoses run from a bad heart to brain fever to tumors, but the one thing the physicians do agree on is that he hasn’t long left to live.

James has decided to spend the time remaining to him at his estate in Kent and has been persuaded by Graeme to visit Doctor Hinsdale along the way, to ask for his opinion and advice. James isn’t hopeful, but he promises to do so, even though he’s tired and in pain and could do without making the detour – but sadly, neither he nor Graeme are aware that Hinsdale passed away two weeks earlier, leaving his daughter in very straitened circumstances.

James arrives at the Hinsdale’s home just in time to witness Laura being importuned by an unpleasant character who is demanding repayment of a debt incurred by her father. Laura is distraught – not only has she lost her father and long-time companion, she has nowhere to live and no-one to turn to; she has no relatives who will take her in and the prospect of a life of drudgery as a governess or companion stretches ahead of her. James is the last person she expects (or wants) to see – although she can’t help but be grateful for his help in dispatching her obnoxious ‘guest’.

It occurs to James that there is a way he and Laura can help each other. He is reluctant to leave his considerable fortune in the hands of his many grasping relatives, and Laura needs to be provided for – so he asks her to marry him. Laura doesn’t believe he’s serious at first, and even when he calmly points out that she’ll be a widow before long and a wealthy one at that, she isn’t convinced. Only after a moment of heartbreaking honesty in which James admits that perhaps he doesn’t want to die alone does she finally understand, and she agrees to the bargain, quietly determined to do everything she can to help him.

When, after their hasty wedding, the couple arrives at James’ country home, Laura immediately understands his reluctance to leave everything to his family, most of whom take him for granted as nothing more than a source of financial support. James takes a serious turn for the worse, and Laura feels helpless as she tries hard not to give into despair as she sees this young, vital man she has realised she would like to know better slipping away from her. She does whatever she can to make him comfortable, including keeping his family at bay, but can find nothing in her father’s medical journals or notes that gives her any hope that James can recover… until she makes an unexpected discovery that puts things in a completely different light.

I don’t think it can be too much of a spoiler, given this is a romance, to say that James doesn’t die, so the rest of the story is concerned with showing these two not-friends suddenly having to deal with the fact that a bargain that was supposed to be temporary is going to be no such thing. The time they spend together during his illness and subsequent recovery creates an unexpected intimacy between them, and with James on the mend, it’s impossible to deny any longer that they’re attracted to each other and have been for some time.

The development of their relationship – from mutual wariness and uncertainty to respect, affection and – eventually – love, is very well done; I really liked the way they are generally open and honest with one another and enjoyed their gentle mutual teasing. It also says much that James – a man who doesn’t trust easily – instinctively knows that he can trust Laura with anything and everything. I wasn’t wild about the bit of last-minute conflict that suddenly blows up between them, but I was nonetheless rooting for Laura to break through James’ carefully erected emotional barriers and for him to admit the truth of his feelings for her.

As with A Perfect Gentleman, there is a mystery running alongside the romance, although here it’s a rather more integral to the story as it has to do with finding the person responsible for trying to harm James. Ms. Camp has clearly done her homework here, giving James an illness that is life-threatening but which is also one he could plausibly have recovered from. The identity of the villain isn’t immediately obvious, and while some of the secondary characters are somewhat stereotypical, they serve as a good contrast to Laura, whose regard for James is genuine and unselfish.

Gildart Jackson returns to the narrator’s chair and once again delivers a performance that is enjoyable and entertaining in spite of a couple of minor flaws. I particularly enjoyed his portrayal of James in the previous story and was pleased to note the consistency of his characterisation across both books. James’ deep, slightly plummy almost-drawl works perfectly to bring to mind the image of a physically imposing, sardonic and ennui-laden gentleman, and I liked that, in the more intimate and emotional moments, Mr. Jackson dials back the drawl so that the listener feels we’re getting to hear the real James behind the cool façade he presents to the world. Characters we’re already acquainted with, such as Graeme and Abigail, are easily recognisable and all the secondary characters are skilfully delineated and easy to tell from one another. I said in my review of A Perfect Gentleman that Mr. Jackson’s female voices were a tad disappointing compared to the other aspects of his performance; here, his interpretation of Laura is more consistent than of Abby in that book, partly, perhaps, because there is no accent to sustain. There is still the odd moment of inconsistency, but these tend to be when Laura and James are arguing and her tone becomes harsher (which makes sense); but that said, I never had trouble distinguishing Laura from James or any of the other characters.

Ultimately, the narration has many more pros than cons, so I’m happy to recommend A Momentary Marriage to fans of the trope and of historical romance in general – and I hope it won’t be another four years before Mr. Jackson is tempted back to the genre.

Caz