Georgette Heyer - "Faro's Daughter" Quiz

Answer: A popular card game

The term "faro" is in reference to a card game that was very popular in nineteenth-century England. It was originally called Pharaon, but was later reduced to "Faro." (John McLeod, "Faro," 2006). Since Deborah works in a gaming-house, she is one of "faro's daughters," a derogatory term for an honorable lady.

Answer: To stop his cousin from marrying a gaming-house "wench"

Mr Ravenscar reluctantly goes to the gaming-house to stop his young cousin Adrian from marrying the gaming-house "wench," Deborah Grantham. It is a task that his aunt, Lady Mablethorpe, has thrust upon him, which ultimately goes awry. He has no real interest in this endeavor until he meets Deborah. Most of his subsequent actions have less to do with Adrian's fate, and more to do with his jealousy and attraction towards Deborah.

Answer: Mr Ravenscar

Trying to get a clearer picture of his cousin's lady love, Mr Ravenscar challenges Deborah to a game of picquet. Confident in her own abilities, she is shocked to lose six hundred pounds to him! It is interesting to note that throughout the story, Mr Ravenscar never loses a single bet or game.

Answer: He asks her to reject his cousin's offer of marriage

Mr Ravenscar's full, fury-inducing speech: "I am prepared to recompense you handsomely, ma'am, for whatever you may suffer from the relinquishment of all pretensions to my cousin's hand and heart." Deborah is incensed at HIS presumption, as she had never planned on marrying his cousin, Lord Adrian Mablethrope, anyway.

Answer: She appears in public wearing vulgar attire

The wily Deborah Grantham is well aware of how to fight fire with fire. Since Mr Ravenscar has already branded her a "harpy," she is more than obliged to show him just how low-class and gaudy she can be. When she shows up publicly in garish dress and makeup, she makes a fool of herself. Intuitively, he begins to doubt his initial assessment of the girl.

Answer: He becomes the owner of all of her aunt's debts and mortgage

When Mr Ravenscar learns that Deborah and her aunt Lady Bellingham are deeply in debt, he purchases all of their debts and the mortgage to the gaming-house. In effect, he becomes their creditor and owner of their home and business. Even worse for Deborah, he now has the power to evict them or submit them to debtor's prison.

Answer: She has Mr Ravenscar kidnapped

Deborah convinces her friends, Mr Wantage and Mr Kennet, to kidnap Mr Ravenscar. She hopes to force him to hand over her aunt's debt and mortgage notes in exchange for his freedom. Unfortunately, her friends have to resort to foul play in order to subdue a man like Mr Ravenscar, and she soon finds that he is unwilling to bend under any threat at all.

Answer: Adrian and Phoebe

In the beginning of the novel, Adrian is Deborah's devoted, lovesick suitor. As the tale develops, however, he begins to fall in love with the helpless, dainty Phoebe Laxton. Other love stories abound marginally, though almost all are one-sided. Lord Ormskirk and Mr Kennet think themselves in love with Deborah, but she humorously keeps them at bay. Similarly, Kit Grantham fancies himself in love Arabella Ravenscar, though she has no strong attachment to him at all.

Answer: Tricking him by marrying Adrian

When Mr Ravenscar hears that Adrian has eloped, he assumes the worst: Adrian has married Deborah. Immensely enraged, he confronts Deborah and calls her "a cheating baggage" and a heartless jade. He then confesses to her that he had loved her all along, but she has now lost him forever. Outraged, Deborah tells him that she would "rather die in the worst agony" than return his love.

Answer: Purchase an entire wardrobe for her

When Deborah comes to save Mr Ravenscar's sister from eloping, he has his chance to win her back. No longer able to hide her own love, Deborah reluctantly gives in to her feelings. She warns him that marriage to her could ruin him socially, and that his relatives would likely scorn the pair.

He assures her that he couldn't care less for what anyone thinks, and agrees to all of her terms of marriage. The novel concludes with Deborah's "sigh of satisfaction."