Gypsy Lord

Dominic Edgemont's reputation in late Georgian British society is rather tarnished: aside from rumors of womanizing, he's said to be part gypsy--a rumor that Catherine Barrington, Countess of Arondale, discovers to be true after she is kidnapped by scheming relatives, passed from hand to hand and finally bought by Dominic who is visiting the gypsy band where he was raised. A clash of wills follows as Dominic tries to seduce Catherine out of the virginity she has so far managed to preserve; as fate would have it, the two, not surprisingly, fall in love and he succeeds. Martin's tale is a good one with some reservations, one being an unnecessary scene in which Catherine provokes Dominic into beating her to the delight of the gypsy camp. Early on, Martin is careless with certain genre conventions almost to the point of comedy: Edgemont's title (Lord Nightwyck, heir to the Marquess of Gravenwold) overhints at the diabolical and Martin's description of Catherine as an atypical beauty--with ``eyes . . . a little too large and a little too green, and her lips were a little too full''--makes one wonder at the era's ideal. Although well-intentioned, Martin ( Captain's Bride ) also sometimes buys into stereotypes about gypsies. (Sept.)