In which Judith nearly becomes Queen of England, Bernard is putting something nasty in the snuff, and Peregrine has his cock squeezed.
There are some good bits in this one - I love the race to Brighton and Beau Brummell, and I enjoy the way she integrates the Royal Dukes as full-blown characters in a way she tends not to in later Regency novels. I had an enlightening time on this read going through Clarence's Wikipedia page and belatedly realising that the history of the UK might have been rather different if Judith had accepted him - no Queen Victoria for a start.
To my mind the big weakness it is that everything hinges on the big twist, so that it doesn't really stand up to re-reading - the devices that she uses to misdirect us are so laboured, and become more so on a re-read.
And Worth doesn't quite fly for me as a hero. I think I buy Judith falling in love with him - that's quite convincingly done, but I don't buy him falling for her.
What do you think of Worth? What does happen to Bernard in the end? Do you think this one is enhanced by such a full-on use of historical characters? Would Judith have been a good queen? And what do you reckon to the gender politics? Judith is the first Heyer heroine who is really kicking against the restraints of Regency womanhood in classic style (Leonie's defiance of convention doesn't count, because she's a child, and forrin) but can her marriage really be a partnership of equals?