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MediaDB / «The Class Question" by Mary Balow: download fb2, read online
About the book: year / Reginald Mason is rich, sophisticated, and essentially a gentleman. However, he is not a gentleman by birth. This fact pains his father, Bernard Mason, as Regency society places birth above all else. And the Masons, despite their enormous wealth, are just representatives of the merchant class. The opportunity to increase Reginald's social status arises suddenly - through marriage with Lady Annabelle Ashton. Since Annabelle is the only child of the Earl of Havercroft, both Bernard's neighbor and sworn enemy, the elder Mason is incredibly happy. In the end, this would allow him, in one fell swoop, to outplay the count and raise the social status of his son. The fact that both Reginald and Lady Annabel loudly proclaim their disgust at the idea of such a marriage is of no consequence. But Annabelle is disgraced by a scandal that has turned her into damaged goods. At the same time, her father is desperate for money, which could be obtained by marrying her to a rich man. Annabelle, a noble girl from the Regency era, is caught in a trap. Society will reject her for the rest of her life if she does not marry someone who is at least somewhat respectable. In addition, she will carry the burden of irredeemable guilt all her life, believing that she is responsible for the ruin of her family if she does not immediately marry someone who is rich enough to pay her father's debts. In addition, Reginald announces that he does not want to marry now, especially to the “rip-off” woman who managed to disgrace herself so much. Instead, he insists that he will continue to lead the wild, extravagant bachelor life to which he has recently become accustomed. However, Bernard presents Reginald with an ultimatum: marry Annabelle or lose your family capital. Reginald reluctantly agrees and an openly hostile engagement ensues. "A Matter of Class" is an intoxicating story, replete with secrets, deception, and the trials of love, where everything is not quite as it seems at first.