A Duke Never Tells
To learn more about the fiancé to whom her parents have contracted her hand in marriage, Lady Margaret (Meg) Pinwell adopts the guise of companion to her independent-minded Aunt Clara so that they can visit his castle as tourists. They plan to question the servants while the notorious rake is still in London, but the duke turns out to be at home. When he meets them, however, he pretends to be the butler and pressures Elliot Riniken, his man of business, to play the duke. When Meg sprains her ankle and is confined to bed on doctor’s orders, the four protagonists find themselves trapped in their unwelcome roles for a much longer stay than intended.
This Regency romance has the ingredients of farce with a freely acknowledged debt to The Importance of Being Earnest, and Enoch enthusiastically seizes the opportunity to develop the ironic potential of the situation. Despite the implausibility of the plot, however, important issues are raised, most notably the problems created by rigid class distinctions and by patriarchal repression of women’s rights. Recommended.
