Never Fall for Your Fiancee (The Merriwell Sisters, 1)
1825.When his mother writes to inform him that she and his stepfather are sailing from Boston to meet his fiancée, Hugh, Earl of Fareham, is dismayed. To discourage her nagging him to marry, he had invented a fiancée and even provided her with an elaborate backstory in his letters. Minerva, unfortunately, does not exist. But then, while offering assistance to a damsel in distress, he discovers that she is not only ‘very pretty indeed’ but named Minerva. Inspired by this ‘perfectly serendipitous’ encounter, Hugh hires her to pose as his fiancée. Despite his charm and attractiveness, she strongly doubts whether his fanciful plan to deceive his mother will succeed, but with two sisters to care for, she desperately needs the money he offers.
Needless to say, the plan goes awry, as one complication follows another: Hugh’s highly suspicious mother arrives early and asks probing questions; the actress hired to play the mother of the three Merriwell sisters reveals an unfortunate fondness for drink; the wastrel father who had abandoned the sisters unexpectedly turns up and tries to blackmail them. Their efforts to deal with each crisis grow increasingly desperate, and soon the irony descends, cheerfully and unapologetically, into full-blown farce.
Amidst all this, Hugh and Minerva fall in love despite their determination to resist a mutual attraction. He believes himself to be ‘shallow as a puddle,’ as he apologetically confides on more than one occasion, and thus too unreliable to settle down with one woman. She is aware of both his unreliability and the gap in their social status. As a result, they spend an excessive amount of time agonizing over their conflicted feelings before they finally clear up all the misunderstandings that have arisen.
Recommended, especially to those who enjoy farce.
