The Last Lady B
Lady Genevieve Hughes considers her decision to marry old (but wealthy) Lord Burnsby to be evidence of her practical approach to marriage: in exchange for financial benefits, she is prepared to tolerate his annoying habits. Some anyway. But her fortitude and kindness are challenged when they arrive to celebrate Christmas and his seventieth birthday at his estate in the Scottish Highlands. In the reputedly haunted former abbey, she meets his aging mistress, illegitimate teenage daughter, and mad sister. Or are they? And how did Burnsby’s first three wives die? Has she married Bluebeard?
In this ironic romance, unexpected revelations are further enlivened by the sardonic comments of the various characters. The satire focuses upon the conduct of a privileged aristocracy: their eccentricities and profligacy, patriarchal authoritarianism and racial prejudice, mistreatment of family members and servants, and, tellingly, Burnsby’s narcissistic refusal ‘to acknowledge facts that he found disagreeable’. Meanwhile, literary conventions associated with gothic and Regency romance are mischievously parodied, whether it be ghosts or madwomen, muscular heroes or loyal servants. All highly entertaining.
Less so is the heroine’s preoccupation with her growing physical attraction to Sir Godric. Though the exhaustive details will gratify some readers, others will find them repetitive.
