A Marriage Most Inconvenient

The Industrial Revolution is the era approximately between 1750-1840 where the western world saw a huge boom in productivity and manufacturing due to rapidly evolving technologies. Until this point, the vast amount of English wealth was wielded by the Aristocracy of England. By the late 18th / early 19th century, many of the peerage found that maintaining and running vast estates cost far more than it profited. With the outside world making money with trade and labor, the Aristocracy were very set in their old ways, leading to diminishing wealth, ruined estates, and unsatisfied tenants.

As a result of this, some of the Aristocracy started marrying daughters of American tycoons who made their wealth in all the ways the high society of England disdained. These American heiresses would gain the weight of an Aristocratic Title and their dowries would provide the much-needed capital that the estates required. It was a fair exchange - Influence and importance in exchange for money. Our main characters are subject to one such arrangement.

However, the high society of England considered these outsiders to be beneath them, because their ancestry was not exalted enough for their tastes. Making money through labour was considered vulgar and thus such women were not exactly welcomed with open arms.

During the Regency Era (c. 1795 -1837) many high society marriages were more business arrangements to maintain connections or gain wealth, rather than love matches. It was not uncommon (for those that could afford it) for husbands and wives to live completely separate lives. It was also not unheard of for them to take discreet lovers outside of the marital bed.

As I strive to use era-appropriate language, I understand that people who are not already familiar with Historical Romance, particularly Regency Era HR may not be familiar with all of the phrases that I use. This is a brief explanation to make reading easier if you are new to HR! Of course, I would be completely okay with answering any questions you may have. Moving forward, I will also add any new terms at the beginning of each chapter.

Peerage: Titled nobility of England

Duke/Duchess: Title of highest rank following royalty.

Dowager: A widowed woman who obtained her Title from marriage.

His/Her Grace: Used when speaking of a non-royal Duke or Duchess.

Your Grace: Used when directly addressing a Duke or Duchess.

Lord/Lady: Used to address any man or woman with a title lesser than Duke/Duchess.

Blue-blooded: Having aristocratic lineage.

Dyspnea: Early term for asthma

Parson's Trap: A euphemism for marriage

In his/her/your cups: A euphemism for being drunk.

Wastrel: One who expends resources foolishly and self-indulgently.

Toff/Nobb: Degrading way of referring to the nobility.

Use of title in lieu of name: It was common practice to refer to titled nobility using their titles instead of their Christian names. For example, our male lead is named Benedict, however, the title he holds is The Duke of Rothbury. You will see his friends and acquaintances often refer to him as Rothbury, rather than Benedict.

Hierarchy of British Titles:

Duke - Duchess

Marquess - Marchioness 

Earl - Countess

Viscount - Viscountess

Baron - Baroness

Content/Trigger Warnings:

Updates will be weekly and here's what you can expect going forward that warrants the mature tag:

Eventual smut

Cursing

Dirty dreams and fantasies

Trigger Warning for:

Alcoholism

Minor character deaths

Mentions of child abuse

Mentions of domestic abuse

Happy Reading!