Another one where the Hero was having an affair with the evil step mom!
Although their affair has been over for sometime, the evil step mom is coercing the Hero into marrying her stepdaughter. She has some incriminating letters of his and is threatening to expose him.
The evil step mom hates her stepdaughter and now that she is coming home from school, she refuses to play chaperone to her, like an old lady. So she wants her married off with all speed. She also chooses the Hero, the Duke, because he is as poor as a church mouse. She truly is an evil stepmother, she tried to separate father and daughter and is trying her best to go through all their wealth which came from the late mother of the heroine.
She arranges to have the heroine come home the day after her father leaves for Scotland, so she wont be able to see her father. Evil step mom then arranges for her to go immediately to the Hero’s estate and marry him. Of course the heroine objects, but the stepmother threatens to put her in an insane asylum where no one would find her.
The Hero and heroine have no choice. But after they are married they try to make the best of a bad situation. The heroine does not have much money, but she has more than the Hero and truly tries to help him out with all they have.
She even asks him to contact her family solicitor so they can get a loan for the estate. They tell the solicitor the whole story of how the evil stepmom coerced them into marriage, but now they are planning to make the best of it. He assures them that he can arrange a loan to help them out.
The Hero and heroine are happily getting along and planning to renovate the estate so they can open it to the public and earn some money. Of course they fall in love with each other in the process since they are both young and attractive.
Finally the father shows up! He has found out everything. On his way to Scotland there was a mishap so he had to return to London, where he found stepmother in a compromising situation with a married lover. He threw her and the lover out of the house and threatened divorce and ostracism if evil stepmom did not leave the country and stay away forever.
The solicitor also told him how she forced the heroine to marry the Hero so he rushed to them immediately. However, they assure him that they are now in love and would like to stay married to each other.
The father promises them half of all his wealth which is considerable and more than enough to fully restore the Duke’s estate!
So all ends well. Was hoping there was another unusual death for evil stepmom in this one, but I guess banishment would suffice 😁