The hand of Ethelberta

The novel (1876) follows the fortunes of Ethelberta, one of the numerous family of Chicherel, a butler. She marries the son of the house where she is governess, only to be widowed by the time she is 21, but attempts to retain her social position, while concealing her relationship to the butler. Finally, she marries a wicked old peer, while her faithful admirer, the musician Christopher Julian, is left to marry her sister Picotee.