vintageromancereader | A Breath of Scandal

The Infamous Earl

Susanna Randall thought she knew everything there was to know about Edward Sutton, the Earl of Langham, when she wed him. First, he was marrying for the fortune that her wealthy father pledged to him. Secondly, his devotion long had been claimed by the beautiful and aristocratic Julia Murray.

But Susanna did not suspect the power that Langham had to stir her passion. Or the pain he could cause when he left her alone in a great London mansion.

Now she had a chance to end her ill-starred marriage. And she had an offer from the honorable and trustworthy Colonel Percy Fordyce to become his beloved wife.

It should have been so easy to leave a man unworthy of her love for one who so deserved it. If only her foolish heart were not making it so hard...

Original Publisher: Signet
Original Year of Publication: 1987
Page Count: 223

Susanna Sutton, Lady Langham, is at a crossroads in her life. The daughter of a wealthy, ambitious tradesman, she was contracted to marry a member of the peerage, trading her wealth for his title. Her father chose for her Edward 'Ned' Sutton, and against all odds, the two fell passionately in love. Shortly after their marriage, he traveled to America to check on her father's properties, but then the War of 1812 broke out and he didn't return. Susanna still loves her charming, beautiful husband and though she feels abandoned by him, has made no motions towards moving on with her life, much to her friends' grief.

Finally, 3.5 years later, a patient suitor and her supposed best friend wear her down enough to agree to seek an annulment from her husband. She travels to tell her father the news and though he does not condone the breakup of her marriage and subsequent loss of her title, he insists that she hold off for a couple of months. Her younger sister, Alicia, is to come out this year and she has her heart set on marrying their impoverished neighbor, Hugh, son of the indominable Lady Calthrop, who is beyond morally straitlaced and who has not yet consented to Alicia and Hugh's engagement, and who won't unless Alicia and her family prove themselves to be beyond reproach.

This works out fine for Susanna, who doesn't really want to end her marriage and who doesn't love her new suitor, Colonel Forsythe. He is almost twenty years her senior and is fat and balding, but she perceives him to be sweet and kind. He's waiting for his uncle to kick the bucket so he can inherit the Viscouncy and thus, be worthy of a soon-to-be former Countess.

So Susanna agrees to hold off, she tells Forsythe why they have to delay, and then - out of the blue - her husband shows up again. He finds Susanna in Forsythe's arms, but even as angry as he is, he professes that he still loves her, and agrees to play the adoring husband until Alicia is safely married.

This is all well and good - this is a trad Regency romance, and such a setup is par for the course - but when Ned reenters the picture, Susanna turns into a shrill harpy. She automatically believes the worst about him (that he'll rekindle a childhood infatuation), treats him like dirt, and generally pushes him away as fast and as hard as she can. She doesn't want to end her marriage or marry Forsythe, but she's too stubborn and proud to admit it after Ned's less-than-welcome reemergence into her life. Everyone adores the charming Ned and beg for stories of his adventurous life in the States, and Susanna treats him - and the rest of them - with contempt.

She was irritating in the extreme, and the people surrounding her weren't much better, though it was gratifying to read her BFF give her a hard setdown on why she's treating the husband she proclaims that she wants to keep like dirt. Suddenly Susanna rediscovers that she's passionately in love with Ned and wants to reconcile, but she's finally pushed him far enough that he's beyond ready to introduce the bill of the divorce in Parliament and return to his holdings in the States. The only thing stopping any of them from doing something rash is the approach of Alicia's coming out ball and subsequent engagement.

This story had so much potential that was wasted on a worthless heroine. She's the type who can't get out of her own way (or open her mouth to prevent the Big Misunderstandings that abound) because of her pride. I couldn't fathom why she decides that she wants to divorce her husband to marry this other man who isn't half as appealing (in appearance or character), or why she's so sure that Ned is trying to reconcile with his childhood sweetheart when he's given her very little reason to believe that. It became grating and tiresome after awhile; luckily, this isn't a long novel.

This being a romance, everything works out in the end, of course, but I don't think it was worth it. I like this idea, though, and maybe I can find someone who did it justice. This vintage romance will be going back to the secondhand shop, unfortunately.

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