Summary
In an era where American industrial wealth functioned as the vital lifeblood for the decaying skeletal remains of British aristocracy, Bettina Vanderpoel emerges as a formidable architect of restoration. Upon crossing the Atlantic to retrieve her sister, Rosalie, from the clutches of a predatory union, Bettina discovers not a grand manor, but a mausoleum of domestic abuse and architectural rot. Sir Nigel Anstruthers, a man whose nobility is merely a thin lacquer over a core of sadistic entitlement, has systematically dismantled Rosalie’s spirit and squandered her dowry. Bettina, armed with an indomitable New York pragmatism and an inexhaustible ledger, begins a literal and metaphorical renovation of the Anstruthers estate. Amidst the dust of reconstruction, she encounters Lord Mount Dunstan, a peer of the realm whose refusal to commodify his title serves as a stark, honorable antithesis to Nigel’s parasitism. Their burgeoning romance is a delicate dance of pride and class consciousness, eventually tested by a lethal epidemic and Nigel’s desperate, violent final gambit. The narrative culminates in a visceral confrontation within a desolate hut, where the physical manifestation of Nigel’s corruption finally yields to the inexorable force of a new, meritocratic world order.
Synopsis
Bettina Vanderpoel, the charming daughter of New York millionaire Reuben Vanderpoel, departs for England to visit her sister Rosalie, who is married to Sir Nigel Anstruthers, an impoverished English nobleman. Arriving at their dilapidated estate, Betty finds that Nigel not only has wasted Rosalie's fortune, but has treated his wife and their little son cruelly. Betty promptly repairs the estate with her own money and then introduces her sister into English society. In the process, she meets Lord Mount Dunstan, a proud but penniless nobleman who lives in the adjacent estate. Although strongly attracted to Betty, Dunstan avoids her so as not to appear a fortune hunter. An epidemic breaks out among the farmers, and Betty, hearing that Lord Dunstan has died, goes riding late one night to forget her sorrow. Sir Nigel finds her in a deserted hut and tries to attack her, but Lord Dunstan appears, rescues her, and finally confesses his love. Soon after, Sir Nigel contracts apoplexy and expires, thus freeing Rosalie.
