He was not in the least in love with her, but, as the Duke favoured the suit because the Devonshires were hard up and Selby Harle, as he was then, thought it best to get the whole charade over and done with, he had taken the fatal step.
A month before the Wedding and with the Wedding presents arriving daily, his fiancée had run away with a penniless Officer in the Brigade of Guards whom, it was eventually disclosed, she had loved since she was a child.
Selby Harle was not by any means broken-hearted, but he did feel that he and his family had been made fools of and it was a slap in the face that he could not forgive.
He was furious, bitter and cynical not because he had lost his future wife but because he considered it was entirely the fault of his interfering relatives, who in no circu
