A Kind and Decent Man

I admit to freely enjoying a good victorian romance on a rainy day. This does not mean that all these books are 4-5 star quality! However, Mary Brendan, in this book, does an excellent job making both main characters sympathetic and compelling. To me, it rivals some of the best of Barbara Cartland's earliest works. I immediately searched for other titles by this author, but have found that not all measure up. But, this recent series of loosely connected stories, followed by the Silver Squire, shows great promise, and fewer of the grammatical and typographical errors that were annoyingly present in earlier works.

"A Kind And Decent Man" is the typical romance novel of misunderstandings, disapproving parents, and estranged lovers. However, Mary Brendan has managed to write and engrossing and riveting novel in spite of this old material, and she breathes new life into this classic tale, mainly because of the indomitable heroine that she has created in Victoria Hart.Victoria was eighteen years old when she fell deeply in love with rakish and penniless David Hardinge. Her father of course disapproved quite vigorously of their love, and when David asked for Victoria's hand in marriage, he was rudely rebuffed. Believing in Victoria's vow to wait for him, David leaves to acquire the capital in order make the necessary investments so that he can prove to Victoria's father that he is not the degenerate fool he is believed to be. Unfortunately, Victoria is being harangued by her father to forget David. A month goes by and her letters go unanswered; believing herself to have been abandoned by David, Victoria marries Daniel Hart, who just happens to be David's much older cousin.Seven years go by and David has now inherited the family title, Viscount Courtney. He has also amassed quite a fortune through trade. However, what he perceives as Victoria's rejection, coupled with the ton's scornful attitude towards his scandalous parents, has made David become a very bitter and cynical man. And then he receives news that Daniel is dead. Succumbing to the temptation to see Victoria again, he goes to the funeral, and is stunned to realise that he is still susceptible to her charms. However he is still angry and bitter, and so resolves to punish and humiliate her. His chance comes when Victoria realising that she is quite penniless, goes to David for financial aid. She proposes a marriage of convenience; but he counters by proposing that she become his mistress. Victoria is aghast: what happened to the young man who swore that he would always love her. Angrily, she rejects his offer, and grimly makes for London, hoping to find a kind and decent man there who will want to marry her and take on her dependent father and aunt and estate as well. But things don't exactly work out as she hopes, for everywhere she goes she keeps running into David, and the most scandalous of rumours are making the rounds regarding her relationship with him. What will happen next? Will Victoria be successful in finding a husband who will agree to take on her load? Or will David and Victoria finally work out all their misunderstandings and misconceptions and so find happiness together? Or will Victoria have no choice but to give in to David's ignominious demands? And will David finally let go of his old hurts before it is too late? The reason why this novel really worked for me was because of Victoria Hart. Like David, Victoria has not had the ideal childhood and upbringing; and unlike David, Victoria has had few options open to her as a young woman of the early 19th century. However unlike the hero of