John Caldigate

John Caldigate is a somewhat weak-willed man where women are concerned, as well as where gambling occurs, so he has managed to bankrupt himself as well as get himself "engaged" to several women through the course of the book, all because he can't say No when he should. Women cause him the greater trouble, but when he eventually returns home to England as a wealthy man (hard work was what made him so) and marries the woman he truly loves, his greatest troubles are now with business associates from his past and his wife's relations. What poses a disaster for himself and his wife (mother of his infant son) is a relationship he had with a "fast" woman, an actress, while he was making his fortune in Australia. She shows up in England, wanting money, and claims that she is actually John's wife. Thus John's marriage is bigamous, his son illegitmate, and his wife downfallen. The extent to which her family interferes, even to kidnapping the wife, is outrageous and dramatic. In fact, most of this book is high drama. It is very entertaining, and it resolves itself nicely, although all John's former "fiancees" do spend much time being thankful that they never married him. There is humor here, and there is tension. A very good read.