Well normally I love Mary Balogh, but this is one of her earlier books and just made me want to scream. As other reviewers have pointed out this is based on a big Misunderstanding, which makes absolutely NO sense whatsoever. The heroine Elizabeth Rossiter is working as a Companian to the 18 year old Cecily. The nearby manor is occupied by the owner and some guests. It turns out that one of those is the Marquess of Hetherington and that he and Elizabeth have a Past. The first 120 pages and so are related to their meetings in company, the fact that he seems to hate her, and some reminiscences and flash backs etc. When Elizabeth's nephew falls ill, she panics and says that she must get home as soon as possible. Heatherington announces that he will take her as after all she is his wife. They then have a squabble about whether or not they are divorced and he tells her that they are not and in fact they are still married. Problem No 1: divorces were only obtained through act of paraliament and could not ever be done 'quietly'None of Elizabeth's friends or employers have an issue with her living apart from her husband. Problem No 2: this would have been a huge issue and made her unsuitable for society and especially to be the governess/ companion to an 18 year old. The h and h go off to see the nephew and get on ok although she is uncomfortable and does eventually chase him off. She loves him but would rather suffer his absence. The h returns to her life of servitude. The hero comes after her and asks her why she left him for money. She denies it and tells him that he abandoned her. They part acrimoniously.It occurs to the heroine ( after she has chased the h off) that he may have believed what he said and there may have been a misunderstanding. She goes to see her brother who alerts her to the fact that their father had received a sum of £10,000 after their wedding. They suspect their father and the H's uncle had conspired to keep the lovers apart. She writes to Heatherington asking him to come to her. She gets a brush off response from his secretary. She closes her heart and decides to take another position with a man she identifies as a mean spirited lech. The h turns up , tells her he has discovered the truth and that he didn't have his secretary write to her in those terms and in fact has been to London, Scotland and Paris within the past 2 weeks. He loves her , it is all a misunderstanding, they can make a go of their marriage.She accepts it's a misunderstanding and that it was not his fault but rejects him out of hand ( the reasons were beyond me) She is all set to go off with the creep but instead finds herself with Heatherington as they drive off to Devon and after a bit of a kiss and conuddle , they all live hea. By the end of the book I was ready to bash the heroine's head in. The whole premise on the misunderstanding appeared to be that the uncle did not think the h was good enough for his nephew who should marry a wealthier woman etc. This is all very well, had the separation been achieved before they married but was entirely pointless thereafter. It was hard to credit that the uncle would have been so pompous and yet was willing to tolerate the thought to divorce ( socially ruinous) or else the thought that there would be no legitimate heir to the title thereafter. Also if the h's father had been so interested in money, he would have revisited the plan after the hero inherited his money. Ridiculous and annoying.
2.5 stars.Sigh. I hate to rate this book as low as I do because really, it is not a bad book. But it is definitely an infuriating one. I give Balogh a bit of a pass because this is one of her early books.The book starts in a smallish village where a Miss Elizabeth Rossiter is the governess/companion of a beautiful young lady. The village is abuzz because the owner of he largest, most prosperous property is coming for a stay and is bringing some sophisticated friends from London. As is usual in these books, the local gentry want to have a series of social rounds with the visiting nobles and marry off various children. One of the visitors is Robert Denning, Marquess of Hetherington. And it is soon obvious that he and Elizabeth have a past. And oh yeah, he hates her. The first part of the book is all question marks. Why does Robert despise Elizabeth so? What is the nature of their past relationship?Slowly, Elizabeth reveals their relationship through flashbacks. And at the midpoint of the book, Robert throws down a bombshell.And this is where I find the book really infuriating. Everything that has happened in the past and even going forward, hinges on the Grand Misunderstanding. It gets to a point where Elizabeth's intransigence just makes you want to slap her. And it doesn't help matter that the entire story is told 100% from Elizabeth's POV. Robert is really enigmatic. His responses to her, his reactions and even some of his words are incredibly cryptic.So this book was just frustrating. I would not rec this to newbies to Balogh. I'd probably only recommend it to Readers who are familiar with her work and who are interested in completing her backlist.
What do You think about A Chance Encounter (1985)?
Very short story. However I'm not sure how it could have been longer.I liked the description of the village environment and its local gentry. I really liked the introduction to all characters. The progressive discovery of Elizabeth & Hetherington's secret was nicely done at first, though I believed it could have been quicker, had Elizabeth not been so stubborn in refusing to think about it.I am in general quite fond of misunderstandings creating rifts between H/h. In this case, I got upset after a while after the heroine for refusing all talk and thinking about it and making it last so much longer.I also found the ending way too abrupt, especially given the need for building trust again after years of defiance. I was not so fully convinced of their HEA.
—LaFleurBleue
A story with an interesting premise that started out well but then turned frustrating.Both Elizabeth and Robert trusted the wrong, despicable and manipulating people (view spoiler)[his uncle and her father (hide spoiler)]
—Thenia
