His Fortunate Grace
Gertrude Atherton
Gilded Age Romance
Published 1906
Synopsis
Augusta Forbes is a wealthy, young American heiress navigating the pressures of social duty, political ideals, and romantic entanglements in the late 19th century. Set between the United States and England, the novel follows Augusta’s struggles to reconcile her commitment to women’s rights and socialism with the expectations placed upon her by family and society. Her interactions with the Duke of Bosworth initiate a conflict between personal convictions and the allure of an aristocratic marriage. As Augusta confronts both internal and external pressures, she must determine whether love and social responsibility can coexist within the complexities of wealth, power, and identity in a changing world.
Novel Excerpt
A footman had taken the Duke of Bosworth’s cards up to Miss Mabel Creighton and her mother. The young man had arrived but an hour before and still wore his travelling gear, but had been given to understand that an English peer was welcome in a New York drawing-room on any terms. The drawing-room in which he awaited the American maiden who had taken his attenuated fancy was large and sumptuous and very expensive. There were tables of ormolu, and cabinets of tortoise-shell containing collections of cameos, fens and miniatures, a lapis lazuli clock three feet high, and a piano inlaid with twenty-seven different woods. The walls were frescoed by a famous hand, and there were lamps and candle-brackets and various articles of decoration which must have been picked up in extensive travels.
The Duke noted everything with his slow listless gaze. He sat forward on the edge of his chair, his chin pressed to the head of his stick. He was a small delicately-built man, of thirty or more. His shoulders had rounded slightly. His cheeks and lower lip were beginning to droop. The pale blue eyes were dim, the lids red. He was a debauchee, but “a good sort,” and men liked him.
He did not move during the quarter of an hour he was kept waiting, but when the portière was pushed aside he rose quickly, and went forward with much grace and charm of manner. The girl who entered was a dainty blonde fluffy creature, and looked like a bit of fragile china in the palatial room.
“How sweet of you to come so soon,” she said, with frank pleasure. “I did not expect you for an hour yet. Mamma will be down presently. She is quite too awfully anxious to meet you.”
The Duke resumed his seat and leaned back this time, regarding Miss Creighton through half-closed eyes. His expression was much the same as when he had inventoried the room.
“I came to America to see you,” he said.