The novel "Lady Bountiful" brings us to Edwardian Ireland with its free-willing society: "A man may do many things there, things frowned on elsewhere, without losing caste." Yet, one thing can't be excused. That is a marriage without profit. This happened to the seventy-two-year-old Sir Tony Corless, who lost his caste by marrying a cook, a plain girl about forty years younger. She could barely read, but she had enough common sense to save her from posing as a great lady. She was never interested in politics until one morning when Lord Corless was reading his morning news out loud. At that moment, an idea of how to get instantly rich sparked her mind and set a train of events that changed her little society.

Women, Philanthropy, and Power

The real lives of women in Britain's country houses.