After she first refuses him, he thinks:Ĭould he subject Ophelia to that much scrutiny? He looked around him. First, Hugo does his best to express to Ophelia that he would cherish and love her, but he ultimately wants her to be happy and understands that if that means she does not want to be his duchess he can accept that.
As such, I found myself quite impressed that the romance in this book won me over and did not skeeve me out. Now, “man tries to get reluctant woman to agree to marry him” is NOT a plot I am normally down with, as it often peddles harmful tropes about not taking no for an answer and merrily disrespecting women’s wishes as the way to their hearts. While there are a few hiccups along the way, the plot is basically “a besotted Hugo tries to get Ophelia to agree to marry him.” She had a pleasant, companionable marriage with her first husband and is not terribly interested in marrying again. Ophelia is a young, wealthy widow with a toddler daughter she adores. Once he arrives, he sees Ophelia from across a ballroom and pretty much falls in love at first sight. Hugo is not really enthused about this prospect but he agrees to go to London. Hugo’s sister, Lady Knowe, tells him he needs to go find a new wife to mother his children, partly to help them weather the scandal of his divorce. It begins basically the moment Hugo’s scandalous divorce from his runaway ex-duchess is finalized. This book is charming, romantic, and funny. Aunt Knowe is also present and as usual she is a delight. It was just really fun to see all of the Wilde children as, well, children. While it can definitely stand alone, I think this book is enhanced by having read the previous Wilde books.
Hugo and Ophelia are portrayed as being very besotted with each other in the main series so I was definitely curious to see how they met and fell in love initially. My Last Duchess tells the tale of how the father of the Wilde heroes and heroines, Hugo, met his third and final wife, Ophelia. This book is a prequel to Eloisa James’ ongoing Wildes of Lindow Castle series about the numerous Wilde offspring and their exploits. I can’t say it was particularly substantial or thought-provoking, but for the most part, it was a pleasure. Reading it felt like being wrapped up in a warm blanket while watching a picturesque snowfall outside. My Last Duchess is pure, frothy, Georgian-era historical escapism.
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