Kate of Kate Hall by Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler and Alfred Laurence Felkin (1904)

This novel is a progression in two ways: it is written by Fowler with a collaborator (her new husband) for the first time; it is also her first novel not to have overtly Christian themes. The sense I get is that it was Felkin's idea and possibly also his first draft, which Fowler then 'improved' with her professional skills, particularly her sparkling wit. If so, it's seamless and a great success. Certainly its lack of overt Christianity would be an inducement toward reprinting nowadays, and I would say that this may even have applied back then. Were Hutchinson salivating at the idea that their 'hampered' author would finally break free of her beliefs and gain even more popularity than the significant reputation and sales she already had? The story is a tale of a fiery and difficult young aristocrat, Kate, whose father, the dufferish Lord Claverley, is rapidly losing control of their beloved family castle and estates. When a wealthy Scots relative dies, leaving Kate her estate, they wonder if all can be saved. But there is a catch: in order to inherit Kate must marry within six months. She isn't exactly amenable to the idea! Men have driven her mad in almost all instances. If she doesn't marry the money goes to other relatives, the Pettigrews, who are nasty unpleasant grasping people. Thereafter several suitors try their luck, encouraged by her parents in various stages of desperation. Living with them is Sapphira Lestrange, Lord Claverley's niece, whose father had been a louche reprobate who is not mentioned unless absolutely necessary. When he sneaks back onto the scene, Sapphira is entangled in a game of cat and mouse. Kate has finally, at the eleventh hour, accepted George Despard, a man she thought she hated even more than all the others for his seemingly insulting behaviour. He was the agent and personal assistant of the aunt who has provisionally left her her fortune. Sapphira's father, the wily and evil Aubrey Lestrange, decides that he wants a piece of the action, teams up with the Pettigrews, cons Sapphira into providing him with information, and is successful. The last minute marriage between George and Kate is prevented by foul means. Then comes an extraordinary conclusion. In the misery of the denouement, when the Claverleys believe all is lost, Despard reveals that because of vows made by he and Kate during play-acting in Scotland, vows which included them claiming each other as husband and wife, that under Scots law they are already genuinely married! Apparently as long as either or both want to claim such a state, having voiced these things among company, and been in Scotland more than three weeks, Scots law allows it. No idea whether or not this is true, or a Fowler and Felkin invention; nevertheless it simultaneously stretches credibility and lends theatrical charm to a bright and witty piece.