AustLit

Tale of true love neglected for mercenary motives. A poor gentleman breaks his engagement with a beauty forced by poverty to act as a lady's companion. He pursues, proposes and is accepted by an old maid believed to be rich whom he meets at a coastal resort. Just before the wedding he learns she is poor and a little mad, and his former fiancee has received an inheritance and is married to his best friend. He ends his days as a sensible shop owner and bachelor writer of romances. (PB)