This is a book about a young woman in the 19th century in England who is the daughter of a captain in the British India service who has now been let out of the army at half pay. As a result, she's very poor, because he's taken another wife and has a kid with her. So he farms her out to this young woman's boarding school where she is a pupil-teacher and she will get a reference at the end of her time in order to get a good job as a governess. she's best friends with this girl whose family is rich, so this girl invites our protagonist, whose name is Ida, to come for the summer holiday at her family's home. There she meets the whole family, who falls in love with her, and she also meets one of the two brians in the family, cousins of her best friend. Nearby lives Urania ryland, who is Ida's sworn enemy, mainly on account of Ida's great beauty. She loves to rub salt in the wound of Ida's poverty. She has heard ita mentioned to her best friend bess that she would marry for money. So she has the idea to play a practical joke on Ida and pretend that the Brian that shows up on Bessie's birthday is the rich Brian and not the poor brian. when Ida goes back to school, the poor Brian comes along the river path and flirts with her and let's her think that he's the rich brian. Well there's all kinds of enemies that Ida has at the school because she's so pretty, so one of them lays a trap for her, and tells the head mistress that she has been meeting this young man on her River walks. Although nothing untoward has happened, the headmistress also hates Ida so any little thing she will take to get rid of her and be able to keep a large part of the 50 lb that Mr pallister paid for his daughter suits her just fine. So when this young man finds out that she gets fired he offers to marry her. Well Ida had to think that's a good idea because he's Rich right? so they get married in this little church and lo and behold she finds out he's the poor brian. She hates his guts so she leaves him and she starts home for her father's miserable little Hovel in dieppe, France.
Well her rich friend Bessie finds out she got fired and she gets her aunt to hire her as a companion. So Ida spendw a wonderful year living with Aunt Betsy and getting paid 10 lb a quarter for being her companion.
another year comes around and on Bessie's birthday the poor Brian shows up and claims his wife. The whole family is indignant that Ida has left him and they tell her that it's her duty to be the wife of the poor brian. So off she goes to lead her miserable life with this pendejo. He turns out to be a raving alcoholic. So her life is doubly miserable.
But as in all of these old English romances, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. ( )