Leonora
By Catherine Charlotte Maberly
Leonora is the story of Leonora Stratford, an unusually beautiful, but scheming woman looking to satisfy her selfish ambitions through a wealthy marriage. What makes this story different is that its main character, Leonora, is more villain than heroine. The tale focuses on the harm that Leonora’s constant scheming and maneuvering brings on her and those close to her. The story is set in the middle of the nineteenth century, and takes place in the southern English town of Whittington. It covers 3 volumes, and is approximately 535 pages in all.
The story opens in Italy, following an ill-fated duel between two former friends, the Marchese Colonna and Sir Edward Devereux. Sir Edward, the winner of the duel, is summoned to the death bed of his former friend and is made the confidante of the Marchese’s tale of lost love. The dying man entrusts Sir Edward with a box of jewels and a last letter to deliver to the object of his broken heart, Leonora Stratford.
Meanwhile, Leonora and her father have settled in Whittington, and her charm, beauty, and wit help her easily become a much loved member of the community. At 24, Leonora has been unlucky in her matrimonial prospects, despite her extreme beauty. Her father is a poor gentleman who, though devoted to his daughter, has no financial legacy to leave her, and Leonora’s only prospect for a secure future is to marry. Selfish, materialistic, and ambitious, Leonora is determined to marry as splendidly as possible. When she meets the Marchese Colonna in Italy, she thinks her future is certain, but impediments on the Marchese’s side frustrate her plans and cause her to abandon her ardent lover and retreat to England.
Sir Edward, after the death of his dueling partner and friend, decides to return to his family seat in England-- naturally, located in Whittington. When Leonora hears of his impending return, she begins to work out a plan to see herself mistress of Atherston Castle. Leonora employs all her charms to captivate Sir Edward, but, having already heard the Marchese’s tale of her cold-hearted behavior, he is not so easily won. His friend, Lord Strathearn, and brother, Stuart Devereux, however, are easily conquered, and Leonora decides to weave a complex scheme to ensure she becomes the wife of one of them.
Eventually, Leonora does marry, and her life begins to unravel. As she and her new husband travel through Europe to escape her shadowy past and his increasing gaming debts, she is continually plotting and calculating ways to advance herself in socety. In the end, all her lies come crashing down on her head and she meets with the end justly due her.
The story was fairly well written, without the long, wordy descriptions of the countryside or sermonizing about the importance of honesty and character that can sometimes be found in other novels of the period, but was still quite obviously a moral tale, the moral being the importance of honesty and integrity. Some of the supporting characters were a bit flat. Leonora’s friend, Lady Alice, for example, seemed originally destined to play a bigger part in the story than she ultimately did. Some of the character’s personalities—Stuart Devereux, in particular—seemed to change throughout the story with no obvious reason for it. The author did interweave a sub-plot focusing on the Linklaters, a couple in residence at Whittington. They were similarly involved in deception and scheming, Mrs. Linklater being what one might consider a grifter, and I assume the author intended to bring them in to support her moral. However, their story was more of a distracting deviation from the main plot, and added very little to the tale in general. In all, it was a good book. It inspired a strong dislike towards the main character (which it was supposed to), and ended with a feeling of closure. This was the first of Catherine Charlotte Maberly’s novels that I read, and, though I wouldn’t characterize this among the best novels I have ever read, I am still interested in reading more from her.