In Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, the heroines were always being urged to go out into the world and find husbands.
This was because, under property laws at the end of the eighteenth century, once a father died, his estate was passed to other male relatives of the same generation. Women had neither inheritance rights nor rights to its income.
That meant they would be driven out of their own homes. This showed just how groundbreaking the 1882 Married Women's Property Act had been: although it treated women like furniture, it at least gave them the right not to be thrown out of their homes.
If Susanna had no trust, then even as Napoleon's descendant, she would still have had to find herself a husband. But she would never have chosen a country gentleman like Mr. Bennet for a groom.
There was an agricultural club in Paris made up of country gentlemen. The children of those great aristocratic families had nicknamed them the "Sweet Potato Club." It might not have sounded as impressive as the Art Alliance Club, but these "sweet potatoes" fully qualified as invisible millionaires.
The people of Paris had always looked down on farmers a little, as though everywhere beyond the outskirts of Paris was countryside.
The conditions in Africa might have been even worse than in the countryside, but the "Princess" had gone there to hunt. With a sudden change in mood and attitude, even the harsh environment became bearable.
Secret trusts had originally been designed for women, because they were always susceptible to priests' persuasion and would donate their money to the Church. But once these "sweet potatoes" fell into the hands of this mother lion, it was hard to say who controlled whom.
She said she was interested in Count Leroy, but no one