A Debt of Honor (The Leighs)

Can a marriage based on obligation become something meaningful? Benjamin Leigh is at a crossroads. Having reached his majority, his parents expect him to do his duty and break the entail that keeps them from selling off bits of the family's estate. Doing so would destroy his family's legacy, but to deny his parents would bring their wrath down upon his head. Bigger troubles arrive when Benjamin receives a letter from a dear schoolmaster, who was more a father figure than a teacher. On his deathbed, he begs Benjamin to provide for his beloved daughter, who hasn't money or connections to protect her once he is gone. Yet to do so would ruin her reputation. Unless she is his wife. Nan Price is stuck in a difficult situation. Whilst reeling from the death of her father, she finds herself turned out of the only home she's ever known and barely able to feed herself, leaving her little choice when an old pupil of her father's arrives and offers a marriage of convenience. With their present in upheaval and their future in question, they return to Benjamin's family's home and his parents' disapproval at his having married a girl of such low standing--and they will do anything to be rid of Nan and free their estate from the entail. Can Benjamin remain strong against his parents' machinations when their financial aid is the only thing keeping the young couple from the poor house? How will he provide for his wife without their support? And how can two strangers learn to coexist when so much stands between them?