Palliser novels

When Plantagenet finds out that Glencora had been encouraging Mary's romance he gets angry and keeps his daughter at home and away from her suitor. He feels hurt as it reminds him of how his wife had been in love with another man when they married. He cannot accept that Frank is a decent respectable man, and not a rake like Burgo. He also has quarrels with his 2 sons. Lord Silverbridge, his heir has begun to take an interest in Tory politics, and to consider deserting the Liberal party and becoming a Conservative. Plantagenet is horrified by this, as the Pallisers have been Liberals for generations and he genuinely believes in Liberal ideals, of wanting to help the poorer classes. The 2 boys are young and selfish, enjoying gambling and racing and he worries that they are not taking life seriously, as he always did. He is even more annoyed when Lord Silverbridge meets an American girl who is visiting London and falls in love with her. Isabel Boncassen's father is wealthy but her mother is not a sophistcated woman. Plantagenet feels that she would not fit in as the wife of a future Duke. M/F