Comedies of Courtship

Comedies of Courtship by Anthony Hope is about the curious situation of Mary and John who have plenty but also cannot help their straying eyes. Excerpt: «AT first sight they had as little reason for being unhappy as it is possible to have in a world half full of sorrow. They were young and healthy; half a dozen times they had each declared the other more than common good-looking; they both had, and never knew what it was not to have, money enough for comfort and, in addition, that divine little superfluity wherefrom joys are born. The house was good to look at and good to live in; there were horses to ride, the river to go a-rowing on, and a big box from Mudie's every week. No one worried them; Miss Bussey was generally visiting the poor; or, as was the case at this moment, asleep in her armchair, with Paul, the terrier, in his basket beside her, and the cat on her lap.»