The Duke's Children
Once she becomes aware of the seriousness of the relationship between Mary and Frank, Mrs Finn insists that the Duke be informed; he is strongly opposed to the match.However, by the end of the book, the Duke grows closer to all three of his children; he assents to the engagements of his oldest son and daughter, and he is invited once more to take a part in the government.Marriages of rich American young women to British aristocrats had just begun to take place when Trollope wrote this book.One of the first such marriages had been that of Lord Randolph Churchill to Jennie Jerome, five years before the book was written—a love match, as is that of Silverbridge and Isabel Boncassen.One difference is that, in the novel, Silverbridge will be very rich in his own right; whereas many Anglo-American marriages transpired in order to import much-needed American money into financially stressed British aristocratic families.