The Love-Story of Aliette Brunton

English family loyalties put Aliette Brunton's love for Ronald Cavendish in conflict with the rules she has been taught to respect. Married to Hector Brunton, a successful barrister, Aliette belongs to a circle shaped by public service, religious allegiance and ideas of proper conduct. Gilbert Frankau introduces the families through their marriages, careers and habits, establishing the social pressures surrounding a choice made according to conscience.

The strain reaches beyond the central relationship. Ronald faces difficulties at the bar and weighs a friend's offer of less prestigious court work. Aliette's sister Mollie, troubled by family affairs and gossip, arranges to spend Christmas with Betty Masterman. These scenes connect private feeling with professional standing and friendship. Readers interested in marriage and the aftermath of war will find a romance concerned with the costs that personal decisions impose across a family's daily life.