Dorothea — Catherine Moorhouse

Dorothea Sandham, trapped as unpaid companion to her distant cousin, Leticia Grayson, reluctantly pays an intrusive condolence call on a grieving young widower, Sir Tate Bancroft. Having lost his bride in childbirth, and goaded by the bullying of Vicious Letitia, Tate proposes a marriage of convenience to Dorothea. She agrees, but only so that she might care for his infant daughter while he returns to duty in the struggle against Napoleon. The marriage turns quite inconvenient, however, when Tate returns with a gorgeous widow in tow and finds Dorothea in the arms of a charming French count.