The Fault Was All His Own, by a Lady

The Fault Was All His Own, By A Lady — Maria Hawkesby. This English epistolary novel, presented as a sequence of letters from a witty and observant narrator and her circle, unfolds through Volume II with a web of romantic intrigues, family obligations, and social critique. Set in late 18th-century England, the correspondence follows the fortunes of Sophia Melmouth, her would-be lovers Marcus and Eraftus, Sir John Lifle, Lady Treble, and their kin as they navigate engagements, adoptions, bereavements, and spiritual vocation. The letters chart heartbreak, deception, and reconciliation within a world governed by class, inheritance, and reputation, while probing questions of virtue, repentance, and the proper balance between private passion and public duty. Across gossip, confidences, and moral argument, the narrative builds toward a series of marriages and settlements that reaffirm benevolence, grace, and human sympathy as the ultimate measures of happiness.