Fleeting Fancy" is a fine example of a Regency screwball comedy. It's not a true romance in the normal sense at all, as titular heroine Primula Greetwell had been abandoned by her short-term husband, Lord Severn, a few weeks after the wedding nine years before. Severn tricked her; she wasn't really married at all.
When his father, the Earl of Malhythe, finds out, he exiles Severn to India, hoping that will civilize him, or that the Indian people will rid him of the problem.
Flash forward nine years. Primula is now 25, Severn is in his mid-30s, and he wants to come home. So, his father the Earl says to him that he'll allow it if he just married the person his father wants him to marry sight unseen.
And he does, like an obedient (idiot) son. And then, because the Earl is still mad at him, he's instructed Primula not to talk about the past and to pretend she's never seen him before, and he's told his son to make her happy, or else.
When his father, the Earl of Malhythe, finds out, he exiles Severn to India, hoping that will civilize him, or that the Indian people will rid him of the problem.
Flash forward nine years. Primula is now 25, Severn is in his mid-30s, and he wants to come home. So, his father the Earl says to him that he'll allow it if he just married the person his father wants him to marry sight unseen.
And he does, like an obedient (idiot) son. And then, because the Earl is still mad at him, he's instructed Primula not to talk about the past and to pretend she's never seen him before, and he's told his son to make her happy, or else.
A game of dual deception.
