INTRODUCTION IX

the upper classes. The plot is simple and net at ail original. The beautiful govemess or companion who enters a noble family, and, wittingly or otherwise, captures the heart of one of the sons is not a new idea. Her fondness for putting so much of the story in the form of letters she probably acquîred from her eariy reading of Richardson's well known and little read Clarissa Harlow. Her idealistic touch is seen in the drawing of the characters of Caroline and the Marquis, both of whom one would like to méet in this material world. The novel was one of those dramatized with success.