The Ideal Wife

the long version

When Abigail Gardiner loses her job in London, she faces destitution and takes the bold step of calling upon the Earl of Severn, a distant relative. She hopes to persuade him to help her find work and puts on a suitably meek demeanor for the occasion. Miles does have a job to offer-that of wife. His mother is pressing a bride upon him that he does not want, and he has just sworn to a friend of his that if he could just find a quiet, mousy woman, he would offer her marriage without further ado.