The Frenchman and the Lady seems like such an odd title to have chosen for this book: the lady in question is elderly, wizened and formidable, and the Frenchman is a relation by marriage who barely even features in the story, but perhaps such a title was thought to hint at something a little more passionate. Elizabeth Cadell was the pseudonym of Harriet Ainsworth, a prolific author of what was termed 'women's fiction', and this is a lightweight story constructed around the faltering development of a romance, but not between the pair alluded to in the title. The story it tells is slightly amusing and completely implausible, involving people who are inherently good-natured and unusually amenable to change, and it is always clear that a happy ending is guaranteed. It was published elsewhere as Enter Mrs Belchamber, which seems a far better title, for in Mrs Belchamber, Elizabeth Cadell does succeed in creating an interesting character. Continued