4 solid stars for Sophia and Francis story. She did belong in bethlem as Francis put it many times in the book. Their relationship was sweet and funny. I enjoyed their characters and all the mischief they did as children and adult. 
 2 Stars for Marcus and Olivia. Marcus and Olivia were very young when they married and each others first They were very much in love and each others best friend and partner in managing the estate they were living. (view spoiler)[Marcus cheated on Olivia by a nameless tavern maid while a way in London for his friend's wedding after being teased by his drunk friends. Upon his return he shut Olivia down from most aspect of his life and his bed and finally three months later after a confrontation with Olivia and being asked if there was another woman he told Olivia the truth. She was destroyed and he left for London. They communicated via letters for 6 months about the estate business which Olivia was running while he was in London. Marcus asked Olivia if she can ever forgive him and Olivia who has already forgiven him in her heart but could not see their marriage to be as strong as it was before replied by saying no. We are told they were still in love with one another through all these years which was very unconvincing to me. Marcus took a mistress, a theater dancer and we were told he learned all the new sexual technique from her. In my opinion, if he loved his wife and his child, he should have left London and done what he did 15 years later. After a year with the mistress he decided he wanted to sample whomever when he had the desire. In the meantime Marcus found himself a special friend who took on Olivia's role emotionally for much longer than he was with his own wife. Olivia had a special friend too who remained celibate because he was preferred men over women. (hide spoiler)] I wanted to shake both Marcus and Olivia many times in this story. They were both idiots and I didn't care for them.