An Eye for an Eye (Electronic book text)

COMPROMISED BY FATE"

Fred Neville seemed to have it all. Was he not heir to the great Scroope Manor? Was he not young and handsome?

The feckless young Englishman agrees to take up his new duties for his uncle, the dying Earl of Scroope. But during his years sabbatical he travels to Ireland where he hires a boat while stationed in Ireland with his regiment. He meets and falls in love with a beautiful Irish girl, Kate O'Hara. He seduces her and she becomes pregnant . . .

But he has promised the Earl not to marry a Catholic. Kate's mother and their priest Father Marty pressure the young man. Lady Mary, the Earl's second wife interferes. As if that were not enough, Kate's shadowy fugitive father causes trouble.

And then, there is the beautiful Sophia Mellerby.

Fred's indecision results in tragedy.

Here is a book by the great Anthony Trollope, still debating moral issues as in his better known novels, but in much shorter form.