SOLVED. Cross-Class Historical Romance Set in Continental Europe. [s]

[Christina]

Hi all! Thanks for your help in advance :)

I'm still looking for a book which I think I read sometime between 2003-2006. I borrowed it from the library, so I'm sure it's a few years older than that. I can't remember the exact time period the story was set in, but I'm guessing sometime between Georgian/Regency and the 1920s. The story was set in continental Europe.

It was about an upper class woman (countess, duchess, lady - I'm not sure, but I think she had a title & I think her cousin or sister was married to a European prince or king) who falls in love with a soldier - I think he was cavalry. He was quite a ladies man & more interested in improving his social satus. He had been having an affair with a maid/servant girl, also.
I think he marries the upper class woman, but continues the affair with the maid/servant girl. He possibly gets the latter pregnant.
At one time he goes to visit his father, who lives somewhere quite rural & underdeveloped. I think he's travelling in a coach & quite luxuriously/impressively. I think there was a pretence that he had already had a title, or some deception about this? For some reason I think this was in Central-Eastern Europe.
He & his upper-class wife end up travelling around & spending a lot of money & getting into debt. People continue to look down on him because he's not nobility.
He, his wife & the maid/servant girl end up all living together in Paris (I think) & there was a lot of gossip about what their relations were.

I think the title had the name of a flower in it, but I might just be confusing that with The Rose of Sebastopol. For some reason, maybe the book's blurb, I always thought it was a dramatisation of a real-life historical romance.

Thanks again, I hope you can help me find it! :)

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Maybe it's on one of these listopias.

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/6...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/6...

[Christina]

Hi :)

Thanks - I checked those, but it's not on there.

I've tried every search term I can think of in Google, but with no luck yet!

Cheers! :)

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Lady Silence?

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Christina, are you still looking for this or did you find it?

[Christina]

Lobstergirl wrote: "Christina, are you still looking for this or did you find it?"

Still looking for it, unfortunately! Haha :)

[Christina]

Thanks for the suggestion of Lady Silence, but it wasn't that one. :)

[Christina]

A lot of trawling and I've suddenly found it - All for Love by Dan Jacobson about the real-life relationship between Princess Louise of Belgium and Count Geza Mattachich-Keglevich! Finally!

Misremembered a bunch of stuff but he was originally a cavalry officer and they ran off together in disgrace, her sister was married to the Crown Prince of Austria & helped them a little I think. Will have to re-read and see what was so fascinating about it back then!

Thanks for those who replied :)

[Kris]

Glad you found your book, Christina. Thanks for the update. Here's the link - All for Love by Dan Jacobson.