Money!

"...I never had loved her better than now when I seemed to desert her; that I was going to try my fortune in a new world; and that if I succeeded I should come back to bring her plenty and happiness, but that if I failed I should never look upon her face again" (24, Lady Audley's Secret)

      This passage shows some of the many problems with the love of money. George was convinced that if he went away, got money, and came back that he would bring "happiness".  And his wife was not helpful in dissuading this concept because she was entirely focused on wealth as a means of happiness. But the idea that it was worth having to "never look upon her face again" if he failed causes more problems than anything. He is gone for long enough that she assumes that he will not be coming back and finds another avenue to money. It is all or nothing when it comes to money and ironically George ends up with money but without his wife. Which is an odd reversal of what one would expect in this period.

      It is intriguing that for men you either work for you money, inherit it, or go somewhere else and earn a fortune and then come back. Meanwhile women get married. Men are expected to succeed or, if they failed, not to return. They had to have that determination and ambition to get the money for the wife. So men earn the money so that the woman can be happy. Again the social expectations for men and women are intertwined. Lady Audley wants money but cannot earn it easily, George is okay without very much money but has to earn it to keep his wife happy. Women who marry for money put pressure on the men to get money in any way possible bringing about the concept of getting your hoard  and bringing it back home.

Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. Lady Audley's Secret. New York. Oxford University Press. 2012.