romance novels esp of the historical variety often feature a female lead who has shocking lack of self worth in her relationship. this must be the absolute peak of that genre. it also becomes so difficult for her husband to recover (with the reader, though apparently not his wife) from such unromantic behavior: it's bad enough to be sleeping around with just about anyone for 8 years but then to reconnect with his one true love and try to be quite serious about making her his mistress.... dude. get out lol. and he's not even all that invested in his wife when he decides he does love her. jeez.