LOVE AND MARRIAGE

For the wealthy Edwardians, marriage was a practical arrangement. Rather than love, the reason for marriage often had to do with the acquisition or preservation of land. Land was the life blood of aristocratic wealth and secured one's high station in society. For the same reasons, marriage may also be a pairing of two important families. Whether for practicalities or love, marriage was eagerly awaited by young women, it represented their only chance for independence and a home of their own.

However, courtship was not permitted among the servants. Even the architecture made sure of it, as there were no rooms for a couple to live in and work in the same house together. To marry, a woman had to leave domestic service, a kind of forced independence that set her to work on her own household.