A Rough Guide

Alexis the heir to Pointdextre Hall is to  be married to Aline.  Alexis lets on to Aline his belief that love can overcome all barriers of rank, wealth and so on.  He reveals his plan to test his hypothesis using the services of John Wellington-Wells a dealer in magic and spells.

The plan is to distribute a love philtre amongst the villages, who will then fall in love with the first person they see.

Naturally, the pairings are somewhat odd...but worst of all when eventually Aline is persuaded to take the philtre, she falls for the local vicar Dr Daley.

Finally, Aline's mother Lady Sangazure falls for John Wellington-Wells himself.

To correct the muddle someone must "yield his life to Ahrimanes"; Wellington-Wells does the deed and all is returned to what passes for normal.