The Sylph, Volume I and II

"The Sylph, Volume I and II" by Georgiana Spencer Cavendish is a story from the late 1700s that looks at love, society, and what it was like for young women back then through the eyes of W. Stanley. Stanley thinks back on his crazy emotions and love adventures, focusing on a woman he falls deeply in love with, hinting at tricky love situations and how personal wishes mix with what society expects. Stanley starts by telling his friend Lord Biddulph that he's now married, which surprises him. Stanley then tells the story of his quick marriage to a pretty but innocent woman from the countryside, which leads him to remember his passionate love affairs. After almost dying while checking out two pretty women in Wales, he ends up recovering at Mr. Grenville's house. Stanley is torn between his new home life and his old life of easy romance, and he finds himself falling for Julia, Mr. Grenville's daughter, making his situation even more complicated as he deals with what's expected of him in love and marriage.