I need your help in placing these Dickens characters. I think they might be found in Our Mutual Friend but I’m not sure and if not, what work are they from?
One of the recurring settings of the book (whatever it is) is a series of dinner parties hosted by a nouveau riche couple and their circle of friends. Among the attendees at the dinner parties are a man and woman who eventually marry. These are the characters I am trying to place. The important aspect of these particular characters is that they are both poor, but trying to appear rich. Their performances are so good that they marry, each supposing that the other, being rich, will alleviate their poverty. It is only after they are married that they discover the truth about each other.
A quick trip to Project Gutenberg reveals that Our Mutual Friend is the correct answer. The couple hosting the dinner parties are the Veneerings and the lovebirds, introduced first as “the mature young lady” and “the mature young gentleman” are Sophronia Akersham and Alfred Lammle.
My recollection was that they married late in the novel, but in fact their marriage takes place early. Upon discovery of their mutual deception, rather than publicly admit their failure, they are determined to revenge themselves upon the Veneerings, which becomes an important element in the typically convoluted Dickensian plot.