Sex In Barsetshire

People in Trollope don't have affairs; at worst they have flirtations.  Not even the bad people have affairs. Conroy the painter and Mrs Broughton Dobbs are absolutely not having an affair. They are simply scheming and making assignations-  and braving the wrath of the boorish and hair-trigger Mr Broughton Dobbs- in order to flirt. You hear that, Victorian reading public? They are simply having a flirtation.

And Johnny Eames. Well obviously he didn't have an affair with Amelia Roper. And he's not contemplating an affair with Madalina Demolines. He's simply a serial flirt.

Because anyway he's in love with Lily Dale-

Who absolutely didn't sleep with that unspeakable cad Crosbie. She just carries on as if she did.

And all those middle-aged bachelors who are so thick on the ground in Barsetshire?  Blameless celibates to a man.

Except perhaps for the shady old Duke of Omnium. But the least said about him the better.