Anthony Trollope 
Castle Richmond 

Castle Richmond is about the fortunes and relationships of two families of the Irish aristocracy, set against the harrowing background of the Great Famine. Sir Thomas Fitzgerald is being blackmailed by two disreputable men over the question of his children’s legitimacy. His relative, who stands to inherit should the children prove illegitimate, is caught between the girl he loves and the girl’s mother, who loves him.