Outrageously handsome, witty and clever, Harry Cust was reputed to be one of the great womanisers of the late Victorian era.
In 1893, while a Member of Parliament, he caused public scandal by his affair with artist and poet Nina Welby-Gregory. When she revealed she was pregnant, horror swept through their circle known as ‘the Souls’, a cultured, mostly aristocratic group of writers, artists and politicians.
With the unconventional Margot Tennant and philosopher-statesman Arthur Balfour at their centre, the dazzling Souls eschewed the formalities of upper-class etiquette, valuing conversation and clever games above gambling and racing.
Passions also raged behind their courtly code, yet bachelor Harry’s seduction of a single woman of the same class broke the rules.
For the rest of their lives, Harry and Nina would fight to rebuild their reputations and maintain the marriage they were pressured to enter.
This is the story of the romance that threatened to tear apart this distinguished group of friends, revealing pre-war society at its most colourful and most conflicted.
Tangled Souls: Love and Scandal among the Victorian Aristocracy by Jane Dismore is published in paperback on 24 September, 2026.
Read Jane’s feature about Harry, Nina and the scandal: Damned Souls: an aristocratic Victorian scandal.
If you enjoy historical writing there’s much more in Historia’s list of over 200 books coming out in 2026.
