In the late 19th century, John and Ishbel Gordon, the Marquess and Marchioness of Aberdeen, were the couple who had it all: a massive fortune, a grand estate in Scotland, cattle ranches in Texas and British Columbia, and the governorships of Ireland and Canada. Far from being smug aristocrats, they were social reformers and pioneers of women's rights. Yet by the time they died in the 1930s, this gilded couple's luck had run out: they had faced scandal through their involvement in one of the "crimes of the century" and they had lost their fortune and their lands. How did it happen? As Simon Welfare recounts here, the reason for their dramatic downfall is also a moving and colorful exploration of society in Victorian Britain and North America.