The Duchess Affair Theory Page

Welcome to the The Duchess Affair Theory Page. This is a place where you can discuss confirmed, debunked, and unconfirmed theories from the The Duchess Affair series.

Current & Unconfirmed Theories

 * Reasons for affair: Players have theories on why our marriage might not work out:
 * Villain: One theory suggests that our husband will be a villain, similar to Tristan Richards from Desire and Decorum. If that's the case, it's possible that we were forced into the marriage by someone else, and that we will have to take him down. The forced part seems to be strengthened with the summary of Chapter 1, since it mentions that our marriage to a wealthy duke saved our family from ruin. The villain part might be strengthened in book's blog when it describes the duke as boorish, and further when Chapter 10 reveals he is cheating on us with Mina.
 * Marriage of convenience: Another theory is that our husband is in love with someone he can't marry (Like Bartholomew Chambers and Yusuf Konevi in Desire and Decorum), and that's the reason we might start an affair with someone else.
 * Falling in love: Another possibility is that we might simply fall in love with Nat, and start an affair with him/her simply because we don't feel the same way with our husband. This seems to be strengthened by the summaries of Chapters 1 & 2.

Confirmed Theories

 * Female Lead: Given the title and the trend of genderlocked books, this book would likely have a female main character. This is confirmed in Choices Insiders February 2023 as PB confirmed the first gender of choice lead book this year would be Crimes of Passion, Book 2.
 * Mentioned in newsletter: This might be the period piece mentioned in the October 2022 newsletter. This is confirmed in the March 2023 newsletter when it says "period piece like Desire & Decorum".
 * Similar premise to The Nanny Affair: The book series' titles are similar, so we'll be playing as a duchess who has an affair. This is confirmed in the March 2023 newsletter when it describes the main character and when it says "saucy drama of The Nanny Affair".
 * Cheating: Some players theorize that the person that Mina has an affair with, is our husband, Lawrence. This is weakened by the fact that Mina's lover is said to have a beard and the Duke doesn't. This is confirmed in Chapter 10 after you catch the Duke and Mina together.

Debunked Theories

 * Inspired by: Because Meghan Markle is currently the most famous duchess for America's press and paparazzi, it is theorized that her story with Prince Harry is the inspiration for this book. However, this is debunked with the revelation of the summary of the Book.