is claimed Harriet was clever or well-educated or accomplished or, crucially, legitimate, since none of these things are true and that would make itself manifest as soon as Mr Churchill met Harriet or made the most cursory enquiry into her background. And I think Mr Churchill would certainly ask Frank in some detail about the character and status of the girl his adopted son wanted to marry. "No, Sir, I don't know who or what her father is, though I do know he wasn't married to her mother" would not be the sort of answer he was looking for.