An Ignorance of Means by Jennifer Oakley Denslow

In 18th century France, women had few choices and little chance to shape their destiny.
Within these limits, Catherine Drummond dreams of a marriage as supportive and tender as that of her parents, but on her wedding night her new husband relates his own vision.

Catherine’s desire for sweet domesticity is crushed when Robert Picard reveals himself to be a man of his time, and assumes he will have the freedom to cavort without censure among the pantheon of women he has always kept.

She is trapped in the gilded cage of the chateau Lac d’Or. Catherine attempts to escape only to be cast into a fresh hell from which release means being sent on a treacherous journey she could never imagine.