] ] It seems to have been a love-match. Cassandra Leigh, of impeccable ancestry and niece of the biggest bigwig in Oxford university, gave her hand in marriage to “The Handsome Proctor”, a penniless orphan dependant upon the goodwill of his not-so close relative to provide him with a very modest living, and probably few prospects.

] Although Cassandra Leigh had lots of connections and there was a bit of money coming down from the Perrot side of her family as well, she was still the daughter of a clergyman herself, and so I don't know that she would ever have looked higher than to be the wife of a clergyman herself.

Am I correct in understanding this? Cassandra Leigh's mother was the one with the impeccable ancestry (the Perrot side of the family) and some money to be inherited, but who married a clergyman (not so high in social status). Cassandra Leigh, in turn, with good ancestry on her mother's side married a clergyman (like her mother), who had a very modest living. So two generations of women married into a lower social strata.