This is essentially the story of Good Ralph (the natural son of a certain Gregory Newton) and Bad Ralph (Ralph the Heir). Since Gregory Newton's estate is settled, he cannot leave it to Good Ralph, who has all the virtues of a squire to be. Instead it must fall to Ralph the Heir, who has run up mountains of debt in anticipation of his expectations, and considers the land as no more significant than being a route to financial stability. Driven to extremity he proves his utter unfitness by agreeing to marry his tailor's daughter - and then when she prefers honest worth in the form of a radical tailor sinks lower still: he actually agrees to sell the reversion to Gregory, thereby enabling Good Ralph to inherit. Gregory's untimely death prevent this harmonious plan from coming to fruition and Good Ralph is left to find his feet (and of course tue love) in another place, while Ralph the Heir reaps his due reward....
Apparently Trollope thought this one of the worst novels he ever wrote. I think that his view is a little harsh, but it does have little to commend it except to the hard core Trollope fan. For those who like his political obsession, this is the book in which you can find an almost autobiographical account of his own experience as an unsuccessful political candidate. It is also fascinating in attitides to illegitimacy, the social value of land to the Victorian mind (Ralph loses considerable status simply by agreeing to sell the reversion, and never quite regains it) and in the intricacies of settled land.