His main motivation appears to be his craving for social status; she is the daughter of Lord Vowchurch. In his analysis of Powell's works, Nicholas Birns wrote: "What Widmerpool wants to do is to 'marry up', to make a marriage that will cement his upward social mobility, and he is willing to take an older woman with two teenage children in order to accomplish this."[49] The engagement ends abruptly, over Widmerpool's impotence during an attempted premarital sexual union.[50]