"This is Surrey. No-one minds."Why?

[on the way]

Miranda's mother suggests that Miranda could consider the option of marrying her cousin which Miranda drastically refuses.And her mother says,"This is Surrey. No-one minds."Does Surrey as a county or something particularly approve of marriage of close relatives ?Or something else?Any help will be much appreciated.

 

[riquecohen]

She seems to be saying that anything goes in Surrey.

 

[bhaisahab]

She seems to be saying that anything goes in Surrey.

Just silliness again. I can't honestly see any humour in it.

 

[riquecohen]

Just silliness again. I can't honestly see any humour in it.

I agree. I think it's time I stopped responding to questions about Miranda.

 

[BobK]

Miranda's mother suggests that Miranda could consider the option of marrying her cousin which Miranda drastically refuses.And her mother says,"This is Surrey. No-one minds."Does Surrey as a county or something particularly approve of marriage of close relatives ?Or something else?Any help will be much appreciated.

It's talking about in-breeding among what is called 'the county set' - the upper-middle classes who live in 'the stockbroker belt' - far enough from London to keep horses but close enough to commute. Society there is limited; people in her mother's day just didn't mix with 'the lower classes', so their morality had to be flexible when it came to finding a suitable mate.

Incidentally, 'drastically' doesn't collocate with 'refuse'. You could say 'fervently/vehemently/strenuously... refuses'. In this context you could also use the adjective 'adamant': 'she was adamant that she would never marry him'; (but I haven't ever met an adverb formed from 'adamant' - which means something like 'firm/stubborn/obdurate/unswerving....', so you've got to fiddle with the grammar a bit.)

b