Earlier this month, some Brits voted Fitzwilliam Darcy, a.k.a. Mr. Darcy, third in a Mills & Boon most romantic literary character poll. Richard Sharpe, of Bernard Cornwell's series, came in second. Both of these men are rather dreamy, so it must take someone pretty special to take top honours. Who could it be, you ask? Mr. Rochester, of course.

And by of course, I mean, "WTF?" Never mind his "grim" looks, the hero of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, isn't a good romantic partner! He leads another woman on, letting her believe that they will be married, in order to make Jane jealous (the story, unfortunately, suggests that the other woman gets what she deserves for being shallow), and, when he does get Jane, he neglects to mention that, oh, by the way, he's married to someone else. Sexy!

Mr. Darcy may be excessively proud, but one refused proposal from Elizabeth causes him to examine his attitudes and completely redress his behaviour. This never happens in real life. Mr. Rochester only straightens out when he almost dies in a fire. Honestly, Britons.