"The wages of sin" by Harry Turtledove.

"The wages of sin" by Harry Turtledove.
Aside from the opening of the story where slave traders
bring the curse of the Wasting to Europe and the rest of the
world, this is set in the 19th Century in the UK. In order to
detail the problems the arrival of HIV-AIDS in the 16th Century
and the changes it causes to the world. Several Popes have
died of the Wasting and Henry the Eighth is one of the
more prominent victims.
A young woman who writes is engaged to a young man who
will go to London to study the Law. She is the daughter of a
physician and he is the son of a lawyer. Examples are set of
the way a foolish young man will behave to his detriment. The
biggest theme is Feminism suppressed by the seclusion of women
after puberty. It may not be your cup of tea but several people
have pronounced the idea interesting. Also the large colonial
empires do not exist because the Wasting keeps the population
too low for the Uk, the Spanish or Dutch to do more
than establish trading ports. The Azetec Gulf replaces the
Gulf of Mexico. Samuel Langhorne writes a history of his
voyage down the Mississippi river.
bliss
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b l i s s dash s f 4 e v e r at d s l e x t r e m e dot c o m