CONTENTS

I.The Plum Tree[1]
II.The Manor House[7]
III.Young Mrs. Loring[19]
IV.A Chilly Reception[29]
V.At Wittisham[39]
VI.Mark Lavendar[54]
VII.A Cross-Examination[69]
VIII.Sunday at Stoke Revel[87]
IX.Points of View[99]
X.A New Kinsman[113]
XI.The Sands at Weston[127]
XII.Love in the Mud[151]
XIII.Carnaby to the Rescue[170]
XIV.The Empty Shrine[181]
XV.“Now Lubin Is Away”[194]
XVI.Two Letters[210]
XVII.Mrs. de Tracy crosses the Ferry[217]
XVIII.The Stoke Revel Jewels[234]
XIX.Lawyer and Client[250]
XX.The New Home[260]
XXI.Carnaby Cuts the Knot[273]
XXII.Consequences[284]
XXIII.Death and Life[299]
XXIV.Grandmother and Grandson[309]
XXV.The Bells of Stoke Revel[324]

1

ROBINETTA

I

THE PLUM TREE

At Wittisham several of the little houses had crept down very close to the river. Mrs. Prettyman’s cottage was just like a hive made for the habitation of some gigantic bee; its pointed roof covered with deep, close-cut thatch the colour of a donkey’s hide. There were small windows under the overhanging eaves, a pathway of irregular flat stones ran up to the doorway, and a bit of low wall divided the tiny garden from the river. The Plum Tree grew just beside the wall, so near indeed that it could look at itself on spring days when the water was like a mirror. In autumn the branches on that side of the tree were the first to be shaken, lest any of the fruit should fall down 2 and be lost. Sometimes a village child treading cautiously on bare toes amongst the stones along the narrow margin, would pounce upon a plum with a squeal of joy, for although the village was surrounded with orchards, the fruit of Mrs. Prettyman’s tree had a flavour all its own.