Produced by Michael Ciesielski, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net ELSTER'S FOLLY A NOVEL BY MRS. HENRY WOOD AUTHOR OF "EAST LYNNE," "THE CHANNINGS," "JOHNNY LUDLOW," ETC. 1916 CONTENTS CHAPTER I. By the Early Train II. Willy Gum III. Anne Ashton IV. The Countess-Dowager V. Jealousy VI. At the Bridge VII. Listeners VIII. The Wager Boats IX. Waiting for Dinner X. Mr. Pike's Visit XI. The Inquest XII. Later in the Day XIII. Fever XIV. Another Patient XV. Val's Dilemma XVI. Between the Two XVII. An Agreeable Wedding XVIII. The Stranger XIX. A Chance Meeting XX. The Stranger Again XXI. Secret Care XXII. Asking the Rector XXIII. Mr. Carr at Work XXIV. Somebody Else at Work XXV. At Hartledon XXVI. Under the Trees XXVII. A Tete-a-Tete Breakfast XXVIII. Once more XXIX. Cross-questioning Mr. Carr XXX. Maude's Disobedience XXXI. The Sword slipped XXXII. In the Park XXXIII. Coming Home XXXIV. Mr. Pike on the Wing XXXV. The Shed razed XXXVI. The Dowager's Alarm XXXVII. A Painful Scene XXXVIII. Explanations ELSTER'S FOLLY CHAPTER I. BY THE EARLY TRAIN. The ascending sun threw its slanting rays abroad on a glorious August morning, and the little world below began to awaken into life--the life of another day of sanguine pleasure or of fretting care. Not on many fairer scenes did those sunbeams shed their radiance than on one existing in the heart of England; but almost any landscape will look beautiful in the early light of a summer's morning. The county, one of the midlands, was justly celebrated for its scenery; its rich woods and smiling plains, its river and gentler streams. The harvest was nearly gathered in--it had been a late season--but a few fields of golden grain, in process of reaping, gave their warm tints to the landscape. In no part of the country had the beauties of nature been bestowed more lavishly than on this, the village of Calne, situated about seven miles from the county town. It was an aristocratic village, on the whole. The fine seat of the Earl of Hartledon, rising near it, had caused a few families of note to settle there, and the nest of white villas gave the place a prosperous and picturesque appearance. But it contained a full proportion of the poor or labouring class; and these people were falling very much into the habit of writing the village "Cawn," in accordance with its pronunciation. Phonetic spelling was more in their line than Johnson's Dictionary. Of what may be called the middle class the village held few, if any: there were the gentry, the small shopkeepers, and the poor.