Fantasy fiction, English; Foxes -- Fiction; Metamorphosis -- Fiction
Mrs. Tebrick's maiden name was certainly Fox, and it is possible that
such a miracle happening before, the family may have gained their name
as a _soubriquet_ on that account. They were an ancient family, and have
had their seat at Tangley Hall time out of mind. It is also true that
there was a half-tame fox once upon a time chained up at Tangley Hall in
the inner yard, and I have heard many speculative wiseacres in the
public-houses turn that to great account--though they could not but
admit that "there was never one there in Miss Silvia's time." At first I
was inclined to think that Silvia Fox, having once hunted when she was
a child of ten and having been blooded, might furnish more of an
explanation. It seems she took great fright or disgust at it, and
vomited after it was done. But now I do not see that it has much bearing
on the miracle itself, even though we know that after that she always
spoke of the "poor foxes" when a hunt was stirring and never rode to
hounds till after her marriage when her husband persuaded her to it.
She was married in the year 1879 to Mr. Richard Tebrick, after a short
courtship, and went to live after their honeymoon at Rylands, near
Stokoe, Oxon. One point indeed I have not been able to ascertain and
that is how they first became acquainted. Tangley Hall is over thirty
miles from Stokoe, and is extremely remote. Indeed to this day there is
no proper road to it, which is all the more remarkable as it is the
principal, and indeed the only, manor house for several miles round.
Whether it was from a chance meeting on the roads, or less romantic but
more probable, by Mr. Tebrick becoming acquainted with her uncle, a
minor canon at Oxford, and thence being invited by him to visit Tangley
Hall, it is impossible to say. But however they became acquainted the
marriage was a very happy one. The bride was in her twenty-third year.
She was small, with remarkably small hands and feet. It is perhaps worth
noting that there was nothing at all foxy or vixenish in her appearance.
On the contrary, she was a more than ordinarily beautiful and agreeable
woman. Her eyes were of a clear hazel but exceptionally brilliant, her
hair dark, with a shade of red in it, her skin brownish, with a few dark
freckles and little moles. In manner she was reserved almost to shyness,
but perfectly self-possessed, and perfectly well-bred.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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