About this story
At Mrs Thornburgh's tea you meet Robert Elsmere, a young clergyman recovering from fever, whose seriousness about a dying woman in the valley sets him apart from guests treating her illness as a fireside story. He walks your family home that night, and later asks to escort you as far as his own gate before you go on alone.
How it opens
Late May sunlight remained on Burwood Farm when you returned with an empty basket and tired hands.
You were Catherine Leyburn, eldest of three sisters and the practical strength of your widowed mother's household.
Rose LeyburnMy violin has filled the valley all afternoon while Agnes and the cat practiced idleness.
Rose LeyburnWe thought Mrs Tyson would keep you until dark; is her injured son any better?
Dr Baker says the injury to that young quarryman's spine will never heal.
Choose
Tell them the prognosis plainly, but spare them the young man's first despair.
Describe how he finally allowed a prayer when exhaustion overcame resistance.