The Vicar of Wrexhill. Frances Milton Trollope
DISCUSSION ON TRUTH.—MR. CORBOLD INSTALLED.
FANNY'S RELIGION.—A VISIT TO OAKLEY.
CHARLES'S CONFERENCE WITH MRS. MOWBRAY.
THE VICAR'S PROGRESS, AND HIS COUNSEL TO FANNY AS TO THE BEST MEANS OF ASSISTING THE POOR.
MRS. SIMPSON'S CHARITABLE VISIT.—CHARLES'S TROUBLES CONTINUE.
WALK TO OAKLEY—DOMESTIC ARRANGEMENTS—THE VILLAGE INN.
MR. AND MRS. CARTWRIGHT'S LETTER.
THE WIDOW SIMPSON'S DISAPPOINTMENT.
CHARLES'S INTERVIEW WITH HIS STEPFATHER.—HIS SUDDEN DEPARTURE FROM WREXHILL.
THE VICAR'S PROSPERITY.—HE SETS ABOUT MAKING SOME IMPORTANT REFORMS IN THE VILLAGE.
A SECOND VISIT TO THE LIME-TREE.
A CHANGE COMES O'ER THE SPIRIT OF HER DREAM.
IN WHICH SUNDRY VISITS ARE MADE.
MRS. CARTWRIGHT'S LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT.
"On the turf before the bench and with their backs towards the spot where Rosalind and Henrietta stood, knelt the Vicar and Fanny."
CHAPTER I.
THE VILLAGE OF WREXHILL.—THE MOWBRAY FAMILY.—A BIRTHDAY.
The beauties of an English village have been so often dwelt upon, so often described, that I dare not linger long upon the sketch of Wrexhill, which must of necessity precede my introduction of its vicar. And yet not even England can show many points of greater beauty than this oak-sheltered spot can display. Its peculiar style of scenery, half garden, half forest in aspect, is familiar to all who are acquainted with the New Forest, although it has features entirely its own. One of these is an overshot mill, the sparkling fall of which is accurately and most nobly overarched by a pair of oaks which have long been the glory of the parish. Another is the grey and mellow beauty of its antique church, itself