The Argosy, Vol. 43

# Argosy, February 1887

Mrs. Henry Wood's serialized novel Lady Grace concerns ecclesiastical and domestic entanglements in rural parishes. The Reverend Wilfred Elliotsen receives the living of Great Whitton from Lord Avon, disappointing Reverend Ryle Baumgarten, who marries Edith Dane despite the lost preferment. Lord Avon arrives to discover the appointment caused by his sister Grace's interference. Elliotsen introduces High Church innovations—brass candlesticks, vestments, white wands to direct congregants during creeds—that perplex the rustic parishioners. Meeting the ailing Mrs. Dane, Lord Avon learns the living's loss now threatens Edith's marriage prospects, as the couple lacks adequate income and housing. Mrs. Dane, dying within months, expresses anxiety about her daughter's future hardship. The narrative examines obligation, regret, and social consequence through interconnected clerical and gentry families.