The Argosy, Vol. 49

About this issue

This serialized domestic novel, appearing in The Argosy (June 1890), concerns Dr. Tom Elliot, a struggling physician in Wexborough, whose dying infant lies at home while he attends a new patient—Squire Turnbull—newly arrived in town. The physician's shock intensifies when Mrs. Turnbull enters: she is Clara Freer, sister of his wife Louisa, whom he had courted before marrying her eight years prior following an elopement their father never forgave. Clara, now wealthy and childless, visits the impoverished Elliots and offers to adopt their precocious eldest son William for his education and advantages. When the Turnbulls return to Wexborough months later, Mrs. Elliot grows increasingly jealous observing her husband's marked attentions toward her beautiful sister, despite her confidence in Clara's principles. Tensions mount as the weeks extend into months and Dr. Elliot spends increasing time with Mrs. Turnbull.