The Tenant of the Cedars — The Argosy, 1883

This is the opening installment of "The Tenant of the Cedars," a domestic mystery by Mary E. Penn. Percival Wilford, a London barrister, answers an advertisement to lease a rustic cottage in Berkshire for the Long Vacation. At the village inn he learns the property, nicknamed "Ranstone's Folly," once belonged to a French singer, Léonie Lestelle, who disappeared from London society and lived there alone. The young woman has since died. Upon reaching The Cedars, Wilford meets its caretaker, Underwood—a deformed but scholarly man who served Lestelle and mourns her deeply. Discovering the parlor still contains her belongings and fresh flowers, Wilford questions Underwood's evasiveness. The narrative also introduces Sir Philip Ranstone, the baronet who owns the estate, portrayed as temperamentally harsh and married to a wealthy banker's daughter for her money. Underwood's passionate attachment to the dead Lestelle's memory and his guarded behavior regarding her room establish an emerging mystery.