The Argosy, Vol. IX

This serial installment from The Argosy (April 1, 1870), "Bessy Rane" by the author of East Lynne, continues a domestic narrative centered on marriage prospects and family secrets. Mr. North discusses with his son Richard the imminent marriage of Bessy, his thirty-year-old daughter, to Oliver Rane, whose modest income will soon increase. Richard offers two hundred pounds as a wedding gift. The chapter reveals tension when Mrs. Cumberland, Oliver's mother, reacts with visible distress to the engagement news. Richard later confronts her; she claims concern only about their small income, but her evasiveness suggests deeper worry. Mrs. Cumberland privately torments herself over whether Oliver wrote an anonymous letter that caused Edmund North's death—a secret guilt that would make his marrying Bessy morally compromising. The chapter closes with Dr. Alexander mentioning Madam's cruelty toward Bessy and his imminent departure.