The Argosy, Vol. 22

# Edina by Mrs. Henry Wood

This serialized novel installment from July 1876 centers on the Raynor family at their estate, Eagles' Nest, during Christmas. Charles Raynor has returned from Oxford with a substantial wine bill, precipitating a crisis with his father, Major Raynor, who lacks funds to pay. Frank Raynor, recently returned from Switzerland where he served as medical attendant to a sickly boy (now deceased), seeks advice on his financial prospects and the whereabouts of missing bonds and money promised to him.

The narrative contrasts the household's festive interior—with young Alice Raynor attracting William Stane's romantic attentions at a New Year's ball—against deteriorating conditions on the estate. Unfinished cottages remain incomplete and existing tenant dwellings have fallen into disrepair since the previous mistress's death, as Major Raynor lacks both funds and agricultural knowledge to maintain the property. The tenants, accustomed to the former owner's generous aid during hardship, now suffer neglect during a severe winter marked by scarce labor and prevalent sickness.