The Argosy, Vol. 22

# Edina

October 1876 issue of The Argos, containing Chapter XXVIII of "Edina" by Mrs. Henry Wood, author of East Lynne. The serialized novel follows the impoverished Raynor family at Laurel Cottage near London. Edina manages household expenses—barely eight shillings weekly from her one-pound annual income—while doing piecework making hair nets with her mother. Charles Raynor desperately seeks employment as a clerk but faces constant rejection despite tramping daily through London responding to advertisements. Alfred fetches cheap skimmed milk; Alice teaches near Richmond; the family subsists on toasted bread and potatoes. Charles contemplates enlisting or emigrating to Australia but cannot abandon his family. The chapter concludes with a fortuitous encounter: Charles's schoolfellow Peter Tanting introduces him to the solicitors' firm Prestleigh and Preen, offering potential employment prospects.