The Lady of Glenwith Grange
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| "The Lady of Glenwith Grange" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by Wilkie Collins | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Genre(s) | Mystery fiction |
| Publication | |
| Published in | After Dark |
| Publisher | Smith, Elder & Co. |
| Media type | |
| Publication date | 1856 |
"The Lady of Glenwith Grange" is a novella by the nineteenth-century English writer Wilkie Collins. The story was first published as one of six short stories by Collins in a collection entitled After Dark, published in 1856; it was his first collection of short stories.[1][2]
In the story, a French aristocrat living a peaceful married life in the English countryside is revealed to be an imposter.
The stories in After Dark are linked by a narrative framework. At the beginning and end of the book are "Leaves from Leah's Diary": William Kerby, a travelling portrait-painter, is in danger of losing his sight, and is required by his doctor to cease painting for a while. His wife Leah realizes that destitution threatens. He is a good story-teller, and Leah has the idea of writing down his stories and publishing them.
All the other stories were first published in Household Words, and for this volume a prologue was added to each story. This story, entitled "The Angler's Story of the Lady of Glenwith Grange" for this collection, similarly has a prologue: Garthwaite, a gentleman-farmer who has commissioned Kerby to paint a picture of his bull, takes Kerby fishing while the bull is in an unmanageable temper. They come near Glenwith Grange; Garthwaite knows Miss Ida Welwyn, a middle-aged woman who lives there, and they visit the house. Kerby is impressed by the melancholy nature of Miss Welwyn and the out-of-date interior. Garthwaite, as he is angling after their visit, tells Kerby the story of the Welwyn family.
