The Mistress of Shenstone

Summary

Set against the backdrop of a world fractured by the Great War, Lady Ingleby exists in a state of suspended animation, her life tethered to a husband stationed at the front lines. The fragile equilibrium of her existence shatters when she receives word of his demise—a tragedy precipitated not by the enemy's hand, but by the inadvertent tactical blunder of a fellow officer. Seeking sanctuary from the suffocating expectations of her social stratum, she retreats to the rugged, salt-sprayed isolation of the Cornish coast. It is here, amidst the craggy cliffs and the relentless rhythm of the Atlantic, that she encounters Jim Airth. Their meeting is punctuated by a dramatic rescue on the sands, sparking a clandestine romance that offers a reprieve from her pervasive melancholy. However, the providence that brought them together soon reveals a cruel irony: Jim is the very man whose errant command led to her husband's death. The subsequent revelation triggers a convulsive separation, as the weight of the past threatens to bury their nascent future. Ultimately, the narrative gravitates toward a poignant reconciliation, as Lady Ingleby realizes that the dictates of the heart supersede the ghosts of military misfortune.

Synopsis

Lady Ingleby, lonely while her husband is at the front, receives news of his death owing to an inadvertent order of one of his comrades, and she retires in mourning to the Cornish coast. There she meets young Jim Airth, who saves her life on the beach. A romance develops, but when she learns that he is the man who gave the fatal order, they part. Later, she returns to the coast and decides she cannot live without him.