The Argosy, Vol. 51, No. 2, February, 1891

In Short

This mid-Victorian periodical volume gathers serialized fiction, travelogues, reflective essays, and verse into a single tapestry of nineteen-century reading. At its core runs the dramatic tale of Deepley Walls, a sprawling narrative of concealed identities, stolen manuscripts, and cold aristocratic houses, flanked by Mrs. Henry Wood’s quiet rural parish drama, The Silent Chimes. Between these serialized features lie illustrated accounts of Breton markets, treatises on hypnotism and spiritualism, and melancholic nature poetry. It endures as a vivid slice of late-Victorian popular print culture, balancing sensation and gothic atmosphere with domestic virtue.

The Story

The volume opens in the shadow of Deepley Walls, an oppressive estate where young Janet Hope arrives to find a household weighed down by cold dislike and inexplicable routine. Janet is drawn into a delicate romance with George Strickland, who saves her from drowning near Scarsdale Weir, but the mystery of the manor deepens around her. Lady Chillington keeps to her locked apartments, walking the halls at midnight to visit a black-draped chamber containing a silver-nailed coffin. As Janet vanishes, returns in disguise years later, and navigates a tangle of missing manuscripts, Amsterdam editions, and occult secrets involving a mysterious diamond, a local lawyer named Mr. Madgin and his ambitious son maneuver behind the scenes to uncover the family’s hidden past.

Parallel to this long gothic arc runs the tragedy of The Silent Chimes. In a quiet village, Captain Monk installs a set of melodious church chimes, only for the gift to become a tragic omen. A lingering feud leads indirectly to a man's death and precipitates the decline of the Captain's daughter, Katherine. As she dies asking for forgiveness, the new chimes ring out midnight over her deathbed, leaving her father haunted by guilt and her family shattered. In the aftermath, the young clergyman Robert Grame arrives in the parish. He finds himself caught between the fierce, wealth-conscious devotion of Eliza Monk and his true, quiet affection for her penniless cousin, Lucy Carradyne, even as the shadow of early mortality hangs over the family's fragile heir.

Intermingled with these dramatic serials are nonfiction journeys and uncanny encounters. Travel writer Charles W. Wood takes the reader through Brittany, capturing the sombre, loyal character of the Bretons in historic Morlaix, recording the lore of ancient bridges, and visiting an impoverished, saintly wood-carver who refuses to part with his cherished crucifix. Elsewhere, essays probe the limits of science and superstition. Writers debate whether spiritualist mediums truly contact the dead or merely echo thoughts buried in the minds of their sitters, while short narratives detail strange hypnotism experiments where mesmerists command mind and property. Surrounding it all are gentle poetic meditations on lost youth, mountain valleys, and the slow turn of winter into spring.

How It Unfolds

A rescue at the weir — Saved from the foaming waters of Scarsdale Weir by young George Strickland, Janet Hope finds temporary peace at Rose Cottage before taking up her quiet, uneasy life among the hostile residents of Deepley Walls.

The black chamber — Exploring the forbidden upper corridors during Lady Chillington’s midnight strolls, Janet discovers a room draped in black velvet containing a silent, silver-nailed coffin mounted under dim candlelight.

Death as the chimes ring — In Church Leet, Katherine Monk dies with the arrival of the new year, while her grieving father stands by the churchyard fence as his newly installed chimes ring out over the quiet parish.

Choice on the terrace — The new curate, Robert Grame, walks the moonlit terrace with Eliza Monk, gently rejecting her hints that he marry for wealth and confessing his quiet affection for her portionless cousin, Lucy.

Through Breton streets — Wandering the ancient timbered town of Morlaix on market day, travel writers meet an old, spiritual wood-carver who guards a masterwork crucifix while his hostesses share tales of local village life.

The mesmerist’s test — At a stage demonstration of hypnotism, a mysterious professor puts his daughter into a trance, leading to a strange private encounter where a family’s heirloom diamonds hang in the balance.

The People

• Janet Hope, an observant young woman who survives a near-fatal plunge at Scarsdale Weir only to enter the sinister atmosphere of Deepley Walls, where she quietly untangles family secrets while navigating her growing affection for her savior.
• Lady Chillington, the proud, cold mistress of Deepley Walls who harbors an intense dislike for Janet and guards a ghastly secret hidden within a black-draped room in her estate.
• George Strickland, a brave, gentle young man who plucks Janet from the river below the weir and provides her with a refuge of warmth and quiet confidence at Rose Cottage.
• Captain Monk, a stern, hardened man whose well-intentioned gift of church chimes to his parish becomes inextricably linked with tragedy, family estrangement, and the premature loss of his daughter.
• Robert Grame, the earnest new clergyman of Church Leet who seeks to live according to his sacred calling, resisting financial temptation to stay true to his quiet love for Lucy Carradyne.
• Eliza Monk, a passionate, commanding woman of fortune who falls deeply in love with the new curate and attempts to steer him away from her penniless rival.
• Dmitri Sclamowsky, a soft-spoken, enigmatic professor of mesmerism whose impressive demonstrations of hypnotic control leave onlookers uncertain whether he is a genuine scientific enthusiast or a scheming swindler.

In Its Own Voice

"The weir itself, a sheet of foaming, frothing water, that as it fell dashed itself in white-lipped passion against the rounded boulders that seemed striving in vain to turn it from its course."

Janet Hope recalls her narrow escape from drowning just hours before she is carried to the safety of Rose Cottage.

"There seemed a rustling, too, among the folds of the sombre curtains as though someone were in hiding there; and that low faint sobbing sigh which quivered through the room, like an accent of unutterable sorrow, whence did it come?"

Janet shudders as she kneels in the candlelit, black-draped room before Lady Chillington’s hidden coffin.

"The Bretons, amongst their virtues, may count that of loyalty. All is fair in love and war, it is said; but the Bretons would betray neither friend nor foe under any circumstance whatever."

Charles W. Wood reflects on the sombre, steadfast nature of the people he encounters while traveling through Brittany.

What It's Really About

The collection revolves around the tension between hidden sins and public appearances. Across its various stories, characters are burdened by secrets—whether it is a grieving matriarch pacing past a hidden coffin, a father haunted by the unintended consequences of his pride, or a quiet girl keeping her true identity disguised. It continuously asks how individuals endure the weight of the past when forced to maintain a dignified front before the world. Beneath the fiction and travel accounts lies a deep mid-Victorian anxiety regarding the unknown, exploring where scientific boundary-pushing ends and dangerous illusion begins, and contrasting the temporary comfort of material wealth against the enduring value of moral integrity and quiet faith.

Why Read It Today

This volume offers an authentic, unfiltered look into the reading habits and literary taste of late-Victorian household culture. Rather than presenting a single unified story, it delivers the rhythmic experience of nineteenth-century periodical publishing, where dark gothic thrillers sit side by side with pious domestic dramas, lighthearted European travel notes, and earnest debates on spiritualism.

Reading it today requires patience for the episodic pacing, melodrama, and dense period prose characteristic of serial publications. Modern readers may find the moralizing tone and period gender dynamics somewhat dated, while the shifting focus across multiple authors demands a willingness to drop into disparate worlds chapter by chapter. Yet for those who enjoy immersive period atmosphere, the rewards are rich: vivid descriptions of stormy English riverbanks, eerie midnight chapels, bustling old-world French markets, and a genuine sense of how Victorian writers captured the mystery, tragedy, and quiet beauty of daily life.