The Maidens' Lodge; or, None of Self and All of Thee (In the Reign of Queen Anne)

In the winter of 1712, the austere walls of Cressingham Abbey shelter a household ruled by the iron‑willed Madam Furnival, whose authority leaves little room for dissent. Her younger daughter, Anne, shares her mother’s fierce will but channels it into acts of quiet rebellion, culminating in a clandestine marriage to the humble chapel clerk Charles Latrobe. The union ignites a clash of class, faith, and family pride that threatens to unravel the carefully maintained order of the estate.

As whispers of the forbidden alliance spread, the matriarch’s wrath erupts, casting Anne out and exposing the fragile loyalties of those bound to the house. Meanwhile, a weary stranger bearing a baby arrives at the back door, seeking refuge and perhaps a new purpose within the tangled web of the Furnivals. Listeners are drawn into a world of rigid social hierarchies, secret vows, and the unsettling question of what it means to claim one’s own destiny amid overwhelming expectation.