Tristram of Blent: An Episode in the Story of an Ancient House

In this witty, episodic narrative we meet the meticulous Mr. Jenkinson Neeld, a retired lawyer turned literary editor whose genteel habits conceal a keen curiosity. While sifting through the journals of his late friend, the flamboyant former MP Josiah Cholderton, Neeld discovers a tantalizing passage that the original author himself seemed eager to hide. The excerpt recounts a fleeting encounter in a Heidelberg villa with a striking young woman who once caused a scandal by eloping with a titled gentleman—an episode that hints at the delicate dance between reputation and desire in high society.

As Neel wrestles with the temptation to reveal the forbidden story, the novel paints a vivid portrait of Victorian intrigue, humor, and the subtle power struggles that ripple through an ancient family house. The reader is invited into a world where editors become gatekeepers of memory, and where a single suppressed diary entry can illuminate the fragile line between public decorum and private passion.