Thorpe Regis

"That Thorpe Regis was theirs and the London coach must stop there were facts as undeniable as the Church, the Squire's house, and the Red lion itself, and needed no comment. Even facts, however, come to an end sometimes. There arrived a day when the railway, which had gradually been drawing nearer and nearer, reached Underham, a little out-of-the-world village about five miles west of Thorpe, which had hitherto looked humbly up to its more important neighbour, and without a murmur had carried its little tribute of weekly budgets to deposit at the door of the Red Lion. So readily does human nature accommodate itself to added greatness, that Underham was the first to claim from Thorpe the homage which all these years it had yielded ungrudgingly, and beyond a doubt it gave additional sharpness to the stings of humiliation endured by the fallen village, to know that its sudden depression had been caused by the prosperity of its rival…" 'Thorpe Regis is a romance novel set in a small English village. The falling fortunes of the village serve to dissuade the return of those who leave town, except for the occasional visit by those who have family. One such person is Anthony, come for a visit, much to the delight of the Squire's daughter Winifred, though she is guarded about her secret. But when he announces his departure, she may have no choice but to reveal her true feelings…