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The Maidens of Walsingham - Анна Морион

The Maidens of Walsingham

Страниц

240

Год

2023

1834, England. The humble village of Walsingham, nestled against the rugged cliffs overlooking the vast sea, exudes an air of quiet resignation. A place where time appears to have stood still, and shadows of the past linger in every cobblestone and thatched roof. In this forgotten hamlet, the villagers seek solace in the embrace of their unwavering faith, finding comfort amidst the crumbling walls of St. Mary's Church.

Guiding his flock with unwavering grace, Pastor Edmund Glowford stands as the beacon of hope for the villagers. His weathered hands and kind eyes tell stories of countless prayers whispered and solace provided. The villagers revere him as their unwavering leader, entwining their dreams with his own.

Within the Glowford family resides the embodiment of love, ambition, and individuality. Pastor Glowford cherishes his three daughters as the epitome of his devotion. Each possesses a unique essence, weaving a vibrant tapestry within the modest parsonage. Elizabeth, the eldest, is adorned with a spirit as gentle as a summer breeze, her dreams floating amongst the pages of timeless novels. The middle daughter, Amelia, radiates an infectious laughter, her aspirations reaching for the skies, eager to capture the stars within her grasp. And then, there is the youngest, Catherine, her fiery spirit burning as bright as the hearth fires, her heart yearning to tread uncharted paths.

In the depths of this tranquil haven, an unexpected twist of fate awaits the village, shattering their idyllic existence. A young and enigmatic landlord, George Ravenscroft, makes his presence known, tearing through the tranquility like a tempest. With his sharp wit and mysterious allure, he bewitches both the villagers and the Glowford sisters, casting a spell of curiosity and anticipation.

As the seasons change and the tides of uncertainty crash upon the shore, the Glowford sisters find themselves entangled in a web of newfound desires and dreams. The once-static village undergoes a metamorphosis, with whispers of hope and anticipation fluttering through the air like butterflies.

In this tale of love, faith, and the pursuit of one's destiny, the Glowford sisters dance between tradition and the promises of a burgeoning future. Amidst the ebb and flow of emotions, a symphony of desires rises, harmonizing with the heartbeat of Walsingham. Will this unexpected visitor bring a tempest of chaos or a vibrant new chapter to the lives of the villagers and the Glowford sisters?

Only time will tell as their paths converge, entwining their fates in the tapestry of Walsingham's history, and illuminating the way towards a future brimming with hope and promise.

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Chapter 1

1834, England.

From the old, stone church came a disorderly chorus of voices singing an Anglican hymn of praise to the accompaniment of a bad-sounding old organ. It was vespers. The village of Walsingham never missed a divine mass.

The village, forgotten by God and decaying for hundreds of years, had long ago become a "rotten place," as it was called in the Parliament of England. The inhabitants of this "rotten place" were one hundred and fifty-one people, mostly women and children. Here lived the most ordinary peasants, differing from the rest of the English peasantry in one feature only: they were hideously poor, but in this poverty they cherished their lives, families, and souls as the apple of their eye. Poverty did not embarrass them, for their Anglican faith and veneration of the Virgin Mary of Walsingham gave them strength and meaning to their lives even in the midst of this terrible, repulsive poverty. The landlord of the part of the county of Norfolk in which Walsingham was situated seemed to have forgotten, or perhaps simply did not know, that this isolated society of deeply religious and pure-hearted peasants was nestled on his land.

– Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray to our Father.

The parishioners offered their prayers diligently and sincerely to God, then the pastor blessed the people, they got up from the cracked, black wooden pews and went home.

It had been like this for centuries: as soon as the service was over, the peasants hurried to their stone houses to milk the horned cattle, feed the poultry, and tidy up their miserable dwellings, and only after these labours to feed themselves and their children. Before going to bed, the head of each family read the Holy Scriptures in syllables, and when the small light of the tallow candle died out, the families prayed and went to bed on old straw-stuffed bunks on the dirt floor to ward off the voracious bedbugs all night long.

But tonight was no usual evening: in the morning a rumour had spread among the people of Walsingham that they had a new landlord, but no one knew who he was, but they were happy to share their speculations with their neighbours and savour the news like a treat. People passed on to each other their own expectations of how the new lord would tidy up the village and the church, which was the centre of this little universe, for he, the new lord, would undoubtedly be an honest fellow and deeply interested in the fate of his peasants. The new aspirations and hope for change became food for the peasants' minds, who had almost forgotten to dream, even though the venerable Pastor Glowford urged them not to dream too soon: for if the Lord is to do good through the new landlord, it will happen, and if not, it is His will. At vespers it was announced to the peasants that the new landlord himself would be arriving for Sunday service tomorrow morning, so many were unable to sleep that night, wondering about the future.

Despite his own sober exhortations, Pastor Glowford himself was full of hope: he knew that the new landlord would bring either much happiness or much grief to the village, so he and his family prayed to God that by the landlord's hand He would bring the peasants of this poor, almost barren land relief from their hard labour.

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