The Three Graces

About the Book

The Reverend George Grace's death in November 1936 seemed the most natural of events. Old age and a heart condition easily supported a verdict of 'natural causes' on a death certificate almost casually issued. Nobody thought to question it, at least not until Walter Pearce took up with the youngest of the old man's three daughters.

Left to their unhappy fellowship, the Grace sisters pursue their separate aims: Phoebe, the eldest and a formidable headmistress of the girls' school, to stake her claim as head of the household - and more openly cultivate a succession of favourite girls.

The overweight and sloppy Rose keeps house. Childlike but sensual, she dreams of the man she will surely meet, and her imagination has already created him in uncanny detail: tall, distinguished and rich, his name - she is certain - is 'Hugh'.

The third is the gentle, timid Jane who seeks to escape from the bullying Phoebe through marriage to widower Walter Pearce, a grocer in the town.

A fourth child, Robin, had been killed leading his platoon over the top at Passchendaele... or had he? The old Rector's diary contained an inexplicable entry for the day the cleric died: "Robin came home today".

A complaint by the parents of "one of Phoebe's girls" over a letter she had written to their daughter threatens her position, and she faces disgrace and ruin unless she can persuade them otherwise.

Evidence mounts of Robin's nocturnal presence in the house, and the sisters resolve to confront him- Phoebe from outrage at the notion that he might have been a deserter on the run for nineteen years, Rose out of curiosity, and Jane through loving concern, though hardly daring to hope that he still lives.

Rose seeks the aid of a marriage bureau and has an appointment with a Mr. H. Applethwaite ("It must be Hugh!") He suggests they meet halfway on Carnforth station ("Why on earth doesn't he bring the Rolls?") but Herbert Applethwaite is not as she expected.

The click of the back door in the early hours, and disturbed bedclothes in Robin's old room, strengthen their conviction that he is using the house as a sanctuary. Both his, and Phoebe's, time of trial are just beginning.

About the Author

Roy Armstrong-Wilson is a former cavalry officer. After he left the army he restored a ruined Scottish castle as a home for himself and his family.

In 1987 he was a Parliamentary candidate at the general election, unsuccessfully contesting Linlithgow, the seat held by Tam Dalyell.

He has written articles for magazines, mainly about classic cars and motor sport, and he has broadcast on TV and radio on historical subjects.