📖 About This Book · Ovington's Bank - by Stanley J. Weyman
First published in London in 1922 by John Murray
Setting: Aldersbury, 1825 – the speculative mania before the financial panic.
Key Themes: class and social mobility · financial speculation · integrity vs. ambition · love and sacrifice.
Major Characters: Arthur Bourdillon (ambitious, charming) · Clement Ovington (honest, nature-loving) · Josina Griffin (the Squire's daughter) · Squire Griffin (proud, blind) · Charles Ovington (self-made banker) · Rodd (loyal cashier).
Plot Arc: The novel follows the rise and fall of a speculative bank, interwoven with a romantic plot. Arthur's ambition leads him to fraud; Clement's honesty redeems him; the Squire's pride is humbled; love triumphs over prejudice.
Summary
- Arthur stands on the East Bridge, consumed with rage at Clement and the Ovingtons for thwarting his plan. He curses their scruples, believing his scheme would have succeeded but for their interference.
- Unable to face the bank, he retreats to his lodgings, falls asleep, and wakes to hear from his landlady that the bank has "closed." He assumes the worst.
- He decides to flee to his mother's Cottage, avoiding the main roads and hiding from passers-by. On the way, he sees Clement ride past and curses him.
- He stops at the place where the Squire was attacked, and hope returns: he saved the Squire's life. Surely that claim must win him forgiveness. He resolves to use it.
- At the Cottage, Mrs. Bourdillon is in despair. Arthur reassures her that the bank can pay everyone and that he will manage the Squire. He writes a note to Josina, asking her to meet him.
- The next morning, Arthur meets Josina at the stile. He tries to enlist her help, but she confronts him: she knows the truth: Clement, not Arthur, saved the Squire.
- Arthur's last hope is destroyed. He storms away, cursing his luck. He returns to the Cottage, demands twenty pounds from his mother, and flees into the mist.
Analysis
- Arthur's self-deception: Arthur genuinely believes he was "robbed" of success by the Ovingtons' scruples. He cannot see his fraud as wrong, only as a blunder. His moral blindness is complete. He sees himself as the bold spirit, the man of enterprise, thwarted by cowards.
- The crumbling of his last hope: Arthur's belief that he can use his supposed rescue of the Squire is his last refuge. When Josina reveals that Clement was the true rescuer, his world collapses. The lie he has lived for months is exposed.
- Josina's moral clarity: Josina, once timid and uncertain, now speaks with firm moral authority. She tells Arthur the truth without flinching: "He was blind! Blind! And he trusted you." Her rejection of Arthur is final and complete.
- The pathos of Mrs. Bourdillon: Arthur's mother is a study in maternal blindness. She has always excused him, and even now she is more concerned about her own ruin than about his guilt. Her relief when Arthur reassures her is pitiable: she chooses to believe him because she must.
- Arthur's flight: His flight from Aldersbury is the final act of his moral decline. He cannot face the consequences. He takes money from his mother and disappears into the mist—a fitting symbol of his moral dissolution.
The Cop is a street or hill in Shrewsbury. The name comes from Old English copp, meaning "top" or "summit." It is one of the steep streets leading up from the river.
Arthur turns into a lane at the foot of the Cop—a shortcut to his rooms. The name grounds the scene in the real geography of Shrewsbury, adding authenticity to the novel's setting.
The bittern is a wading bird of the heron family, known for its distinctive booming call. In the 19th century, bitterns were found in marshy areas across Britain.
Weyman notes that the Squire had "many a time heard the bittern's note" in the low sedgy tract where he was attacked. The detail evokes the wildness of the place and links it to the Squire's earlier life. The bittern's call is a sound of solitude and desolation—appropriate to Arthur's mood.
A poke-bonnet was a woman's bonnet with a projecting brim that "poked" out over the face, providing shade and privacy. It was a fashionable style in the 1820s and 1830s.
Josina is described as "muffled in a cloak and poke-bonnet"—the bonnet conceals her face, adding to the secrecy of the meeting. The poke-bonnet also suggests her modesty and her desire to avoid being recognized.
Garthmyle is the name of the road leading to Garth. It is likely a compound of garth (enclosure or yard) and myle (mile)—"the mile to Garth."
Arthur takes the Garthmyle road "a little beyond the West Bridge." The detail is another precise geographical marker, situating the novel in the real landscape around Shrewsbury.
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