📖 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
- Clement, out shooting, wanders along the brook near Garth. He is admiring a clump of snowdrops when Josina appears at a stile. Startled, he accidentally discharges his gun—the shot narrowly misses her.
- Clement is horrified and deeply apologetic. Josina is shaken but unharmed. Their shared shock breaks the ice, and they begin to talk.
- Clement confesses that he hates banking and would rather be a farmer. Josina is intrigued by his honesty and his sensitivity to nature.
- They part, but Josina is deeply affected. She keeps the meeting secret from her father and Miss Peacock, treasuring the memory.
Analysis
- The Romantic Meeting: The gun accident is a classic plot device—a moment of danger that brings two people together and reveals their true characters.
- Clement's Character: His love of snowdrops, his honesty about hating banking, and his desire to farm establish him as the novel's pastoral ideal—a contrast to Arthur's commercial ambition.
- Josina's Awakening: For the first time, Josina experiences a sense of power. Clement humbles himself before her—unlike the men in her life (her father, Arthur) who command or condescend.
- Class and Suitability: Clement's admission that he wants to be a farmer seems a comedown to Josina, but she is drawn to his sincerity. Their connection crosses class lines.
In this chapter, Josina compares her adventure to "that dreadful fall from the Cobb at Lyme" in Jane Austen's Persuasion.
The Anachronism: This reference is historically unlikely. Persuasion was published in 1818, only seven years before the novel's setting. By the 1820s, Austen's fame had faded; her books were largely out of print and known only to a cultured few. A timid country girl like Josina would have been unlikely to have read it.
The Author's Slip: Stanley Weyman, writing in the 1920s, unconsciously projected his own era's familiarity with Austen onto his 1825 characters.
A Note on Garth's Library: Later in the novel, the Squire's library is described as containing hardly a book later than Junius's letters or Burke's speeches—a collection that would not include Austen. This detail reinforces the anachronism.
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