📖 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
- Josina begins to use the old Dutch summer-house as a vantage point to watch for Clement, and sometimes meets him by the brook. She keeps this secret.
- Arthur pressures his mother to call in the £6,000 mortgage on Garth so he can buy into the bank. She resists, fearing the Squire's anger and the risk of losing her capital. Arthur becomes increasingly cruel and manipulative.
- Mrs. Bourdillon steals back the letter Arthur had written for her to sign. She refuses to sign, and the household becomes miserable with tension.
- Josina, visiting the Cottage, notices the strain but is too absorbed in her own secret romance to understand it fully.
- Arthur leaves for London on bank business, without telling her the purpose of his journey, subjecting her to worries that he might leave her as he had threatened.
Analysis
- Josina's Secret Life: Her use of the summer-house and her secret meetings with Clement mark her first act of independence. She is no longer merely passive.
- Arthur's Cruelty: Arthur's treatment of his mother reveals the dark side of his ambition. He is willing to bully and manipulate her to get what he wants.
- The Power of Weakness: Mrs. Bourdillon's passive resistance—tears, illness, stalling—is her only weapon, but it is effective in its way.
- Selfish Love: Josina is so absorbed in her own romance that she is blind to the troubles of others. The narrator notes that "such is the selfishness of love."
This phrase describes the game of lawn bowling, a popular pastime in the 17th and 18th centuries.
"The roll of the bowls" refers to the sound and sight of the heavy wooden bowls rolling across the grass.
"The play of the bias" refers to the skill of using the bowl's weighted side (the bias) to make it curve strategically towards the target.
The passage describes the Dutch summer-house at Garth, where tradition said William of Orange watched the game. It establishes the house's long history and the Squire's connection to old traditions.
"Tarnation" is a mild American oath, a euphemism for "damnation." It was used as an exclamation of surprise or irritation.
Origin: It is an American coinage from the late 18th century, a "minced oath" created to avoid stronger swearing. It is not a British dialect word.
Anachronism: Its use in a British novel set in 1825 is another authorial slip—it would have been an Americanism, not part of an English country squire's vocabulary.
To "arraign" someone is to call them to account, accuse them, or scold them severely. It is a formal legal term, meaning to bring a prisoner before a court to answer charges.
In the Novel: Miss Peacock "arraigns" Josina for a trivial act of forgetfulness. The word is a deliberate choice, making the scolding sound formal and biting, and revealing Josina's powerlessness in the household.
Is it old-fashioned? Yes, outside a legal context, the word is now old-fashioned and literary. A modern writer would likely say "scolded," "criticised," or "called out."
A bed-candle was a candle used to light one's way to bed, typically carried in a small candlestick with a wide base and a looped handle (a chamberstick).
Lighting in the 1820s: Artificial light was precious and expensive. Tallow candles were common for the middle classes; beeswax candles were a luxury. Rushlights were the cheapest option for the poor.
The novel mentions Arthur lighting a candle in the night. The first friction matches (lucifers) were sold in 1827—two years after the novel's setting. He would have used a tinderbox and a sulphur match (spunk).
The Ritual: Carrying one's own candle to bed was a common nightly ritual. Arthur handing his mother her candle is a small gesture of care, marking the end of the evening.
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