Joshua Haggard's Daughter

On a summer day thick with waiting, Naomi Pentreath clings to the hope that her lost lover will return and prove his devotion, even as the beauty of the garden only sharpens her inner desolation. Around her, the household is strained by quiet resentments: Cynthia seeks Jim's easy affection, Jim grumbles with blunt humor about Judith's tight control and the family's joyless economy, and Naomi's loneliness deepens into jealousy as she watches Cynthia's gentle loveliness and senses why another woman might have won Oswald's heart. Then Jim brings Naomi a secret letter thrown over the wall, and her trembling hope turns to shock when she discovers Oswald's passionate appeal is addressed to Cynthia. Furious at the betrayal, she delivers the letter to Joshua, who is crushed by what he takes as proof of shameless sin. In bitterness, he hides the note in Werther to test Cynthia, while suspicion and secrecy spread through the house. Meanwhile, Oswald meets Cynthia one last time on Matcherly Common before departing for America, and Arnold Pentreath arrives in search of the truth. As accusations mount, Joshua confronts Cynthia in a jealous, religious fury, condemning her as the cause of ruin and damnation, while she pleads her innocence in a scene of tragic emotional collapse. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.