Man and Wife

In which we are introduced to the solitary and somewhat austere Salt Patch, a cottage surrounded by high walls and memories, lately inherited by the estranged Hester Dethridge, who, despite her seclusion, resolves to take lodgers for companionship and support. The narrative gently unfolds the peculiar domestic arrangements at Salt Patch, setting the stage with Geoffrey Delamayn and Perry the trainer as its notable occupants, on the very eve of Anne Silvester’s arrival as Geoffrey’s wife.