The Benefactress - Chapter 17

In which Miss Estcourt receives a pile of letters and faces the persistent proposals of Herr Dellwig, whose schemes, especially one involving a brick-kiln, meet her quiet but firm resistance; the conversation reveals the complexities of influence and control among the estate’s characters, tempered by a gentle play of social observation and personal reflection. Meanwhile, the rivalries and resentments of those around her simmer beneath the surface, displayed in the petty anxieties and whispered maledictions of the Dellwigs as they contend with changes they neither command nor understand.