The Argosy

This issue of *The Argosy* (July-December 1890) is dominated by the serialized novel "The House of Halliwell" by Mrs. Henry Wood, author of *East Lynne*, which occupies the main narrative. The serial, continued here from chapter XVII through XXXIV, concerns Hester who unexpectedly encounters George Archer—a former love now gravely ill—staying in her house. Archer, a clergyman, reveals he had been drawn into a destructive infatuation with Lady Georgina years before, resulting in heartbreak when she jilted him. Now destitute and ill from service as a chaplain with Spanish forces, he and his struggling sister Mrs. Archer require Hester's reluctant compassion. The issue contains numerous shorter stories and sketches by named contributors including Mary Grace Wightwick, E.D. Chilton, and Charles W. Wood, alongside essays on natural history and biography. Poetry appears regularly, with contributions from E. Nesbit, Lady Gregory, Julia Kavanagh, and others on themes of romance and domesticity. Illustrated articles on "Fair Normandy" and historical subjects supplement the fiction.