The Argosy, Vol. 33

Mrs. Raven's Temptation This serialized novel (Chapter XXX, appearing in June 1882) follows Louisa Connell and her brother Philip as they arrange a secret visit to consult a local "wise woman" or fortune-teller at a place called the Cave on the moors. Louisa hesitates—she fears deceiving her parents and Marco Learli—but agrees under pressure from Evelyn Agate, a guest in the household. Philip devises an elaborate plan using a signal (a green book in a window) to confirm the wise woman will meet them. The three travel across the deteriorating industrial landscape of Coltburn to a lonely moorland cave associated with a dark legend of lovers named Mary and Stephen. The narrative explores the moral unease of the deception, Louisa's guilt, and Evelyn's manipulative charm, while Philip increasingly doubts his complicity in what he recognizes as family betrayal.