Evelyn Manwaring: A tale of Hampton Court Palace

"Evelyn Manwaring: A Tale of Hampton Court Palace" by Greville John Chester is a novel written in the late 19th century. It centers on the grace-and-favour world of Hampton Court and the storied, troubled Manwaring family, where pride of lineage collides with love, loyalty, and scandal. The main figures include gentle, steadfast Evelyn, her proud genealogist father, her soldier-brother Lionel, her brilliant younger brother Wilfred, and kind neighbors like Miss Sarah Strong and the Duchess of Ribblesdale. The opening of the story follows Evelyn’s fog-shrouded arrival at Hampton Court to take over Lady Glengriskin’s rooms, her private collapse of grief, and her rescue by her warm-hearted neighbor, Miss Sarah Strong, who feeds, comforts, and promises to present her to the Duchess. The narrative then turns to Holmcastle Manor in North Lancashire: the Manwarings’ ancient seat, the Squire’s consuming obsession with pedigree, and the children’s upbringing—Evelyn beloved as “the Lily of Arrow Dale,” Lionel a rising officer, and Wilfred a gifted youth. Sent to the tutor Dr. Massenger, Wilfred bonds with the young Duke of Ribblesdale and clashes with the slippery Augustus Cubleigh; after a visit to a local collector, stolen gold coins are “found” in Wilfred’s waistcoat, and he is falsely branded a thief. Cast out by his implacable father despite the Rector’s plea and Evelyn’s love, Wilfred leaves home in despair and disappears under an assumed name. As searches reveal he has sailed abroad, Massenger arrives at Holmcastle to confess that Wilfred’s innocence is proved and Cubleigh was the culprit, leaving the Squire devastated.