A Step Aside

London: Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's Buildings, E.C., 1893. First Edition. 3 vols., 8vo (193 x 137mm), pp. [8], 264; [8], 268; [8], 227, [1]. Publisher’s half smooth red-brown cloth, sides morocco-grain, separated from spine and corners by double black rules on the front and back, lettered and ruled in gold on the spine; grey floral-patterned endpapers. Light rubbing to the extremities, offsetting to the endpapers, minimal foxing to the first and last few leaves of each volume, else a beautiful set in near fine condition. OCLC locates 9 copies. Wolff 2407. A domestic novel of family calculation, emotional restraint, and unequal prospects. In the quiet village of Dinglehurst, the elderly Lavendercombe sisters debate the futures of two younger women and the claims of Arthur Tavernecombe, a widower with children, establishing a plot shaped by love, sacrifice, money, and the pressure to step aside for others.