Back to the Gypsy That She Was

The Baronet's Bride; Or, A Woman's VengeanceMay Agnes FlemingChicago: Donahue, n.d.250 pagesNot to suggest that he didn't deserve it, but has there ever been a more tortured soul in all of Canadian literature than Sir Jasper Kingswood? The first words of this novel – "And there is danger of death – for mother and child?" – are his. The mother is wife Olivia, who is struggling greatly to give birth. Doctor Godroy is sympathetic, but is "sorry to say...." Sir Jasper calls to a servant: "Ride to the village – ride for your life!... fetch the Reverend Cyrus Green here at once."The baronet is certain his wife is going to die. I was certain his wife would die. Yet Lady Olivia survives as does the newborn, the future baronet.Sir Jasper receives the blessed news in his library, but his joy is short-lived. The baronet is soon arrested by the sight of a man in the swirling snow standing outside looking in one of the room's many windows. With heart warmed by a miraculous birth, he bids the…