Aunt Deborah

An irritable, wealthy woman rules her rural estate with petty tyranny, enjoying scolding and controlling a dispossessed young widow and her child whom she keeps dependent nearby. Her inheritance, gained after a hard family estrangement, funds a life of querulous domination rather than charity. The narration paints a picturesque riverside setting and details a longstanding, outspoken feud with a neighbouring miller, whose blunt candor feeds their mutual hostility. Quiet observations reveal how pride, habit, and small cruelties shape village relations, producing sustained annoyance that harms relationships more by tone and control than by overt malice.