How does Barbara cope with the loss of her handsome Edmund?

Can Lord Upland Towers use this to exact a cruel revenge?

Tomas Hardy, today on the Classic Tales Podcast.

Welcome to this vintage episode of the Classic Tales Podcast.

Thank you for listening. We will be releasing two vintage episodes each week,

so be sure to check your feed regularly. New episodes will be available every Friday.

If you like the vintage episodes, please let us know by going to classictailsaudiobooks.com.

Become a supporter, tell your friends, order an audiobook, or send us an email.

We'd love to hear if you like the older episodes.

T.S. Eliot said that Barbara of the House of Grebe would seem to have been written solely to

provide a satisfaction for some morbid emotion. Looking back on this production, I'm rather inclined

to agree. When you think about why this story was written or what message it's trying to convey,

it may be simply to scratch some dark and murky itch. See how far you can go, kind of thing.

In short, the ending of this story is pretty dark, just a heads up.

And now, Barbara of the House of Grebe, part two of two, by Tomas Hardy.

On recovering from her surprise, Barbara's remorse was such that she felt herself absolutely

unforgivable. She should have regarded him as an afflicted being, and not have been

this slave to mere eyesight, like a child. To follow him and then treat him to return was her first

thought. But on making inquiries, she found that nobody had seen him. He had silently disappeared.

More than this, to undo the scene of last night was impossible. Her terror had been made too

plain, and he was a man unlikely to be coaxed back by her efforts to do her duty. She went,

and confessed to her parents all that had occurred, which indeed soon became known to more persons

...