A Heritage & Its History

BRIEF PLOT SUMMARY

 

In the grand but shadowy Challoner house, elderly bachelor Sir Edwin Challoner lives with his brother Hamish and Hamish’s family. Everyone assumes that Hamish’s eldest son Simon - who openly dreams of the changes he will make, including cutting back the overgrown creeper - will inherit the house and become head of the family. When Hamish dies, the aged Edwin unexpectedly marries the much younger Rhoda Graham. Soon afterwards, Simon confesses to his brother that Rhoda is carrying his child. Edwin decides to raise the boy as his own legitimate son and heir, on condition of total secrecy.

 

He names the boy Hamish. Simon is disinherited, and Edwin suggests he should leave the house. Simon marries Rhoda’s sister Fanny, and they settle nearby in reduced circumstances. 19 years later, the illegitimate son Hamish (now grown) and Simon’s eldest daughter Naomi fall in love and plan to marry. The horrified parents forbid the union. Hamish forces Simon to reveal the truth: Hamish and Naomi are half-brother and half-sister. Devastated, Hamish renounces the inheritance and leaves on travels.

 

When Sir Edwin is dying, Hamish returns a changed man. He has met an older woman, Marcia, wishes to marry her, and now wants the house after all. Edwin dies happy, believing Hamish will take over. But Marcia instantly senses the house’s strange power and Simon’s deep claim to it. She persuades Hamish to honour his original promise and restore the inheritance to Simon. Hamish and Marcia depart with the widowed Rhoda. Simon, Fanny and their family move back into the house.

 

The return transforms Simon back into the easy, contented man he once was. When Hamish dies suddenly of a weak heart, Marcia and Rhoda settle nearby. Simon decides not to cut back the creeper after all. The house endures, unchanged and almost human in its power, quietly absorbing another generation while history begins its quiet, inexorable repetition.