Children of the Abbey, Vol. I

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Regina Maria Roche’s <i>Children of the Abbey, Volume I</i> was published by Deare & Andrews of New York, in 1805. Roche‘s novel was published in four volumes and follows the trials and tribulations of Oscar and Amanda Fitzalan,the children of an Irish soldier and a wealthy Scottish heiress. The children’s misfortune begins after their mother’s passing when a forged will costs them their inheritance. Amanda is pursued by the lecherous Colonel Belgrave, while pining for Lord Mortimer of Cherbury, her true love. Oscar is in love with beautiful Adela Honeywood, who is married off to the loathsome Colonel Belgrave. Devastated, Oscar leaves the army and ends up in prison. With the help of her grandmother’s ghost, Amanda rediscovers the rightful will written by her grandfather bequeathing the estate to the siblings. At the end of the novel the siblings are reunited with their true loves, while the villains of the novel are punished or killed. Our heroes regain their aristocratic inheritance and live happily ever after.