Romansgrove — Mabel Esther Allan

Would their father take the job? Eavesdropping as the offer was made, Clare and Richard were at first sure he would not. His long illness made it necessary that he find a job less tiring than the one he had in the city. But, to be an accountant for a large, privately-owned estate would be against all his principles. He had grown up as the son of a poor farm laborer, and he remembered the oppression and hardships endured by estate tenants. Yet when he was told that Romansgrove was different, out of need, he accepted.

Romansgrove was different. It was idyllic. Clare and Richard wandered about, hardly believing their good luck. Yet, only two days after they arrived, they discovered that Romansgrove hadn't always been the place it was now. A path through the lovely old wood led to an old manor house, and by some strange chance, to the year 1902, Clare and Richard suddenly find themselves seventy years in the past. There Emily Roman and her family lived in almost feudal grandeur. Clare and Richard were appalled.

Day after day they went back to meet with Emily Roman, to tell her of the future and pass on some of their father's views - which came as a shock to the patrician Miss Roman. And it wasn't until this strange tie with the past was broken that Clare and Richard learned how much impact they made, not only on Emily, but on their own lives.