Tension - E. M. Delafield

When the role of ‘Lady Superintendent’ becomes available at the Commercial and Technical College for South West England, the calm and capable Pauline Marchrose is the successful applicant. This is good news for Sir Julian, the college director, who greatly admires her diligence and ability. Mark Easter, Sir Julian’s agent, feels admiration for her too, which rapidly becomes romantic attraction. But Mark already has a wife, albeit in name only. And Sir Julian’s wife, Lady Edna Rossiter, discovers that Pauline Marchrose is the same woman who jilted her cousin Clarence after he was paralysed in an accident. A manipulative,self-righteous and interfering woman, she has little interest in the truth of the story, and she uses her position and influence to start a whispering campaign against Pauline. In a small community this soon creates an atmosphere of suspicion and tension which threatens her whole future. - Summary by Helen Taylor