Co-incidence - 3 August 1858

Here in Wessex, one is constantly aware of the dangers of a co-incidence breaking out in the unlikeliest of surroundings,

Take our stop off at the Buck's Head for a quick one on the way home from Weatherbury.

Who would have thought that the Pope's cousin, the illegitimate son of Queen Victoria by a Norfolk cheesemonger and Miss Dolly O'Grady, "A smile, a song and a glimpse of stocking", Queen of the Music Halls, could have ended up in the same pub at the same time? And who would have thought that the Pope's cousin and the illegitimate prince would have both ended up falling in love with Miss O'Grady? And who would have thought that Hnaef, thinking it a great opportunity to gain some notoriety, would have invited them to settle their differences in a duel on our front lawn?

And, given all the above, who would have thought that a stray bullet would have shot the one-eyed hunchbacked Lithuanian who was crawling through our undergrowth, under the impression that we had Mrs Charmond, of Little Hintock, staying with us?

So Maybold's booked for two funerals and a wedding, we've made the papers, and Hnaef is busy telegraphing to a Mr Francis Wedgewood of Stoke-on-Trent to knock us out some commemorative porcelain tea-pots featuring the death of Ronnie Saxe-Coburg and Valdemaras. 

All in all, we've done quite well there.

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