Peace Breaks Out

After five long years of War, the outbreak of Peace is met with trepidation by the inhabitants of Barsetshire. For many of the young, Peace is an unknown quantity; for their elders, it will bring inevitable change, not all of it welcome. In due course, a General Election is held, and change is underlined as Sam Adams, now a peer, wins a local seat as a Labour Party representative. Meanwhile, life continues its steady pace, as those whose young lives have been spent in the Forces start to turn their attentions to marriage and careers. There is still a fly in the ointment, for David Leslie, now thirty-nine, is meddling with the feelings of every available young woman. Until his cousin Rose Bingham finally "sorts him out" and they suitably become engaged. The older generation, including Mrs Morland and Lady Graham, still manage to attract their own share of admirers, including Mr Scratcherd, the local "artist" (whose formidable niece and housekeeper harangues him in non-stop paragraphs) and young George Halliday; and the feud between the Deanery and the Bishop's Palace continues in the background.