Will of the Mill

The narrative follows two boys who spend holidays in a fern-hung Derbyshire gorge centered on an ancient silk mill, blending detailed landscape description with village life. It traces the mill's lineage from an exiled Huguenot founder to the present family, sketches everyday routines around the waterwheel and dam, and shows the boys' pleasures—fishing, collecting natural specimens, and friendships with an artist and local workers. Scenes alternate between lively conversation among youths and quiet domestic moments by the lamp, evoking a close-knit rural community shaped by craft, nature, and inherited industry.