Orley Farm is a novel by English author Anthony Trollope, famous for the
Palliser novels and the
Barchester series.
The late Sir Joseph Mason stipulated in his will that his estate goes to Joseph, Jr., his son by his first wife, and in a codicil, reserves Orley Farm for Lucius, his son by his second wife. Joseph contests the validity of the codicil but the law upholds it. Therefore, the widow, Lady Mason, and her son Lucius comfortably lives in Orley Farm for twenty years.
One day, one of Lady Mason's tenants by the name of Dockwrath, a lawyer of dubious character, is given the sack and terminated. When he gets the notice to quit, he is furious thinking he is unjustly treated.
Feeling vindictive, Dockworth re-opens the case of the codicil. The truth is revealed after all those years that it was indeed a case of forgery. The friends of Lady Mason rallied behind to support her, and her elderly lover, Sir Peregrine Orme, does not swerve from believing in her probity. The matter was put to court and a certain Mr Chaffanbrass appears for Lady Mason. Everything goes in her favour.
But justice prevails. The apparently unshakeable resolution of Lady Mason breaks down in the end, and she confesses everything to Sir Peregrine. As a result, Orley Farm is reverted back to Joseph Mason. It must have been a terrible strain for Joseph to put up his resentment through the elapsed twenty years. The plot is reminiscent to the saying: "your sin will find you out."