'The First Countess of Wessex'
First published in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, 80 (December 1889), 20-43, with headpiece and three illustrations by Alfred Parsons and four illustrations by C.S. Reinhart.
The drawings by Parsons are all exterior views of the settings, while Reinhart's illustrate scenes from the story. Hardy and Parsons had together visited Melbury House, the model for King's-Hintock Court, in late January 1889. Rebekah Owen recorded that 'some of the Horners did not like [Hardy's] portrayal, nor Mr. Alfred Parsons giving an exact delineation of Mells Park in Harper's Magazine. Mr. Hardy had told Mr. Parsons not to draw the house exactly, nor, indeed, at all' (Weber, 1939, p. 74). Mells Park is depicted as 'Falls-Park', the home of Squire Dornell, and Parsons illustrated both it and King's-Hintock Court.