The Scarlet Feather

Houghton Townley (1866-1938) was the British author of: Dazzled (1891), His Own Acccuser (1894), The Bishop's Emeralds (1907), The Splendid Coward (1908), The Sin of the Duchess (1909), The Secret of the Raft (1909), The Scarlet Feather (1909), The Gay Lord Waring (1910) and English Woodlands and Their Story (1910). "The residence of the Reverend John Swinton was on Riverside Drive, although the parish of which he was the rector lay miles away, down in the heart of the East Side. It was thus that he compromised between his own burning desire to aid in the cleansing of the city's slums and the social aspirations of his wife. The house stood on a corner, within grounds of its own, at the back of which were the stables and the carriage-house. A driveway and a spacious walk led to the front of the mansion; from the side street, a narrow path reached to the rear entrance. "