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Testimonies (novel)

Testimonies AuthorPatrick O'BrianOriginal title(UK) Three Bear WitnessCover artistRoy Sanford (1952 UK first edition) Geoff Hunt (1994 re-issue)CountryWalesLanguageEnglishPublisherSecker & Warburg (UK) Harcourt, Brace (US)1952Media typePrintPages206
Testimonies is a 1952 novel, set in North Wales, by the English author Patrick O'Brian. It was first published in the UK under the title Three Bear Witness, and in the US as Testimonies.

Plot
The story is constructed from the testimonies that three witnesses give to an unnamed divine inquisitor: Joseph Aubrey Pugh, an Oxford don; Bronwen Vaughan, the woman he comes to love; and Mr Lloyd, a schoolmaster.

Pugh says that he had been expecting the visitation, and that he will do his best to set down in writing what had taken place. According to his testimony, having become exhausted and demoralised by his academic life in Oxford, Pugh decides to rent a small cottage in North Wales for an extended break, intending to spend his time walking in the hills and reading. He throws himself into his new life, becoming friends with Emyr, son of the elderly owners of the neighbouring farm of Gelli, Mr and Mrs Vaughan. He helps out at Gelli to the best of his ability, though he disapproves of Emyr using strychnine to poison the foxes that threaten the farm�s lambs. Gradually Pugh finds himself falling in love with Emyr�s wife, Bronwen. On receiving an unexpected bequest, he abandons his academic career and takes the cottage as his permanent home.

The schoolmaster, Mr Lloyd, tells the inquisitor that Bronwen had been brought up in a different valley and that she was �not our sort�. After marrying and coming to live at Gelli with Emyr and his parents she had been considered �proud� and was unpopular with the local women.

Bronwen testifies that her marriage was initially good, and they had a child, but that she became scared of Emyr after he was violent toward her one night. As her hatred of Emyr became increasingly evident, his mother turned against her and daily life at Gelli became very difficult.

Pugh falls ill and moves to Gelli to recuperate. There he spends hours talking to Bronwen, and his love for her deepens. Mr Lloyd�s cousin, a famous preacher by the name of Pritchard Ellis, comes to stay. He is revered by the local people for the power of his public oratory, but in private he is a hypocrite and sexual voyeur. After sexually touching Bronwen when they are alone, and being repulsed, he retaliates by spreading false rumours that Pugh and Bronwen are committing adultery. He preaches a powerful two-hour sermon in chapel denouncing Bronwen and Pugh's �wickedness�, though without mentioning them by name, which results in their being ostracised by the community.

One night Emyr is sexually violent to Bronwen again, and she tells the inquisitor that her husband nearly killed her. Pugh sees her the next day and realises what Emyr has done. He departs for a long and nightmarish walk through the mountains, contemplating suicide. Seriously hurt, Bronwen is put to bed and a doctor is called. Old Mrs Vaughan comes in with some medicine and Bronwen, after taking a sip, realises immediately that it is laced with strychnine. She drinks it and dies. Pugh returns, utterly exhausted, and lies unconscious before being awakened to learn of Bronwen�s fate.

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