The short story “Maxley's Mistress” is a short story by the author, EF Benson. The story contains extremely long exposition that quickly introduces the setting and main protagonist in serious detail. However, every detail is very important in the story. The setting of the story is the village of Maxley, in Upper Sussex, England. Maxley is described as a peaceful, rural village, far from the attention and conflict of big cities. The setting is very ironic, however, because as Maxley's village is so calm and quiet, the vampirism is unexpected. The main protagonist introduced in Francis Urcombe and the main antagonist, Mrs. Amworth. The inciting incident of the story occurs when Mrs. Amworth accidentally runs into the narrator while Urcombe was already visiting. We know that Mrs. Amworth and Mr. Urcombe do not know each other well and Mrs. Amworth prefers to see the narrator without Urcombe's presence. Francis Urcombe tells the narrator a story about the epidemic of vampirism years ago in Peshawar, India. As Mrs. Amworth arrives,...