"Lady Merion's Angel" is a deceptively told tale, a comic narrative about a serious subject. The comedy is both forthright and sly. The chasing of Lady Merion's visitor in the kitchen is broad slapstick, and Lady Merion's assertion "an angel is not a bat to tangle in your hair" is broad comic dialogue. On the other hand, much of the story's humor lies in the sly juxtaposition of the remarkable and the commonplace, as when "Lady Merion wondered idly if the aura [of the angel] afforded any kind of protection from the rain. It rained a lot north of the firth." The humor is often carefully layered into Lady Merion's point of view, as when she notes that "getting a message out of it [the angel] would be a miracle," as if the angel's presence in her garden were not miracle enough. Much of the comedy...