It is during a stormy evening in March, in the third decade of the '700 that Thomas Hardy's The Three Strangers begins. An English clergyman and his family are gathered together with some friends in their cottage, Higher Crowstairs, to celebrate the baptism of one of their daughters. During the evening three strangers knock on the door asking for shelter and they will eventually join the party, creating havoc and misunderstanding that will be resolved only at the end of the story.