Diotimos Library · Literary Fiction Collection · English Edition
The Keepers of the People
A Critical Edition of the 1898 Novel
Swipe or use the arrow keys.
English Edition · Branch 104 of 254
Chapter XI · The Loss of Althea · pp. 115–129
The Keepers of the People
p. 123Then one evening Lord Lisdor, who had just returned from Leeds, whither he had gone to ascertain whether a certain big brown dog, discovered by the police, was Alrasch, drove round with Lady Lisdor to learn what latest news she had received. They were with her in her study, when disputing voices were heard upon the stairs, and the expostulating butler ushered into the room a young man with flushed face, wild eyes, unkempt hair, and all the air of a madman that absinthe can give.
It was Althea’s poet, and without any greeting he cried, “Where is the beautiful child? What have you done with her? Where have you hidden her? I will know! I will know! I will know!”
“Who are you?” said Lord Lisdor sharply; and the two women stared at him amazed.
“I am Francis Morrel,” he said. “And I will know where you have hidden the beautiful child! I will tear the knowledge from you!” His air grew more threatening, and he clenched and unclenched his hands eager to grip.
“I will not have my grief intruded upon in this way!” cried Lady Hammersmith. “Let the servants turn him out of the house at once!”
Lord Lisdor rose briskly to do it himself, then changing his mind, he sat down, and said quietly, “Wait a minute, we may learn something. Who are you, Mr. Morrel?”
“I write verse,” said the young man.
“Oh, you are the writer of ‘The Desolate Land’ and ‘The Sick Soul’” said Lady Lisdor, with quick interest.
“Yes,” said the poet, softened by the sight of so beautiful a reader.
“But the question is, what can you tell us of Althea?” said Lord Lisdor.
The quiet question steadied the poet a little, and he said, with less vehemence, “She met me at dawn in the Park for many days; and she was healing my soul. Now she comes no more. Where is she?”
“Did you know of this, Amelia?” said Lord Lisdor sharply.
“No, indeed” said Lady Hammersmith.
“You were always very careful of her” said Lord Lisdor bitterly. “Do you ever read the papers, Mr. Morrel?”
“Never,” said the poet.
“If you did, you would have known that Miss Flodden has been lost since last Tuesday; and we can find no trace of her. When did you see her last?” said Lord Lisdor.
Socrates
Reading The Keepers of the People · Book I, Chapter XI · The Loss of Althea · Book I, Chapter XI · The Loss of Althea · pp. 115–129
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Edgar Jepson’s The Keepers of the People begins as a late-Victorian lost-kingdom romance and becomes an unsettling political argument. Ralph Falcon moves from an English country house to the hidden state of Varandaleel, where laughter, secrecy, violence, education, and the duties of rulers are tested against one another.
Historical Text
The novel was first published in London in 1898 by C. Arthur Pearson. This reading text follows the owner-supplied critical edition, whose copy-text is the Methuen Colonial Library issue of the same year digitised by the Internet Archive. The supplied editorial note records the edition’s corrections, normalisations, limits, and unresolved textual risks.
About This Edition
This English Edition preserves the complete supplied text and apparatus: the introduction, reading guide, key words, plot outline, editorial note, both books and all thirty chapters, and the end notes. Its reader branches end at paragraph boundaries, with the original chapter structure and chapter page references mapped to the 1898 printing.
Rights
Edgar Jepson’s 1898 novel is in the public domain. The introduction, reader’s guide, key words, outline, editorial note, notes, editorial arrangement, and design of the supplied edition are © 2026 Diotimos Editions.