Diotimos Library · Literary Fiction Collection · English Edition
The Keepers of the People
A Critical Edition of the 1898 Novel
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English Edition · Branch 106 of 254
Chapter XI · The Loss of Althea · pp. 115–129
The Keepers of the People
p. 126In the street Lord Lisdor and Ruth looked at one another and then at the poet, and laughed with one accord.
“How can I help? How can I help to find her?” said the poet feverishly.
Lord Lisdor considered him thoughtfully, and said, “If you were to give up absinthe for a bit, and set about hunting for her, I should think it would be a good thing for you.”
The poet fell disconsolate; and Lady Lisdor taking pity on him, said, “Here is my card, Mr. Morrel. If you will come and see me, I will tell you anything we learn.”
“And if you are going to find her, remember that you must first find the dog,” said Lord Lisdor.
The poet muttered “Goodbye,” raised his hat, and hurried away to read the papers touching the matter. Lord Lisdor went down to Scotland Yard, saying to Lady Lisdor as he put her into the brougham, “If I explain that Althea has run away because she was ill-treated, the police will take good care that the papers hear all about it, and drop on this vigilant rubbish.”
The next morning the new story was in the papers with a vengeance, and the Penalisation of Vice Movement found itself once more shorn of a promising popularity.
But the days passed on; no news of Althea came; and the police lost hope. Lord Lisdor pursued the search with his wonted stubbornness; he went to all parts of the country to see big, brown dogs; and spurred the Private Enquiry offices to unceasing exertion. Then one night, as they sat at dessert, the butler announced Mr. Morrel to see Lady Lisdor, and the poet came in tired, and haggard.
“I’ve found the dog” he said, and dropped exhausted into a chair.
“You have!” cried Lord Lisdor, filling quickly a glass with wine, and handing it to him. Lady Lisdor looked at him in a wonder.
“Yes; it went off to a steamer, called the Tarantula, which sailed for the East on the Tuesday she was lost. It was chartered by a Mr. Falcon. I met him with her one morning,” said the poet.
“Oh,” said Lord Lisdor; and his face fell, “that’s the other dog. There were two of them.”
“Yes,” said the poet, “there were two of them.”
“Two of them!” cried Lord Lisdor. “Are you sure?”
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.