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 141 of 254
Chapter VI · The Hitch in the Succession · pp. 179–190
The Keepers of the People
p. 184He brought her to the Pavilion of Wonderful Delights; and there she dwelt in a very fever of passion for him. To all seeming, her wild, hard life among the hills had kindled in her an unquenchable vital fire; for in that withering air she but bloomed into a fuller beauty, a splendid flower in its proper heat.
When the Princess Agnes gave birth to a daughter, there was dismay in the palace. Prince Raleigh was most angered: there was but his own life, and the life of his son between the people and ruin; and he desired above all things to see a grandson growing up in the palace to carry on the work.
“By the sword-arm of Ralph!” he cried, “we might have known it! Such a woman could only bear daughters! This is the worst that could happen! What shall be done now?”
“There is nothing to be done,” said Prince Ralph, unmoved. “There are many years for a son to be born in. Patience, and shuffle the cards.”
His mother too was disappointed: a grandson was her desire also, and she felt with her husband and son. Althea, who heard of it from the mutes, was puzzled: knowing, as she did, how the land was ruled, she could not see what changes would make it possible for a woman to be sovereign. She considered the question for three days, and then one night, as they were supping after a long ride, she said to Prince Ralph, “This female baby is very distressing.”
“It is,” said Prince Ralph.
“I do not see how a woman will rule Varandaleel,” said Althea.
“A woman never will,” said Prince Ralph.
Althea breathed a little sigh of relief: “I might have known,” she said. “Of course, it would be no use in the world trying to train a woman to it. She would break down, or alter things.”
“Don’t you think you might learn to rule Varandaleel?” said Prince Ralph after a silence.
Althea thought a while; then she said slowly “No: I think not. I could not do the work; I should break down. And — and — I’m afraid I should not be ready enough to kill the necessary people.” She sighed heavily that she should be so weak. “However, that isn’t worth while considering; I shall most likely die long before you.”
Socrates
Reading The Keepers of the People · Book II, Chapter VI · The Hitch in the Succession · Book II, Chapter VI · The Hitch in the Succession · pp. 179–190
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.