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 144 of 254
Chapter VI · The Hitch in the Succession · pp. 179–190
The Keepers of the People
p. 189“I am beginning to think that the Varandals are growing too gentle,” said Prince Ralph thoughtfully. “The only thing to do, as it seems to me, is to lead out a band of ten thousand every year, and raid Persia.”
“That is all you Englishmen think of! Fighting! Fighting! Fighting! Here you are, in a position to avoid war till the consensus of opinion of the wise and humane has declared that war shall be no more. And you talk of raiding Persia!” cried the Princess Agnes.
“War alone knits together a nation,” said Prince Ralph. “The Varandals are growing gentle; they are beginning to prate instead of do their work. They will be inventing an alphabet soon.”
“I lose patience!” cried the Princess Agnes. “All you think about is training butchers! But we are wandering from the question. My point is that since my daughter will rule Varandaleel, you can no longer insist on these ridiculous restrictions. You are bound now to let me go among the people, and begin to train the women to a Freedom of Spirit that will prepare them to support her sway. I think we ought to call her Elizabeth.”
“But — a woman will never rule in Varandaleel,” said Prince Ralph.
The Princess Agnes gasped; raised herself on her elbows: and stared at him.
“What!” she cried. “A Salic law!” She lost her breath in her surprise, caught it again. “Why, even England, hide-bound England, abandoned the Salic law centuries ago! It is ridiculous, absurd that such a law should exist here! Here! A little out of the way country of three million inhabitants! Besides, you shall not trick me! I demand my rights! My daughter’s rights! She shall rule Varandaleel! You are bound to me in honour!” She sank back breathless.
“No woman will ever rule in Varandaleel,” said Prince Ralph, unmoved. “It is the law, the law unchangeable.”
“It shall be changed; it must be changed!” cried the Princess Agnes.
“No,” said Prince Ralph. “But patience, you may yet be the mother of a son.”
The Princess sat up in bed, glaring at him: and hissed through set teeth, “I swear I will never be the mother of a son of yours!”
“Very good,” said Prince Ralph coldly, and rose, and left her.
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.