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 221 of 254
Chapter XVII · The Last Path · pp. 317–330
The Keepers of the People
p. 317CHAPTER XVII
THE LAST PATH
On the morrow, early, the Princess Agnes received Prince Raleigh’s command to dine in her own rooms for three months; and after tearing up the missive, and throwing the pieces into the face of the bearer, she hurried to the chambers of the old Princess eager for a witness of her righteous rage. The old Princess, however, had given orders, and the mutes refused to let her in. She came back to her own rooms raging; and set about writing to Ruth.
Lord Lisdor, after Vashti had bidden him goodnight, had spent a long time in the consideration of where he stood; and the idea had come to him that with a little care he might provide himself with an excuse that might stand him in some stead with the Princes, if his love-making should be discovered. In the morning he was yet more pleased with his idea; and going in search of Ruth, he found her alone in the garden of Prince Ralph’s wing, leaning over the basin of the fountain, watching the carp.
She greeted him with a smile, and said, “What is the matter, George? You look very serious.”
“I say,” he said, “don’t you think it’s time you left the Golden Rooms, and came and lived in my quarters?”
Ruth was deceived by his show of earnestness, and taking her courage into her hands, she said, “I don’t think I shall ever care to live with you again.”
“Oh, come; this won’t do, don’t you know?” said Lord Lisdor. “You must — you must.”
Ruth stooped, picked up a little pebble, and threw it at a carp; then she said idly, “Why should I?”
“Why should you? You’re my wife; and it’s your duty to. You promised, don’t you know?”
“Ah, it was different then,” said Ruth.
“How different? I’ve never given you any reason to throw me over like this!” Lord Lisdor protested indignantly.
Ruth stooped for another pebble. “There is a reason,” she said: “a very good reason.”
“What reason?” said Lord Lisdor.
“We are tired of one another,” said Ruth.
“Oh, come, I say; speak for yourself. I’m not tired of you. I’m deucedly fond of you, don’t you know!” said Lord Lisdor.
“How fond, George? Look me in the eyes!” said Ruth, turning to him.
Socrates
Reading The Keepers of the People · Book II, Chapter XVII · The Last Path · Book II, Chapter XVII · The Last Path · pp. 317–330
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.