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 232 of 254
Chapter XVIII · The Divorce Law of Varandaleel · pp. 331–346
The Keepers of the People
p. 336Vashti started a little forward, her very parted lips fading from their scarlet.
Lord Lisdor’s quick eyes checked her in time. He met Prince Raleigh’s frown unabashed, and said quietly, “Yes; I know that — very well. But you would rather not; and it is purely a matter of State, don’t you know?”
“Well, you are at any rate a man,” said the old Prince, his brow smoothing a little. “But I cannot lose Vashti: she is often eyes and hands to me. She is dearer to me than any one in the world. Her mother was very dear to me to the day of her death. Of all the women I loved, she was the hardest to me; even when she loved me, she would not be mine; and I only had my way by carrying her off by force. Judging from their women, these Jews must be a strong race. And I loved her all the more that she had tried my patience to its end; and I have loved Vashti beyond all my children. I will not lose Vashti!”
“There is no need,” said Lord Lisdor. “I have been thinking; and I have come to the conclusion that I should like to stay on here in Varandaleel for some time. At home I never cared about Politics and Parish Councils and that sort of thing; they were always driving at the wrong thing. But this country is different; it is run in the right way: you know what you want, and you go for it. Now I should like to stay, and help a little for a few years. I shouldn’t be of much use; but I’m not a fool, only ignorant, and I should be of some. That way I should not take Vashti from you at all; she would give as much time to you as ever; only she would be my wife.”
“I see — I see — that makes the difference,” said the old Prince, considering. “But this is a surprise to Vashti, as well as to me. She—”
“She knows that I admire her,” said Lord Lisdor, quickly. “It’s plain enough.”
“Oh!” said the old Prince sharply, and turned to her. Her face was hidden in her hands. “I see—” he said. “You have interested Vashti in this arrangement. Vashti, what is your wish? Will you marry Lord Lisdor?”
Socrates
Reading The Keepers of the People · Book II, Chapter XVIII · The Divorce Law of Varandaleel · Book II, Chapter XVIII · The Divorce Law of Varandaleel · pp. 331–346
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.