Diotimos Library · Literary Fiction Collection · English Edition
The Keepers of the People
A Critical Edition of the 1898 Novel
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Chapter XVIII · The Divorce Law of Varandaleel · pp. 331–346
The Keepers of the People
p. 341Prince Raleigh turned to her, and said, “Answer, Ruth Falcon. Have you assured your husband that you love him no longer?”
Ruth thought a moment, and said faintly, “Yes.”
Prince Raleigh paused; and the secretaries wrote down the question and the answer; then he said, “Have you assured your husband that you are tired of him?”
“Yes,” said Ruth.
There was another pause; and Prince Raleigh said, “Is there any likelihood of your becoming the mother of his child?”
“No,” said Ruth.
The secretaries wrote on; then Prince Raleigh turned to Lord Lisdor, and said, “Answer, Lord Lisdor. Do you love your wife any longer?”
“No,” said Lord Lisdor.
“Are you tired of her?” said Prince Raleigh, after another pause.
“Yes,” said Lord Lisdor.
“Is there any likelihood of her becoming the mother of your child?”
“No,” said Lord Lisdor.
For a while nothing was heard but the scraping of the pens of the secretaries. Then Prince Raleigh rose, and said, “It is the law of Varandaleel that if a childless husband and wife love one another no longer, their marriage shall be annulled. In accordance with this law, I declare Lord and Lady Lisdor, being childless and loving one another no longer, to be no longer husband and wife. They are free. This I decree; and my decree shall be entered in the records of Varandaleel.”
Lord Lisdor rose and bowed. Ruth sat in a great amazement. Prince Raleigh came down the steps of the throne; came to the table of the secretaries; and signed the decree.
A sudden anger against Lord Lisdor flamed in Ruth’s heart; she drew off her wedding-ring with a very haughty air, and gave it to the captain of her escort, who carried it to Prince Raleigh. She never thought for a moment of questioning Prince Raleigh’s right to annul the marriage. There was a clatter of arms as the guards began to file out of the hall; the old Princess was congratulating her with a smiling face on her regained freedom; Vashti was stroking her arm; Althea wore a very troubled air. Ruth said nothing; she raised her eyes with a great effort to look at Prince Ralph; he had left the hall.
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.