Diotimos Library · Literary Fiction Collection · English Edition
The Keepers of the People
A Critical Edition of the 1898 Novel
Swipe or use the arrow keys.
English Edition · Branch 46 of 254
Chapter II · Ralph Falcon Makes the Acquaintance of His Cousins · pp. 18–28
The Keepers of the People
p. 27That night the Russian, still sullen, went to bed early — his dislike of Ralph Falcon was growing apace — leaving the two cousins in the smoking-room. They sat silent for a while after he had gone; then Lord Lisdor said, “By the way, what is this purpose of yours that you have come to England to carry out, and I am to help you in?”
“I want a wife,” said Ralph Falcon.
“A wife?”
“Yes; we think it right to keep the English strain pure.”
“Very reasonable,” said Lord Lisdor. “Do you want any particular kind?”
“I want her healthy and intelligent.” “Intelligent? Not too intelligent, I suppose?” said Lord Lisdor.
“The more intelligent the better,” said Ralph Falcon.
“But ain’t you afraid of her coming the better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay dodge over you?” said Lord Lisdor.
“I don’t understand,” said Ralph Falcon. “Insisting on coming back to live in England?” said Lord Lisdor.
“Insisting!” said Ralph Falcon.
“You seem to me to have got as far as the women of forty years ago,” said Lord Lisdor. “You’ll find that the new kind will insist.”
“But I should be quite open with her; I shall make a definite agreement with her,” said Ralph Falcon.
“A definite agreement and a woman!” said Lord Lisdor. “Why, man, you’re back in the last century. Look here, what do you want a wife for at all? You’re much better without one.”
“I want an heir,” said Ralph Falcon.
“I see — and so you want her intelligent — the brains through the mother idea. Well, I think — I think, mind you — that a Miss Freshington who writes that she is coming to stay with us might suit you. She’s a distant relative of mine, and as smart as they make ’em all round — rides, shoots, cycles, writes, reads the most awful books, and makes speeches at all these women’s movements. She’s in the blessed forefront, don’t you know?”
“I don’t,” said Ralph Falcon.
“Well, you will,” said Lord Lisdor with a grin. “But if health and intelligence are what you want, you had better have a shot at it.”
“Yes; I had better have a shot at it,” said Ralph Falcon.
Socrates
Reading The Keepers of the People · Book I, Chapter II · Ralph Falcon Makes the Acquaintance of His Cousins · Book I, Chapter II · Ralph Falcon Makes the Acquaintance of His Cousins · pp. 18–28
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.