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 60 of 254
Chapter V · Miss Freshington’s Interest Awakens · pp. 48–58
The Keepers of the People
p. 51“They are a refreshment after work,” said Ralph Falcon.
“Is that all?” said Lady Lisdor.
“It is much,” said Ralph Falcon.
“No,” said Lady Lisdor: “but surely they have their own lives to live.”
“Not separate lives. Healthy women live through a man,” he said.
“It is not a great part they have to play, then,” said Lady Lisdor.
“Nature cast them for it,” said Ralph Falcon.
Lady Lisdor sighed, and said, “It may be so; but I fancy that you are wrong; that some day you will find a woman who can be more to you than an amusement.”
“I have dreamed — dreamed — of a helper,” said Ralph Falcon slowly.
“Ah, a helper — that is a finer part,” said Lady Lisdor; and her eyes shone. “To be the helper of one doing great work. I would not ask for more. But — but — who does great work?”
Ralph Falcon’s face dropped for a moment its impassive mask; his eyes gleamed with a passing exaltation; he opened his lips as if to speak; then, bethinking himself, closed them.
“You will certainly have to do the work yourself, Ruth; George never will,” said Althea thoughtfully. “But all the same, it is very wicked of you to give away the women like this. It is heresy, don’t you know? Think if poor dear mamma heard you, or Miss Freshington. No, no, the world is to the women — to the women — to the women, Ralph! It is indeed. I read it in a thick magazine.”
“Here,” said Ralph Falcon with a faint smile.
“Well; there is only here, only Europe and the Americans,” said Althea. “But come, let’s stop talking of silly, solemn things; and Ralph shall tell us how beautiful we are in the moonlight. No, don’t look shocked, Ruth, I won’t tell George. Oh, do let us be wicked for once! It is such a lovely night.”
“I suppose this is the effect of your mother,” said Lady Lisdor.
“I never told a woman she was beautiful in my life,” said Ralph Falcon simply.
“Oh! You never told a woman she was beautiful in your life?” cried Althea. “I should have thought you would have had to!”
“Why should I?” said Ralph Falcon.
Socrates
Reading The Keepers of the People · Book I, Chapter V · Miss Freshington’s Interest Awakens · Book I, Chapter V · Miss Freshington’s Interest Awakens · pp. 48–58
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.