The Indiscretion of the Duchess

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About this book

A proposed visit to a duchess in Normandy draws an English gentleman into a fortnight of awkward obligations. His friend Gustave de Berensac arrives at his London rooms with an invitation to meet the Duchess of Saint-Maclou, whose husband closely controls her social life. The narrator presents himself as a man carried along by circumstances, while admitting that his account of other people's motives is only his own interpretation.

Anthony Hope's novel mixes romantic intrigue with brisk exchanges in which politeness often covers mistrust. A later encounter centres on the Cardinal's Necklace, returned to the duke in a red leather box after passing through the narrator's hands. The contrast between cheerful plans for a visit and the uneasy business of returning the jewel gives readers a story of social appearances, personal loyalties and the limits of money's influence.

About the author

Anthony Hope

Anthony Hope, born Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins (1863-1933), was an English barrister who turned to fiction and found lasting fame with The Prisoner of Zenda and its sequel Rupert of Hentzau. His invented kingdom of Ruritania gave a whole subgenre of romance its name.