The Uttermost Farthing

At the Gare de Lyon in Paris, Laurence Vanderlyn waits for a train and for Margaret Pargeter, the married Englishwoman he has loved for seven years. An American embassy attaché, he has chosen a train usually avoided by foreign travellers to keep their proposed week together secret. Margaret has a young son at school and a reputation to protect. Their plans involve a house near Orange and a friend who will forward her letters.

Marie Belloc Lowndes follows the strain that secrecy places on affection and judgment. A later scene brings police officials into the Pargeter household as Margaret’s husband talks about her disappearance, while Vanderlyn listens in distress. Domestic conversation becomes tense through the gap between what people say and what they understand. This novel offers readers a close view of love, loyalty and social reputation among Americans and English people in France, with suspense arising from private decisions and public scrutiny.