For a dozen years Major Narcisse Vigoureux had been, for an
unmarried man, an exceedingly happy one. If you ask me how an
officer bearing such a name happened in command of a British
garrison, I answer that he was not a Frenchman, but a Channel
Islander of good Jersey descent; and this again helped him to
understand the folk over whom he ruled. The wrong-doers feared him;
but they were few. By the rest of the population, including his
soldiers, he was beloved, respected, not a little envied. For a
bachelor he mingled with zest in the small social amusements of
Garland Town, the capital of the Islands. He shone at picnics and
water-parties. He played a fair hand at whist. His manner towards
ladies was deferential; towards men, dignified without a trace of
patronage or self-conceit. All voted him a good fellow. At first,
indeed -- for he practised small economies, and his linen, though
clean, was frayed -- they suspected him of stinginess, until by
accident the Vicar discovered that a great part of his pay went to
support his dead brother's family -- a widow and two girls who
lived at Notting Hill, London, in far from affluent circumstances.
In spite of this the Commandant's lot might fairly have been called
enviable until the day which terminated the ninety-nine years'
lease upon which the Duke held the Islands. Everyone took it for
granted that he would apply, as his predecessors had twice applied,
for a renewal. But, no; like a bolt from the blue came news that
the Duke, an old man, had waived his application in favour of an
unknown purchaser -- unknown, that is to say, in the Islands -- a
London banker, recently created a baronet, by name Sir Caesar
Hutchins
General
Imprint: |
Wildside Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
March 2007 |
First published: |
March 2007 |
Authors: |
Arthur Quiller-Couch
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152 x 16mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Hardcover - Sewn / Cloth over boards / With dust jacket
|
Pages: |
220 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-4344-0040-6 |
Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
Genre fiction >
Historical fiction
Promotions
|
LSN: |
1-4344-0040-9 |
Barcode: |
9781434400406 |
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