A Lost Lady

In the fading railroad town of Sweet Water, Captain Daniel Forrester's plain house becomes unforgettable through the grace of his much younger wife, Mrs. Forrester, whose warmth and beauty draw railroad men, bankers, and townspeople alike. To young Niel Herbert, she seems to embody a more refined, generous world, and his fascination with her begins in childhood, when he first sees how effortlessly she can charm boys from every social class. A summer day in the marsh, a visit with fresh cookies, and a dangerous encounter with the cruel, destructive Ivy Peters all sharpen Niel's sense of the contrast between Mrs. Forrester's elegance and the roughness around her. As Sweet Water declines, Niel remains behind, reading the classics and growing more reflective, while the Forresters' fortunes change and Captain Forrester is weakened by financial loss and accident. Yet Mrs. Forrester endures as a figure of beauty, restraint, and hidden longing, especially in the intimate, uneasy moments Niel shares with her during a blizzard and a winter walk. His admiration deepens into something more complex as he comes to see her both as a loyal wife and as a woman trapped by circumstance. When he later hears her laughing with another man in the early dawn, his idealized vision of her is shattered, and Sweet Water's old world of prairie wealth, social distinction, and lost innocence comes into sharp, painful focus. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.