An Unmarried Father

Norman Overbeck seems to have everything a respectable young lawyer in Vickley could want: a place in his father's firm, a recent courtroom victory, and an engagement to Madge. But a mysterious letter from Dr. Martha Zerneke of a child adoption society shatters that confidence, hinting at a matter of "personal interest" and awakening Norman's deepest fears of scandal, blackmail, and disgrace. As he and the worldly Gilbert Rand untangle the message, suspicion turns toward a hidden past with Isabel Drury, a bohemian art student from Cambridge, and the terrifying possibility that Norman may have fathered an illegitimate child. What follows is a gripping crisis of reputation, secrecy, and moral choice. Gilbert, with legal cunning and hard-earned realism, urges discretion and damage control, while Norman insists that marriage cannot survive without honesty. When Norman disappears and the town assumes the worst, Gilbert scrambles to contain the fallout, navigate family alarm, and force the truth into the open. In the end, the novel becomes a sharp, emotionally charged study of class, judgment, and the painful cost of choosing between public respectability and real love. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.