Ernest Maltravers

Lumley Ferrers is a master of appearances, a man who trades in calculation, restraint, and social ambition. He takes a sober house in Westminster, cultivates respectability, and lives beyond his income only as a carefully planned investment in a richer future. His real target is his wealthy uncle, Mr. Templeton, whose inheritance can be won only by skillful flattery, political usefulness, and quiet manipulation. Yet Ferrers is repeatedly checked by the warmth he cannot control: Templeton's devoted wife, their exquisitely lovable daughter, and the household's hidden tenderness complicate every scheme. Against this world of patronage and self-interest, Ernest Maltravers rises by integrity, discipline, and proud independence, though his moral seriousness leaves him isolated and increasingly estranged from weaker friends. He is sustained by the admiration of De Montaigne and by mysterious letters from an unseen woman whose intellect, passion, and longing both encourage and unsettle him. As Templeton withholds support in hopes of a peerage, Ferrers and Lord Saxingham turn politics into leverage, drafting flattering promises and trading favors for advancement. When Templeton is elevated, Ferrers swiftly converts the new title into parliamentary influence, while Maltravers, entering Saxingham's world, finds himself drawn toward Lady Florence Lascelles, whose sharp wit, frailty, and melancholy admiration awaken a dangerous emotional tension. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.