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Double Harness
SOME VIEWS OF THE INSTITUTION
THE FAIRY RIDE
THE WORLDLY MIND
INITIATION
THE BIRTH OF STRIFE
NOT PEACE BUT A SWORD
A VINDICATION OF CONSCIENCE
IDEALS AND ASPIRATIONS
A SUCCESSFUL MISSION
THE FLINTY WALL
THE OLIVE BRANCH
IMAGES AND THEIR WORK
THE DEAD AND ITS DEAD
FOR HIS LOVE AND HIS QUARREL
IN THE TEETH OF THE STORM
THE UPPER AND THE NETHER STONE
WANDERING WITS
THE RISING GENERATION
IN THE CORNER
THE HOUR OF WRATH
AN UNCOMPROMISING EXPRESSION
ASPIRATIONS AND COMMON SENSE
A THING OF FEAR
FRIENDS
PICKING UP THE PIECES
THE GREAT WRONG
SAMPLES OF THE BULK
TO LIFE AND LIGHT AGAIN
WITH OPEN EYES
DOUBLE HARNESS
CHAPTER I
SOME VIEWS OF THE INSTITUTION
The house—a large, plain white building with no architectural pretensions—stood on a high swell of the downs and looked across the valley in which Milldean village lay, and thence over rolling stretches of close turf, till the prospect ended in the gleam of waves and the silver-grey mist that lay over the sea. It was a fine, open, free view. The air was fresh, with a touch of salt in it, and made the heat of the sun more than endurable—even welcome and nourishing. Tom Courtland, raising himself from the grass and sitting up straight, gave utterance to what his surroundings declared to be a very natural exclamation:
"What a bore to leave this and go back to town!"
"Stay a bit longer, old chap," urged his host, Grantley Imason, who lay full length on his back on the turf, with a straw hat over his eyes and nose, and a pipe, long gone out, between his teeth.
"Back to my wife!" Courtland went on, without noticing the invitation.
With a faint sigh Grantley Imason sat up, put his hat on his head, and knocked out his pipe. He glanced at his friend with a look of satirical amusement.
"You're encouraging company for a man who's just got engaged," he remarked.
"It's the devil of a business—sort of thing some of those fellows would write a book about. But it's not worth a book. A page of strong and indiscriminate swearing—that's what it's worth, Grantley."
Grantley sighed again as he searched for his tobacco-pouch. The sigh seemed to hover doubtfully between a faint sympathy and a resigned boredom.
"And no end to it—none in sight! I don't know whether it's legal cruelty to throw library books and so on at your husband's head——"
"Depends on whether you ever hit him, I should think; and they'd probably conclude a woman never would."
"But what an ass I should look if I went into court with that sort of story!"
"Yes, you would look an ass," Grantley agreed. "Doesn't she give you—well, any other chance, you know?"
"Not she! My dear fellow, she's most aggressively the other way."
"Then why don't you give her a chance?"
"What, you mean——?"
"Am I so very cryptic?" murmured Grantley as he lit his pipe.
"I'm a Member of Parliament."
"Yes, I forgot. That's a bit awkward."
"Besides, there are the children. I don't want my children to think their father a scoundrel.
THE FAIRY RIDE
THE WORLDLY MIND
INITIATION
THE BIRTH OF STRIFE
NOT PEACE BUT A SWORD
A VINDICATION OF CONSCIENCE
IDEALS AND ASPIRATIONS
A SUCCESSFUL MISSION
THE FLINTY WALL
THE OLIVE BRANCH
IMAGES AND THEIR WORK
THE DEAD AND ITS DEAD
FOR HIS LOVE AND HIS QUARREL
IN THE TEETH OF THE STORM
THE UPPER AND THE NETHER STONE
WANDERING WITS
THE RISING GENERATION
IN THE CORNER
THE HOUR OF WRATH
AN UNCOMPROMISING EXPRESSION
ASPIRATIONS AND COMMON SENSE
A THING OF FEAR
FRIENDS
PICKING UP THE PIECES
THE GREAT WRONG
SAMPLES OF THE BULK
TO LIFE AND LIGHT AGAIN
WITH OPEN EYES
DOUBLE HARNESS
CHAPTER I
SOME VIEWS OF THE INSTITUTION
The house—a large, plain white building with no architectural pretensions—stood on a high swell of the downs and looked across the valley in which Milldean village lay, and thence over rolling stretches of close turf, till the prospect ended in the gleam of waves and the silver-grey mist that lay over the sea. It was a fine, open, free view. The air was fresh, with a touch of salt in it, and made the heat of the sun more than endurable—even welcome and nourishing. Tom Courtland, raising himself from the grass and sitting up straight, gave utterance to what his surroundings declared to be a very natural exclamation:
"What a bore to leave this and go back to town!"
"Stay a bit longer, old chap," urged his host, Grantley Imason, who lay full length on his back on the turf, with a straw hat over his eyes and nose, and a pipe, long gone out, between his teeth.
"Back to my wife!" Courtland went on, without noticing the invitation.
With a faint sigh Grantley Imason sat up, put his hat on his head, and knocked out his pipe. He glanced at his friend with a look of satirical amusement.
"You're encouraging company for a man who's just got engaged," he remarked.
"It's the devil of a business—sort of thing some of those fellows would write a book about. But it's not worth a book. A page of strong and indiscriminate swearing—that's what it's worth, Grantley."
Grantley sighed again as he searched for his tobacco-pouch. The sigh seemed to hover doubtfully between a faint sympathy and a resigned boredom.
"And no end to it—none in sight! I don't know whether it's legal cruelty to throw library books and so on at your husband's head——"
"Depends on whether you ever hit him, I should think; and they'd probably conclude a woman never would."
"But what an ass I should look if I went into court with that sort of story!"
"Yes, you would look an ass," Grantley agreed. "Doesn't she give you—well, any other chance, you know?"
"Not she! My dear fellow, she's most aggressively the other way."
"Then why don't you give her a chance?"
"What, you mean——?"
"Am I so very cryptic?" murmured Grantley as he lit his pipe.
"I'm a Member of Parliament."
"Yes, I forgot. That's a bit awkward."
"Besides, there are the children. I don't want my children to think their father a scoundrel.
314 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2004
1 person is currently reading
25 people want to read
About the author
Anthony Hope
238 books254 followersProlific English novelist and playwright Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins especially composed adventure. People remember him best only for the book
The Prisoner of Zenda
(1894) and its sequel
Rupert of Hentzau
(1898). These works, "minor classics" of English literature, set in the contemporaneous fictional country of Ruritania, spawned the genre, known as Ruritanian romance. Zenda inspired many adaptations, most notably the Hollywood movie of 1937 of the same name.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 10, 2013
Double Harness is a chilling contrast to Anthony Hope's swashbuckling romances. It provides an intimate look at the institution of marriage, revealing the necessity of collaboration and personal growth required for a marriage to be successful. Confronting topics including child abuse, spousal abuse, infidelity and abortion, this novel is unexpectedly gritty and progressive in its attempt to address issues not normally discussed in other works of turn-of-the-Century literature.
June 27, 2018
Like a graduate course in marriage. A very enjoyable and profitable read.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews