The Phantom Lover

by Ruby M. Ayres

Somewhere out in the night a woman was crying, crying desolately. The sad, rather monotonous sound broke the silence of the street and floated through the open window of a room where Micky Mellowes was wondering how the deuce he should get through the long evening lying before him. Micky was in a bad temper. It was not often that he was in a bad temper, but he had begun the day by waking with a headache, which was still with him, and which accounted for the wide open window and the breath of icy air which was filling the room and fluttering the curtains; and half an hour ago some people with whom he had been going to dine had rung up and told him that the party was off owing to the sudden death of a relative, thereby leaving the evening long and empty on his hands. It was New Year's Eve, too, which made matters a thundering sight worse. He wondered if Marie Deland was feeling as sick about it as he was. Micky was in the middle of an interesting flirtation with Marie, which bade fair to develop into something deeper with careful engineering on the part of her family, for Micky was a catch, and though so far he had proved himself singularly adroit in avoiding mothers with marriageable daughters, the Delands were beginning to pat each other on the back and to look pleased.

Genres: Romance

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1919

About the author

Ruby Mildred Ayres was born on 28 January 1881 in Watford, Hertfordshire, the third daughter of the marriege formed by Alice (née Whitford) and Charles Pryor Ayres, a London-based architect. In 1909 she married Reginald William Pocock, a insurance broker, and they lived in Harrow until his death in a train accident. As widow without childrens, she moved to her sister's home at Weybridge, Surrey.

She started to write as a girl, and her first story was published in a magazine shortly after her marriage, and in 1912 she published her first novel, Castles in Spain. In September 1915, with her first popular success, Richard Chatterton, V.C. (which sold over 50,000 copies in the first three years), she moved publishing houses to Hodder and Stoughton, where she remained until her death in 1955. She wrote over 150 novels and serialised works. Several of her works became films and she did screenwriting for Society for Sale among others. She corresponded with Douglas Sladen, and also was was possibly an inspiration for the P. G. Wodehouse character Rosie M. Banks. She died on 14 November 1955 in a nursing home in Weybridge, aged 74, of a combination of pneumonia and a cerebral thrombosis. She was cremated four days later at Golders Green in north London.

Reviews

[Suzannah Rowntree · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh good HEAVENS.

I always meant to try some Ruby M Ayres, because she is always cited as an inspiration for PG Wodehouse's Rosie M Banks, and the inspired drivel produced by Rosie M always seemed incredibly entertaining. I'm happy to tell you that this book was every bit as daft as I could have hoped, although it might have been improved by a shipwreck and a jewel robbery. It didn't have those, but it DID have the most wonderfully idiotic hero you've ever met.

His name is Micky. He falls for the heroine, a shrinking violet named Esther, at first sight as she is heading off to make a hole in the river after being jilted by his caddish friend Raymond. Having restored Esther to a state of non-suicidal life, Micky returns home to find Rotten Raymond heading off to Paris and asking him to deliver one last letter to Esther.

Despite being a preux chevalier, Micky can't resist opening and reading the letter, which turns out to be a nasty heartless missive. Concerned about Esther's mental health, Micky substitutes a letter of his own - a romantic love letter signed YOURS EVER, ROTTEN RAYMOND.

He then proceeds to thoroughly Cyrano himself.

Does it occur to Micky that sooner or later Esther has got to find out that Rascally Raymond isn't sending her letters and pound notes and fur coats? No, dear readers, it does not! When Worthless Waymond marries a wealthy widow and it becomes the talk of the town, Micky ships Esther off to the country so she won't find out.

She does.

She runs off to Paris to confront Ruthless Raymond, and Micky trails along with her so that he can tell her he actually wrote the letters, at which she is justly miffed.

So of course when they all wind up back in London as thoroughly sundered hearts, Ratfaced Raymond tells everyone that Micky was seen in Paris with Miss So-and-So, hem-hem.

To which Micky, who I TOLD you is an idiot, flies into a chivalrous rage and informs everyone within earshot that he and Esther have been married for weeks.

At which point I may have laughed myself sick.

Will Esther get Micky's last love letter in time to patch things up, or will he succeed in proposing to Miss Disposable Third Party and dooming himself to permanent unhappiness? Silly question!

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

So sweet

This innocent romance from the 1920s was a sweet, easy read. The characters are likable and the ending satisfying. An enjoyable read from a simpler time.

[Adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Even the parts of the heroine that annoyed me annoyed the other characters too, which made up for them a bit. I adored the character of June as well. This was a very quick read and pretty compulsively readable.

[Amyem]

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30286/...

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well developed story, I loved the agony it put me through. I expected it to end sooner and am so glad it didn't. It helped me feel the agony of the main character.