The Sowers

The Sowers by Henry Seton Merriman

Karl Steinmetz, a worldly German fixer serving as steward to the vast Tver estates of young Prince Paul Howard Alexis, rides with his master across the Russian steppe, discussing the recent betrayal and collapse of the Charity League, a secret philanthropic organization of Russian nobles that Paul has financed. Fleeing suspicion, they discover a starving man dead beside the road; Paul, medically trained, suspects the corpse is an Englishman. Steinmetz conceals this, and later, alone at Tver station, confirms his private fear by finding the initials "S. S. B." on a handkerchief taken from the body, which he burns, muttering that it is well he, not Paul, found it. In London, Paul—who hides his princely title and lives as a plain English gentleman—courts Etta Sydney Bamborough, a beautiful, socially ambitious widow whose late husband, Sydney Bamborough, died mysteriously in Russia. Etta is also pursued by the French diplomat Claude de Chauxville, whom she rejects, provoking his anger and suspicion that a rival has supplanted him. Steinmetz, visiting London, warns De Chauxville off by feigning ignorance, while privately resolving to investigate Etta, whom he distrusts as a fortune-hunter. Paul proposes to Etta and she accepts, drawn chiefly by his wealth and title, though she deflects his wish to share his charitable work among the Russian peasantry, secretly uneasy whenever Russia or the Charity League is mentioned. The narrative shifts to Osterno, Paul's Russian estate, revealing his secret double life: he is "the Moscow doctor," a disguised benefactor who personally treats cholera-stricken peasants with brusque practical charity, aided by Steinmetz's discretion. Catrina Lanovitch, the plain but passionate daughter of the exiled Count Stépan Lanovitch (former Charity League organizer, banished to Siberia), has long loved Paul and discovers his secret identity while nursing cholera victims in her own village of Thors. She is devastated to learn of his engagement to Etta but agrees to keep his secret. Meanwhile, De Chauxville travels to Paris and St. Petersburg, consulting the sinister embassy operative Vassili to investigate Paul and plotting to visit Osterno himself, driven by jealousy and suspicion. He calls on Catrina's foolish mother, the Countess Lanovitch, further entangling himself with the family. Paul and Etta marry; Etta, vain and status-conscious, chafes at not using her title and resists moving to Russia, though she ultimately agrees to accompany Paul to Osterno, bringing her cousin Maggie Delafield, a frank, warm-hearted young woman who has formed an instinctive bond with Steinmetz. Before departing for Russia, Paul's party is obliged to dine with Vassili in Paris, where Vassili's masked reaction on first seeing Etta suggests he recognizes her—hinting at a hidden connection between her and her late husband's affairs that Steinmetz watches closely, suspecting danger ahead as the group prepares to enter Russia.

By Henry Seton Merriman · First published 1896 · Genre: Historical Fiction, Political Fiction, Literary Fiction · 44 chapters · 129,225 words

First lines

"In this country charity covers no sins!"

The speaker finished his remark with a short laugh. He was a big, stout man; his name was Karl Steinmetz, and it is a name well known in the Government of Tver to this day. He spoke jerkily, as stout men do when they ride, and when he had laughed his good-natured, half-cynical laugh, he closed his lips beneath a huge gray mustache. So far as one could judge from the action of a square and deeply indented chin, his mouth was expressive at that time -- and possibly at all times -- of a humorous resignation. No reply was vouchsafed to him, and Karl Steinmetz bumped along on his little Cossack horse, which was stretched out at a gallop.

Similar titles

Genres

Tags

Russian society · secret identity · charity · betrayal · courtship · political intrigue · class conflict · moral ambiguity · London society · Russian steppe · mystery · social satire

What this Textopian page supports

The Sowers is listed on Textopian as a novel by Henry Seton Merriman, dated 1896 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

Good citation fit

Contents

More by Henry Seton Merriman