A Candle in the Wind

A Candle in the Wind by Mary Imlay Taylor

Diane Herford, the daughter of Judge Herford, harbors a private grief over the death of Simon Overton, an explorer she quietly loved, who perished during an Antarctic expedition. At a family dinner, the surviving hero of that expedition, Arthur Faunce, returns to Mapleton clearly haunted by the experience. Though admired publicly as a brave comrade and worthy heir to Overton's legacy, Faunce is sleepless, dependent on chloral, and visibly tormented. Only the perceptive Dr. Gerry suspects that something darker lies beneath his celebrated modesty and grief. Faunce, having loved Diane since boyhood, had previously stood aside out of loyalty to Overton. Now, with Overton believed dead, he pursues Diane with passionate urgency. Diane, still mourning Overton's loss, gradually allows herself to feel something for Faunce, drawn in part by his connection to her lost love. Judge Herford, eager for his daughter to marry and remain near, quietly encourages the match. In a late-night visit to Dr. Gerry during a snowstorm, Faunce finally confesses the truth he has been carrying. When Overton broke his ankle in the frozen wastes and lay dying, Faunce, seized by an overwhelming terror of death, abandoned him. He took the only sled and the dogs and fled to safety, leaving his injured leader alone and helpless in the blizzard. He believed Overton had perished and kept the secret, allowing himself to be celebrated as a hero and loyal comrade. Dr. Gerry is appalled and repeatedly urges Faunce to release Diane from their engagement, but Faunce, driven by his love for her and his own moral weakness, refuses. Faunce and Diane marry in haste, just before a shocking newspaper report reaches their wedding party: Overton is alive. He was rescued by a British expedition and has returned to England. Faunce insists it is a false report, and the wedding proceeds. Throughout the months that follow, Diane senses a growing distance in her husband, an evasiveness she cannot penetrate, while rumors of Overton's survival continue to circulate. During a quiet retreat in the Catskill Mountains, Diane encounters Overton himself in the woods near his childhood home. He has come to visit an elderly aunt. The meeting is devastating for both. Overton, still deeply in love with Diane, is horrified to learn she is Faunce's wife. He confirms that he was deserted and left to die, though he stops short of naming Faunce directly, urging Diane to ask her husband for the truth. Diane is shaken but not yet certain of the full extent of her husband's guilt. That evening, Faunce visits Overton and the two men confront each other. Overton, who has come through his ordeal spiritually transformed, chooses not to seek revenge. His primary concern is shielding Diane from the disgrace that would follow public exposure. He proposes that both men maintain silence and allow the truth to remain buried. Faunce, exhausted and morally broken, initially agrees but finds he cannot sustain the deception. When he returns to Diane, he tells her he intends to confess everything, that she deserves to know the truth and must decide for herself what it means. The narrative closes at the threshold of that confession, with Faunce finally surrendering the pretense that has hollowed out his soul, and Diane bracing herself to hear the full account of what happened in the frozen silence where her husband abandoned the man she had once loved.

By Mary Imlay Taylor · First published 1969 · Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance, Drama · 39 chapters · 98,355 words

First lines

DIANE controlled the secret distress which the mere mention of Overton's name made immeasurably keen, and tried to give her undivided attention to the entertainment of her father's guests. She had a fine discrimination in social matters, and she felt that this occasion, however simple and domestic, was made important by the presence of Arthur Faunce, the young hero of the recent antarctic expedition.

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A Candle in the Wind is listed on Textopian as a novel by Mary Imlay Taylor, dated 1969 CE.

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historical fiction · historical romance · romance · adventure · drama · political intrigue · social conflict · war · danger · suspense · loyalty · courage

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