Chapter II: Preface

Not wishing my readers to be falsely impressed on perusing this novel, I wish to inform them that this is a story of the impossible, and is placed in the future for the sake of convenience. Were England other than she is, however, it would not be so impossible to issue such an edict as I have here introduced; and therefore it is a matter of congratulation and deep thankfulness to both Jew and Gentile that the attitude of our country towards her Jewish subjects is that of justice, toleration, and friendliness. At the same time, the poisonous seeds of anti-Semitism are so subtle and so easily instilled, that a warning—even in the form of fiction—may not be out of place.

With regard to the practical side of the story, I claim the author’s privilege of imagination; since this is not a treatise on Zionism, but merely a novel.

VIOLET GUTTENBERG.

_London, 1904._

CONTENTS

BOOK I

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM

CHAP. PAGE
I OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE 11

II THE MONTELLAS 20

III PATRICIA 29

IV THE MASKED BALL 39

V THE STORY OF FERDINAND 50

VI A HOUSE OF MOURNING 59

VII THE UNEMPLOYED 68

VIII LADY CHESTERWOOD’S SECRET 80

IX THE ZIONISTS 90

X PREMIER AND PEERESS 98

XI THE PREMIER OUTWITTED 108

XII MONTELLA’S OLD NURSE 119

XIII A DIFFICULT ALTERNATIVE 130

BOOK II

THE LAND OF THEIR FATHERS

I PURIM IN HAIFA 141

II THE TOURIST AND RAIE 152

III A GIRL IN LOVE 161

IV GOVERNOR OF HAIFA 168

V THE COMING OF ZILLAH 179

VI THE CAVE OF ELIJAH 186

VII EL KÛDS 197

VIII AMID SACRED SCENES 205

IX MEMORABLE MOMENTS 213

X THE BLOW FALLS 223

XI FAREWELL 237

XII RAIE’S DILEMMA 244

XIII THE EMPTY HOUSE 254

XIV IN THE LIGHT OF THE MOON 266

BOOK III

THE LAST OF THE EDICT

I ENGLAND ONCE MORE 279

II AN ANTI-SEMITE STILL 288

III THE MIND OF THE PREMIER 299

IV LADY PATRICIA’S CONQUEST 308

V “THE SKIRT OF A JEW” 317

_Period.—The Future_