The Caxtons

A tiny, otherworldly child's plea shatters the Caxtons' quiet domestic life, drawing them into a fevered Victorian sickroom where Roland Trevanion lies dangerously ill and the family confronts fear, helplessness, and the aching need for a motherly presence. For Pisistratus, the crisis deepens into a larger emotional and moral struggle: he loves Roland as a beloved uncle, dreads losing him before old wounds can be healed, and longs to restore peace between father and son. In the aftermath, a lonely dawn walk through London leads him to a shabby, hard-faced young man sleeping on a shop doorstep—an enigmatic stranger whose ironic defiance masks hunger, pride, and a mysterious past. Pisistratus offers him food, sympathy, and work, discovering a brilliant, reckless intelligence beneath the rags. The man, eventually named Francis Vivian, proves gifted with languages, figures, logic, fencing, cards, and charm, yet remains guarded, cynical, and fiercely proud. Pisistratus secures him employment revising manuscripts and foreign correspondence for the exacting Trevanion household, where Vivian's talents win approval and his appearance steadily improves. As the two men grow closer, Pisistratus is both drawn to and troubled by Vivian's volatile brilliance, hidden sorrow, and buried family history, sensing in him a dangerous but redeemable force that may yet be shaped toward greatness. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.