Othmar

In a glittering court beneath ancient trees, Othmar opens with a dazzling "Court of Love" where aristocratic wit turns romance into a game of intellect, irony, and social performance. A commanding mistress of the château presides over cardinals, queens, and brilliant guests as they debate whether love is devotion, illusion, attraction, or self-deception, and whether true passion can survive intelligence, restraint, chance, and the slow erosion of time. Their elegant sparring exposes the gulf between ideal love and ordinary desire, and the novel's skeptical vision deepens as the queen observes that marriage may be love's true grave and that poets often value suffering more than happiness. Against this refined world, Othmar appears in his ancestral palace, burdened by the corruption behind his family's wealth and the moral cost of privilege. Though cynical about vanity, greed, and society's cruelty, he remains generous and effective, using his power to help others. Determined to protect Damaris, he arranges a false inheritance to spare her humiliation and sends her to recover at a remote farmhouse, where country life, quiet labor, and fresh air begin to restore her body and spirit. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.