Anthony Lyveden

Anthony Lyveden was Dornford Yates’s first novel, telling the story of an impoverished ex-officer; it ends in a cliff-hanger. Originally, it was published in monthly instalments in the Windsor Magazine, Valerie French, the sequel to Anthony Lyveden features mostly the same cast. At the start of the book Lyveden is suffering amnesia, and cannot recall the events of the previous book, leading to romantic complications. For the second time in three minutes he glanced anxiously at his wrist and then thrust his hand impatiently into a pocket. When you have worn a wristwatch constantly for nearly six years, Time alone can accustom you to its absence. And at the present moment Major Lyveden's watch was being fitted with a new strap. The pawnbroker to whom he had sold it that morning for twenty-two shillings was no fool.