engineer named Edward Molyneux meets two young women named Daphne Musgrave and Betty Chorley. He also meets Daphne's relative, the aristocratic Sir Reginald Musgrave. The two women plan to pursue independent careers, Daphne as a landscape gardener and Betty as a doctor. Speaking to Edward, Daphne expresses her opinion that marriage is not necessary for a happy life, and she suggests that she will start a family by adopting a child. In a parallel conversation with Sir Reginald, Betty states that idle aristocrats who do not work for a living are parasitical. However, once Sir Reginald proves that he is not content to pursue a life of idleness, Betty accepts his proposal of marriage. Daphne refuses a marriage proposal from Edward, but he decides to remain her friend in the hope that she will eventually change her mind. Notes Footnotes References Baker, Ernest A. (1913). A Guide to the Best Fiction in English New York: Macmillan. Google Books. Denisoff, Dennis (2004). The Broadview Anthology of Victorian Short Stories Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press. Horton, Robert F. (1912). "Introduction" to Joan Seaton London: J.M. Dent & Sons. Kaye, Elaine (2004). "Horton, Robert Forman (1855–1934)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (behind paywall) Kipling, Rudyard, et al. (1902). Stories by English Authors: The Orient New York: Scribner's. Google Books. Unsigned review (1 September 1895). "Clear and Original" New York Times ProQuest Historical Newspapers (behind paywall) Unsigned review (20 March 1897). The Academy 1298. Google Books. Unsigned review (September 1897). "Novel Notes" The Bookman VI.1. Google Books. Unsigned review (October 1897). Literary News XVIII.10. Google Books. Unsigned review (1 December 1899). "Sympathy and Insight" The Literary World LX. Google Books. Unsigned review (16 December 1899). "Fiction" The Speaker 1.11. Google Books. Williams, J.E. Hodder. (October 1896 – September 1897). "Notes on New Writers" Atalanta X. Google Books. External links A Ringby Lass and Other Stories at Google Books Joan Seaton at Google Books 1849 births 1910 deaths People from Halifax, West Yorkshire Victorian poets Victorian women writers English women poets 19th-century English women writers 19th-century English writers 19th-century British writers Writers from Yorkshire