Excerpt from With Harp and Crown: A Novel "With Harp and Crown" is a story of woman's fidelity, patience, and unmerited misfortune. Contrary to the usual practice in novels, and more in accordance with the experience of real life, Marion Revels sufferings are rewarded - cynically, some critics, unthinking, said - by the withholding of life's supreme happiness. Who will deny that this is no strange and unknown fate? The years of self-denial, were women like Marion to look for the reward of selfish joy, would seem, in the end, a mockery and a waste. There are thousands such as she: their youth is spent in toil for others more helpless than themselves. They have no crown of husband and tender children. But in their calm and passionless faces, in the smile of content which reigns like the sun of heaven in their eyes, we know that they have their reward. Is there not in every family such a history, such a memory, such a woman? "Strength and honour are her clothing: she openeth her mouth with wisdom: in her tongue is the law of kindness: her own works praise her in the gates." It is nothing to her that the strong and the crafty, like Joe Chacomb, grow rich: that the helpless and the weak of will, like her brother Fred, live in idleness and eat the fruit of her hands. She is happy. For the sake of these good women, and for the real lesson of their lives, we have written this book. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.