E. Phillips Oppenheim - Complete Works of E. Phillips Oppenheim

The Complete Works of

E. PHILLIPS OPPENHEIM

(1866-1946)

Contents

Delphi Classics 2016

Version 1

The Complete Works of

E. PHILLIPS OPPENHEIM

By Delphi Classics, 2016

Complete Works of E. Phillips Oppenheim

First published in the United Kingdom in 2016 by Delphi Classics.

Delphi Classics, 2016.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.

ISBN: 978 1 78656 038 4

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Leicester, England Oppenheims birthplace

Edwardian Leicester

Edward Phillips Oppenheim was born on 22 October 1866 in Leicester, the son of Henrietta Susannah Temperley Budd and Edward John Oppenheim, a leather merchant. Oppenheim worked in his fathers business for almost twenty years. Expiation (1887) , his first novel, was self-published when he was twenty-one years old, with the financial assistance of his father. The novel opens in a cabin in the remote Canadian wilderness, where an exiled man learns from a newspaper that the murder which he was accused of is now known to be committed by another man. In England, the twin children of Harold Mornington, Eva and Godfrey, orphaned at six months, have been raised by relatives. The return of their father after twenty years in exile is a shocking development. How will they accept their father, and how will he treat them? With many plot twists, a touching love story and criminal escapades, Expiation is a suitable introduction to Oppenheims more than 150 published novels and collections.

The first editions title page

A man may have a fine wit and a vulgar soul; intelligence fit to illuminate our age and a spirit capable of disgracing it; this man, great by his mind, may be a wretch at heart. LACORDAIRE

A solitary cabin stood far away in the backwoods of Canada, outside all tracks of civilization, in a region which only the native Indians and a few daring trappers cared to penetrate. Rudely built of pine logs, it was ill-calculated to withstand the piercing cold and frost which, for nine months out of the twelve, holds this region in an iron grip. Around it, a small clearing had been effected, but the ground was many feet thick in snow, which, save where in front of the door it had been cut away, surrounded the frail little building, and reached up to the rude window.

A wild and lonesome spot, in the very thick of an almost impenetrable forest, little wonder then that the two men who had built this dwelling-place lived undisturbed, and all but undreamt of.

The two inmates were seated within on pine log segments, crouching over a fast dying-out fire, its decaying embers casting a fitful glare around on the little there was to show. Bare, uneven walls, against one side of which stood a rough cupboard, the only apology for furniture, save the seats and a longer stump set up as a table. Some furs, flung together in separate heaps, were evidently their beds; two long rifles standing in a corner, and a few trifles scattered carelessly about; this was all the feeble glimmer could reveal.

The mens faces were strangely alike, and yet, in another sense, strangely dissimilar: their features might have been cast in the same mould, but the expression of each face was totally different. He who appeared to be rather the younger of the two though their stature agreed, and it was not by that means one distinguished any variation was leaning forward, supporting his face with his hands, and gazing with a look of settled despair, indicating thoughts of an unenviable past, into the feeble remains of the fire. Now and then his lips moved, and a feeble smile played upon them, soon to vanish, as if chased away by darker broodings, and to be succeeded by the former expression of hopelessness.

His companion appeared to be steadily watching him through half-closed eyes, in which shone a restless, anxious light, contrasting markedly with the others almost sullen look. A nervousness beyond his control seemed to have taken complete possession of him, and showed itself by the frequent changes of position, and restless movements of limbs. The one act to which he remained constant was the watch upon his companion, and in whose slightest motion he betrayed a keen interest.

The hours passed slowly on; but, as if unheedful, or perhaps unconscious of the flight of time, the two men maintained their positions unmoved. The only disturbing sound outside was the dull roar of the icy wind as it shook the tops of the pine trees, and passed on through the forest. Within the hut perfect silence reigned, unless when the ashes dropped softly off from the log fast burning out on the hearth.