Plot summary
Beginning on a cold October night in 1854 England, in a dark passageway, the book's narrator tracks an innocent man whom he does not know and stabs him to death. The protagonist/narrator, Edward Glyver, then takes the reader back, recounting as a confession his tale of deceit, love, and revenge. Glyver reveals the torment he has suffered at the hands of his rival, the poet-criminal Phoebus Rainsford Daunt, and why in pursuit of revenge Glyver (now masquerading as Edward Glapthorn), a book lover and scholar, has turned to murder. The story moves between the foggy London streets and the enchanting country manor house Evenwood where Daunt spent his formative years, a place with which Glyver finds he has a special connection. The Glass of Time , the follow-up novel to The Meaning of Night, further examines the consequences of Edward Glyver's crime, in a setting twenty years after The Meaning of Night.
Principal characters
Edward Charles Glyver (a.k.a. Edward Glapthorn, Edward Duport, Ernest Geddington) the principal character. Son of Julius Verney Duport, 25th Baron Tansor and his first wife, Laura Duport née Fairmile, but raised by Simona Glyver. Lord Tansor never learns of his son's existence. Edward is a precocious student, especially interested in literature and the new science of photography, but he is dismissed from Eton College after being framed for theft by his former friend, Phoebus Daunt.
Phoebus Rainsford Daunt the son of Dr. Achilles Brabazon Daunt and his first wife, Elizabeth. Although Dr. Daunt is an avid scholar, Phoebus is heavily influenced by his stepmother and becomes insinuating and proud. Phoebus becomes a replacement son for Lord Tansor, and eventually his heir. Phoebus lives expensively in London and apparently makes his living as a poet of popular historical epics, but is also involved in forgery and bank fraud.
Emily Grace Carteret the daughter of Paul Carteret and the first cousin, once removed, of Lord Tansor. Emily spent several years in France, where she became good friends with Marie-Madeleine Buisson. During the main action of the book, Emily is nearly 30 years old and unmarried because she is secretly engaged to Phoebus Daunt, of whom her father does not approve.
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