Stanley J. Weyman - The King's Stratagem
My experience with Stanley Weyman's short story collections have so far been mixed (I think I have read 2 of 4 to date). Though, The King's Stratagem was far better overall than For The Cause even if it puttered in places.
The collection of short stories found within The King's Stratagem were released as Weyman's second book in 1891 and in the title story we get a short version of the type of tales that would make Weyman famous: 17th century France, Kings, Queens, Huguenots, Revolution, Romance, Adventure, etc.
The tales that come after The King's Stratagem are quite a bit different in fact, and follow a number of characters through, what appears to be, 19th century England. The better of these are In Cupid's Toils where we follow the tale of a young girl and a stranger from the girls perspective and then fast forward to years later from the strangers perspective and The Drift Of Fate by the far the most perplexing and suspenseful tale that acts as an Old English mystery of sorts.
The other stories include the cute Body Birds of Court, the unremarkable Fatal Letter and the utter bore of A Blore Manor Episode - which I like to call 'A Bore Manor Episode' - which is saying something as a I am a rabid Weyman fan and reader.
- 'Bab' from In Cupid's Toils
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