Release date is 2007-01-20

A fearful responsibility -- At the sign of the savage -- Tonelli's marriage.

Produced by David Edwards, Martin Pettit and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
book was produced from scanned images of public domain
material from the Google Print project.)

"A Fearful Responsibility and Other Stories" by William Dean Howells is a collection of short stories written in the late 19th century. The opening story, titled "A Fearful Responsibility," revolves around Owen Elmore, a professor who grapples with complex emotions as he navigates his role as a husband and a man of conscience during the backdrop of the American Civil War. The story examines themes of duty, expatriation, and the psychological ramifications of war on individuals living abroad. At the start of the narrative, Elmore is portrayed as a conflicted character who has left America for Venice while grappling with feelings of guilt and responsibility toward his country and his wife. His journey takes on an added layer of complexity when he learns that a young girl, Lily Mayhew, will be visiting them. As Elmore considers the implications of her arrival and the potential interaction with an Austrian officer who has shown interest in her, he is torn between protecting her and acknowledging the feelings of both his wife and the officer. The opening sets the stage for a deeper exploration of personal duty and the impact of social and political dynamics on individual lives, highlighting the intricacies of human relationships during tumultuous times. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

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