Cover of The Vision of Desire

The Vision of Desire

  • Free to read
  • 7 hours to read
  • 35 chapters
  • Reading level: 7th grade

"The Vision of Desire" by Margaret Pedler is a novel dating from the early 20th century. It explores themes of love, desire, and the tension between personal aspirations and societal expectations, set against a backdrop of luxurious European settings. The story centers around a strong-willed young woman, Ann Lovell, and her interactions with Tony Brabazon, as they navigate complex emotional landscapes shaped by their pasts and financial circumstances. The opening of the novel introduces a poignant scene where Eliot receives a letter of rejection from a woman he loves, which leads to deep reflections on love and loss. In the subsequent chapters, we meet Ann and Tony in Switzerland. Ann, a woman deeply aware of her responsibilities, tries to protect Tony from the pitfalls of gambling inherited from his father’s legacy, while Tony grapples with his own feelings for Ann amidst societal pressures. The narrative sets a tone of romantic tension as Ann helps Tony confront his identity and the expectations placed upon him, while also dealing with her own complicated feelings and obligations.

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  • Fiction

Read the opening

Prologue

"... It's no use pretending any longer. I can't marry you, I don't suppose you will ever understand or forgive me. No man would. But try to believe that I haven't come to this decision hurriedly or without thinking. I seem to have done nothing but think, lately!

"I want you to forget last night, Eliot. We were both a little mad, and there was moonlight and the scent of roses.... But it's good-bye, all the same—it must be. Please don't try to see, me again. It could do no good and would only hurt us both."

Very deliberately the man read this letter through a second time. At first reading it had seemed to him incredible, a hallucination. It gave him a queer feeling of unreality—it was all so impossible, so wildly improbable!

"I want you to forget last night." Last night! When the woman who had written those cool words of dismissal had lain in his arms, exquisite in her passionate surrender. His mouth set itself grimly. Whatever came next, whatever the future might hold, he knew that neither of them would be able to forget. There are some things that cannot be forgotten, and the moment when a man and woman first give their love utterance in words is one of them.

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Contents

Show all 35 chapters
  1. Front Matter
  2. Prologue
  3. Chapter I
  4. Chapter II
  5. Chapter III
  6. Chapter IV
  7. Chapter V
  8. Chapter VI
  9. Chapter VII
  10. Chapter VIII
  11. Chapter IX
  12. Chapter X
  13. Chapter XI
  14. Chapter XII
  15. Chapter XIII: "Friendship Implies Trust"
  16. Chapter XIV
  17. Chapter XV
  18. Chapter XVI
  19. Chapter XVII
  20. Chapter XVIII
  21. Chapter XIX
  22. Chapter XX
  23. Chapter XXI
  24. Chapter XXII
  25. Chapter XXIII
  26. Chapter XXIV
  27. Chapter XXV
  28. Chapter XXVI
  29. Chapter XXVII
  30. Chapter XXVIII
  31. Chapter XXIX
  32. Chapter XXX
  33. Chapter XXXI
  34. Chapter XXXII: On Board the "Sphinx"
  35. Chapter XXXIII

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About this edition

This free edition of The Vision of Desire by Margaret Pedler comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #7855, released 2005-04-01. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Romance, Novels, British Literature.

Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).

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