
A young American heir, suddenly poised to control a fortune of four hundred million dollars, wrestles with the weight of his destiny while his mind is haunted by the legends of Washington, Napoleon, and other towering figures. Raised on a rugged Adirondack farm and nourished by an insatiable curiosity for history, he dreams of a life that can match the grandeur of the heroes he admires. Yet the practical realities of wealth and expectation leave him both exhilarated and profoundly uneasy.
When a chance encounter brings him to the glittering courts of Europe, he finds himself alone on a moonlit balcony in Hungary, face‑to‑face with the daughter of an emperor. This encounter forces him to confront the clash between his bold, contemptuous American spirit and the deeper, more intricate currents of Old World politics and tradition. As his ambitions collide with the subtle games of aristocratic power, the story explores whether a man forged in the frontier can truly belong among the rulers of kings.
Language
en
Duration
~12 hours (724K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Original publisher
United States: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1904.
Credits
D A Alexander, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was created from images of public domain material made available by the University of Toronto Libraries.)
Release date
2022-12-03
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects

1857–1948
A bold and bestselling American novelist, essayist, and travel writer, she was known for sharp social observation and a fiercely independent public voice. Her novels ranged from California history to psychological fiction, with works like The Conqueror and Black Oxen helping make her one of the most widely read authors of her day.
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