A Most Extraordinary Case

By Henry James

"A Most Extraordinary Case" by Henry James. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Good Press
• Release date: Apr 11, 2021
• ISBN: 4064066453541

Henry James

Henry James (1843-1916) was an American author of novels, short stories, plays, and non-fiction. He spent most of his life in Europe, and much of his work regards the interactions and complexities between American and European characters. Among his works in this vein are The Portrait of a Lady (1881), The Bostonians (1886), and The Ambassadors (1903). Through his influence, James ushered in the era of American realism in literature. In his lifetime he wrote 12 plays, 112 short stories, 20 novels, and many travel and critical works. He was nominated three times for the Noble Prize in Literature.

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Henry James

A Most Extraordinary Case

Published by Good Press, 2022

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EAN 4064066453541

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Versions ofA Most Extraordinary Case

A Most Extraordinary Case

Versions ofA Most Extraordinary Case

Table of Contents

A Most Extraordinary Case in The Atlantic Monthly21(126) (April 1868): 461–485. — First publication in any form; the original magazine text.

A Most Extraordinary Case in Stories Revived (3 volumes, London: Macmillan & Co., 1885)3: 209–269. (transcription project)— First English book edition; the original first book text.

A Most Extraordinary Case in Stories Revived2: 341–401. — Reprint of first English book edition; uses the first book text.

"A Most Extraordinary Case" in A Landscape Painter (New York: Scott and Seltzer, 1919): 217–287. — First American book edition; published posthumously; uses the magazine text.

A Most Extraordinary Case in The Last of the Valerii, Master Eustace, The Romance of Certain Old Clothes, and Other Tales (London: Macmillan & Co., 1923): 113–169. — Volume 26 of The Novels and Stories of Henry James, the first posthumous collection of James' works; uses the first book text.

A Most Extraordinary Case

Table of Contents

For other versions of this work, see A Most Extraordinary Case.

IV

A MOST EXTRAORDINARY CASE

A MOST EXTRAORDINARY CASE

Late in the spring of the year 1865, just as the war had come to a close, a young invalid officer lay in bed in one of the uppermost chambers of one of the great New York hotels. His meditations were interrupted by the entrance of a waiter, who handed him a card superscribed Mrs. Samuel Mason, and bearing on its reverse the following words in pencil: Dear Colonel Mason, I have only just heard of your being here, ill and alone. It's too dreadful. Do you remember me? Will you see me? If you do, I think you will remember me. I insist on coming up. M. M.

Mason was undressed, unshaven, weak, and feverish. His ugly little hotel chamber was in a state of confusion which had not even the merit of being picturesque. Mrs. Mason's card was at once a puzzle and a heavenly intimation of comfort. But all that it represented was so dim to the young man's ​enfeebled perception that it took him some moments to collect his thoughts.

It's a lady, sir, said the waiter, by way of assisting him.

Is she young or old? asked Mason.

Well, sir, she's a little of both.

I can't ask a lady to come up here, groaned the invalid.

Upon my word, sir, you look beautiful, said the waiter. They like a sick man. And I see she's of your own name, continued Michael, in whom constant service had bred great frankness of speech; the more shame to her for not coming before.

Colonel Mason concluded that, as the visit had been of Mrs. Mason's own seeking, he would receive her without more ado. If she doesn't mind it, I'm sure I needn't, said the poor fellow, who hadn't the strength to be over-punctilious. So in a very few moments his visitor was ushered up to his bedside. He saw before him a handsome, middle-aged blonde woman, stout of figure, and dressed in the height of the fashion, who displayed no other embarrassment than such as was easily explained by the loss of breath consequent on the ascent of six flights of stairs.

Do you remember me? she asked, taking the young man's hand.

​He lay back on his pillow, and looked at her. You used to be my aunt,—my aunt Maria, he said.

I'm your aunt Maria still, she answered. It's very good of you not to have forgotten me.

"It's very good of you not to have forgotten me," said Mason, in a tone which betrayed a deeper feeling than the wish to return a civil speech.

Dear me, you've had the war and a hundred dreadful things. I've been living in Europe, you know. Since my return I've been living in the country, in your uncle's old house on the river, of which the lease had just expired when I came home. I came to town yesterday on business, and accidentally heard of your condition and your whereabouts. I knew you'd gone into the army, and I had been wondering a dozen times what had become of you, and whether you wouldn't turn up now that the war's at last over. Of course I didn't lose a moment in coming to you. I'm so sorry for you. Mrs. Mason looked about her for a seat. The chairs were encumbered with odds and ends belonging to her nephew's