Fordham's Feud
1897
The steamer Mont Blanc cuts across Lake Leman on a perfect summer afternoon, carrying tourists and pleasure-seekers into the Swiss Alps. Among them are Philip Orlebar, young and eternally hopeful in matters of the heart, and Richard Fordham, his older companion, a man whose cynicism is matched only by his talent for devastating observation. When Philip spots a mysterious girl aboard the steamer, his attempts to make her acquaintance descend into comic disaster. Fordham watches it all with exquisite, wounded amusement. But the lakeside landing reveals a larger stage. The "feud" of the title sharpens into something more personal as Fordham's derision meets its match, and Philip's romantic pursuit encounters obstacles neither wit nor wealth can easily dismiss. Mitford writes with a light, assured hand, capturing the Edwardian leisure of alpine tourism and the pleasure of watching two incompatible temperaments clash against mountain grandeur. For readers who enjoy the comedy of manners, the pleasure of a sharp-tongued companion, and the quiet romance of old Europe, Fordham's Feud offers cultivated entertainment from a vanished age of steamer decks and summerlong tours.
