The Argosy

This issue of The Argosy (volume XLI, January-June 1886), edited by Mrs. Henry Wood, contains the serialized novel Lady Valeria, illustrated by Mary L. Gow, as its featured work. The romantic military drama opens as young Captain Edric Poynter, recovering from an Easter journey to Paris, arrives in London on Whit-Monday with hopes of calling on Mrs. Noel Damien, an enchanting widow whose Monday "at home" card he treasures. His journey from Dover is delayed by accumulated duties, and upon reaching Charing Cross, he encounters a pale, dark-featured foreign woman claiming urgent business who urgently contests his hansom cab claim.

The issue additionally features Charles W. Wood's serialized travel narrative Under Northern Skies; A Tragedy by Johnny Ludlow; shorter fiction including Minnie Douglas's The Course of True Love and stories by Chambers, Hervey, and others; and verse contributions. Also included is Lieutenant-Colonel John Mahony's historical account The Fight at the Farmhouse: An Incident of the Zulu War, plus a biographical sketch of Franz Liszt.