The Price He Paid

About this issue

This issue of The Primrose Series (No. 27, September 1891) contains E. Werner's complete novel The Price He Paid. The narrative is set in a European lakeside town and concerns George Winterfeld, a young official under Baron Arno von Raven, the governor of an unnamed province. The story opens when George prepares to depart from the cottage of Dr. Brunnow, an older physician whose bitter hostility toward the Baron is revealed to stem from their shared past as youthful political activists. Brunnow explains that the Baron, once their charismatic movement leader, betrayed their cause through ambition, accepting a government position that led to Brunnow's imprisonment and exile. The novel traces the personal and political consequences of this betrayal, with George caught between his loyalty to Brunnow and his professional obligations to Raven. The narrative includes encounters at balls, medical practice, family conflict, and climactically a duel, exploring themes of honor, ambition, and the weight of past transgressions on subsequent relationships and careers.