Friend and Lover

"Friend and Lover" by Sarah Orne Jewett is a poignant exploration of intimate relationships, particularly the deep emotional bonds between women. Set in the backdrop of New England, the novella delves into themes of friendship, love, and the complexities of human connection. Through the lens of its richly drawn characters, Jewett crafts a narrative that examines the interplay of affection and societal expectations, offering a nuanced portrayal of love that transcends conventional boundaries. The book is celebrated for its lyrical prose and insightful characterizations, reflecting Jewett's keen understanding of human emotions and relationships.

• Short story

								
In these summer days the young lawyer's thoughts had often been busy
elsewhere while he sat at the shaded office window and looked out upon
the river. The very housekeeping on the damaged ship became more
interesting to him than his law books, and he watched the keeper's
wife at her various employments on deck, or grew excited as he
witnessed the good woman's encounters with marauding small boys, who
prowled about hoping for chances of climbing the rigging or solving
the mysteries of the hold. It had come to be an uncommon event that a
square-rigged vessel should make the harbor of Dunport, and the elder
citizens ignored the deserted wharves, and talked proudly of the days
of Dunport's prosperity, convicting the railroad of its decline as
much as was consistent with their possession of profitable stock. The
younger people took the empty warehouses for granted, and listened to
their grandparents' stories with interest, if they did not hear them
too often; and the more enterprising among them spread their wings of
ambition and flew away to the larger cities or to the westward. George
Gerry had stayed behind reluctantly. He had neither enough desire for
a more active life, nor so high a purpose that he could disregard
whatever opposition lay in his way. Yet he was honestly dissatisfied
with his surroundings, and thought himself hardly used by a hindering
fate. He believed himself to be most anxious to get away, yet he was
like a ship which will not be started out of port by anything less
than a hurricane. There really were excuses for his staying at home,
and since he had stopped to listen to them they beguiled him more and
more, and his friends one by one commended his devotion to his mother
and sisters, and sometimes forgot to sympathize with him for his
disappointments as they praised him for being such a dutiful son. To
be sure, he might be a great lawyer in Dunport as well as anywhere
else; he would not be the first; but a more inspiring life might have
made him more enthusiastic and energetic, and if he could have been
winning his way faster elsewhere, and sending home good accounts of
himself, not to speak of substantial aid, there is no question whether
it would not have given his family greater happiness and done himself
more good. He was not possessed of the stern determination which wins
its way at all hazards, and so was dependent upon his surroundings for
an occasional stimulus.

But Dunport was very grateful to him because he had stayed at home,
and he was altogether the most prominent young man in the town. It is
so easy to be thankful that one's friends are no worse that one
sometimes forgets to remember that they might be better; and it would
have been only natural if he thought of himself more highly than he
ought to think, since he had received a good deal of applause and
admiration. It is true that he had avoided vice more noticeably than
he had pursued virtue; but the senior member of the firm, Mr.
Sergeant, pronounced his young partner to have been a most excellent
student, and not only showed the greatest possible confidence in him,
but was transferring a good deal of the business to him already. Miss
Prince and her old lawyer had one secret which had never been
suspected, and the townspeople thought more than ever of young Mr.
Gerry's ability when it was known that the most distinguished legal
authority of that region had given him a share of a long established
business. George Gerry had been led to think better of himself, though
it had caused him no little wonder when the proposal had been made. It
was possible that Mr. Sergeant feared that there might be some
alliance offered by his rivals in Dunport. To be sure, the younger
firm had been making a good deal of money, but it was less respected
by the leading business men. Mr. Sergeant had even conferred with his
young friend one morning upon the propriety of some new investments;
but Mr. Gerry had never even suspected that they were the price of his
own new dignity and claim upon the public honor. Captain Walter Parish
and Mr. Sergeant had both been aids and advisers of Miss Prince; but
neither had ever known the condition of all her financial affairs, and
she had made the most of a comfortable sense of liberty. To do young
Gerry justice, he had not hesitated to express his amazement; and
among his elders and betters, at any rate, he had laid his good
fortune at the door of Mr. Sergeant's generosity and kindness instead
of his own value.

But at certain seasons of the year, like this, there was no excitement
in the office, and after an attendance at court and the proper
adjustment, whether temporary or permanent, of the subsequent
business, the partners had returned to a humdrum fulfilling of the
minor duties of their profession, and the younger man worked at his
law books when there were no deeds or affidavits to engage his
attention. He thought of many things as he sat by his window; it was a
great relief to the tiresomeness of the dull rooms to look at the
river and at the shores and hills beyond; to notice carelessly whether
the tide came in or went out. He was apt to feel a sense of
dissatisfaction in his leisure moments; and now a new current was
bringing all its force to bear upon him in his quiet anchorage.

He had looked upon Miss Prince as a kind adviser; he was on more
intimate terms with her than with any woman he knew; and the finer
traits in his character were always brought out by some compelling
force in her dignity and simple adherence to her somewhat narrow code
of morals and etiquette. He was grateful to her for many kindnesses;
and as he had grown older and come to perceive the sentiment which had
been the first motive of her affection toward him, he had
instinctively responded with a mingling of gallantry and sympathy
which made him, as has been already said, appear at his very best. The
gossips of Dunport had whispered that he knew that it was more than
worth his while to be polite to Miss Prince; but he was too manly a
fellow to allow any trace of subserviency to show itself in his
conduct. As often happens, he had come back to Dunport almost a
stranger after his years of college life were over, and he had a
mingled love and impatience for the old place. The last year had been
very pleasant, however: there were a few young men whose good comrade
and leader he was; his relations with his fellow-citizens were most
harmonious; and as for the girls of his own age and their younger
sisters, who were just growing up, he was immensely popular and
admired by them. It had become a subject of much discussion whether he
and Mary Parish would not presently decide upon becoming engaged to
each other, until Miss Prince's long-banished niece came to put a new
suspicion into everybody's mind.

Many times when George Gerry had a new proof that he had somehow
fallen into the habit of walking home with the pleasant girl who was
his friend and neighbor, he had told himself abruptly that there was

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