Marchmont, Arthur W: For Love or Crown. v1. 12 Jun 2015
 

Marchmont, Arthur W. (1852-1923) was a popular British author who wrote several best-selling novels around the turn of the century. Unfortunately, biographical details are scarce. A New York Times obit merely states that upon leaving Oxford he engaged in journalism, which field he left in 1894 to devote his time to fiction. Marchmont's 1897 novel By Right of Sword remained on the Grosset & Dunlap best-seller list for over a decade after its initial publication, and in 1904 was made into a successful Broadway production, which ran several seasons. It was often remarked that Marchmont's novels sold better in the U.S. than in his own country. Marchmont specialized in the genre of "Imperial Intrigue." His tales are filled with romance, action, duels, and narrow escapes. He also wrote several excellent mystery novels which have yet to be rediscovered. A peculiarity of the Edwardian era, and especially for a 'man's man' writer, many of his novels are written from a woman's point of view.

Excerpt
Love laughs at locks and bolts and bars and every other kind of obstacle, and so Celia and I were sitting hand-locked on a bit of rock on Moreby Point, watching the waves as they dashed against the cliffs below us, and churned themselves into foam on which the thin April sunlight danced and sparkled brilliantly.
There were no bolts, or bars, or locks in our case, but there were plenty of other obstacles, and the fact that we had evaded them made the meeting all the sweeter for the spice of defiance to all our authorities that flavoured it.