A Simpleton

Simplex starts out in life as innocent as any child - even more so. But then the soldiers came. And Simplex takes his first stumbling step out into the wide world. He is pressed into service as a court jester and carried off by the Croats. He fights in the war, now on this side, now on that. As a fancy-free lighthearted gallant, he slips into a pretty girl's boudoir only to be escorted from it the same night as a trapped and heavyhearted husband. He acquires great wealth by robbery and sinks into poverty out of magnanimity.

Charles Reade's novel 'A Simpleton' tells the story of Dr. Christopher Staines, an intelligent man who learns to appreciate the qualities of his seemingly naive wife, Rosa Lusignan, whom everyone calls "the simpleton." After struggling to make ends meet, Staines pretends to be dead to allow Rosa to collect his life insurance money. Unscrupulous Reginald Falcon tries to win Rosa over by faking the kidnapping of her son—can Staines return from the dead in time to save his wife from Falcon's schemes?

Reprint of the original, first published in 1876.