To Have and To Hold (Johnston novel)

This article is about To Have and To Hold (Johnston novel). For other uses of the term To Have and To Hold, please see To Have and To Hold (disambiguation).

To Have and To Hold is a historical novel published in 1899 by American author Mary Johnston. In 1900, it was the best-selling novel in the United States. The novel is now in the public domain, and a free copy of it can be obtained at Project Gutenberg.

Brief plot summary

An English soldier living in colonial Jamestown (Virginia colony) buys a wife for himself off of a ship from England, little knowing that the woman he married is the ward of King James I and has fled from a forced marriage. Due to differences in their station, the new couple's marriage gets off to a rocky start. Then the intended betrothed of the lady turns up in Virginia, attempts to kidnap her multiple times, and then follows the couple and their companions as they escape from the King's orders to arrest the soldier and carry the lady back to England. Along the route, they are all accosted by pirates, who agree to take the soldier as their captain after he pretends to be the pirate "Kirby". The pirates gleefully play on with Ralph's masquerade, until he refuses to allow them to harm others. When they try to do so anyway, the escapees wreck the ship. The pirates are all killed, but the Englishmen (and women) are rescued by a ship bearing the new Virginian governor.

Upon the testimony of the persecuting Englishman, the soldier is tried for piracy, but the lady, having come to love the soldier, speaks for him. Her words are so persuasive that the Governor believes her and frees him, and they return to Virginia. Still, the soldier is forced to be held in jail per the King's orders. The Englishman causes the soldier to be captured by Indians, and during that fight, the Englishman is terribly wounded. The soldier learns of an impending Indian plan to attack Jamestown settlers and, after many travails, manages to reach the colony with a warning. Then he learns that his wife is missing, having gone into the forest with a companion in search of her husband. After the attack occurs and is repulsed (barely, given the last minute warning), the soldier begins a long search and eventually finds his wife and friend.

At the end of the story, the couple intends to go to England, where the lady's lands have been restored to her and where they can finally live in peace.